Amsterdam (DiCaprio) is a character who lost his father early in the film. Skip forward 16 years, this same character is faced with several opportunities to seek revenge. He narrows in on one that empowers him to gain the trust of Bill (Day-Lewis), his father’s murderer. After given explicitly instructions to rob a ship, the scene that follows opens with a boat trailing through fog, carrying Amsterdam, his friend Jimmy, and several other members of the gang that works under Bill. This small clip solemnly fades into a shot of the dock, panning over several caskets and following a sobbing woman being consoled by a reverend. Amsterdam voices over the morbid clip, informing us that these are the bodies of soldiers while reminding us he has another job to complete. As Amsterdam and his friends board the larger ship, he comes across pools of blood which stuns him as he accidentally touched one.
So far, we are presented with a sad night of death, religious figures, and blood – three symbols that have already made a prominent presence in the movie thus far. As the scene continues with a man shooting a rifle, dying from a stab wound, and scaring the gang members back into the tiny boat, we are left with a recurring picture; one of a man on the brink of death attempting to send a final message. All of these factors are well-incorporated into the tale, however, we come across an external conflict that the gang is facing. Amsterdam and his comrades discover there is nothing on the ship to take.
While the rest of his crew wait in the smaller boat, Amsterdam decides he needs something to bring back to Bill to earn his trust. A close-up is shown of Amsterdam, thinking about what his next move should be. He places the knife of his dead father in his mouth and hoists the body up on his shoulders. At the last second, he throws the corpse into the boat and sells it to medical science. Upbeat folk music is heard as he receives payment by the scientists. He shows the coins to Bill, who complements the group for their efforts. They are shown in the newspaper the next day and coined the “Ghoul Gang,” throwing Bill off-guard since he didn’t know what the word “ghoul” was. With the slow trust Amsterdam begins to build, he becomes one step closer to achieving the revenge he is seeking.
