Henry Burby

MHC 10201

2/21/16

Out of the Darkness

Gangs of New York’s second scene begins when Amsterdam blows out the candle, and the background music starts. The pounding drums and shrieking pipes represent the fighting spirit of the Dead Rabbits, getting louder or softer depending on the confidence of the gang members, and the camera’s proximity to them. For most of the scene, the camera follows or is followed by moving characters, starting with the first shot of Vallon and Amsterdam. The first shot begins with a Close Up of the father and son’s clasped hands, indicating the bond of love between them. The camera pans up to a Low Angle view of Amsterdam’s face, pans higher to examine Vallon’s, and finally settles on the large Celtic cross in the father’s hands. The cross is treated as a character in the scene, just as God is a character in the lives of the Irish. The shot is also a reference to the son, the father, and the holy spirit.

The camera cuts to behind the head of the father, and from his perspective, the audience sees the big picture. Vallon is conscious of his son (pan to back of son’s head), God (focus shifts to medieval Virgin and Child), and his comrades (camera pans to reveal literal dead rabbits, and gang members readying for battle).

The camera then cuts back to the Low Angle, the son’s perspective, and shows what he notices during his father’s observation. The boy sees and reacts to McGloin and Happy Jack while they prepare their brutal weapons.

A few cuts later, the whole gang is revealed for the first time. The difference between Valum and his followers is striking. His clothes are clean, simple, and monochrome, his baring noble. He is a pillar of civilization, leading his people into a battle for their salvation like a saint or priest. His difference from his soldiers is as clear as the difference between the literal cross he bares for his people, and the dead rabbits on a pole that they carry.

Next, a montage of Blur Pans reveals three pre-battle rituals. A Dead Rabbit smears his face with mud, like his primal Irish forbearers. A Plug Ugly stuffs his hat with rags for protection, showing adaptability to the new country. A priest raises a chalice of wine to a crude cross. The Low Angle shows his reverence. The jagged stained-glass chalice provides the first spot of color in a scene dominated by earth tones and shadows, showing that religion is the only bright spot in the lives of these people.

Soon, other inhabitants of the Old Brewery are revealed. The dancing and drumming of the Blacks is totally different from Irish, foreshadowing their later conflict, but here, both groups coexist and ignore each other, as happens in modern New York.

Focus returns to Amsterdam’s Low Angle perspective, and he and Jonny speak the first dialogue in the scene, not counting the priest, who’s babbled prayers are not his own words. Amsterdam is matter-of-fact in his devotion to the cause, as he is capable of seeing it. he has a child’s conception of the coming battle, and is not afraid. The camera pans up to the man holding the rabbit pole. He sees the adult world, of which he is a tiny and vulnerable part, and there is fear in his eyes. As the gang climbs the stairs, the camera slowly zooms out in the first establishing shot, revealing the innards of the Old Brewery. As the audience realizes how small and insignificant the Dead Rabbits are, shouts and noise almost drown out the music.

True to their names, “Priest” Vallon leads his people, “Monk” McGinn stands apart. McGinn’s mercenary spirit and the nearness of the destination lower the spirits of the gangs, and the music fades. McGinn is first seen in a Long Shot, slouched in the shadows, but as his interest in the money grows, he and the camera get closer together, in an “American” Shot and then a Close Up. When he agrees to join the fight, he and Vallon come together in a Two Shot for the first time. Yet, Vallon is barely in the frame, showing that though McGinn will do his job, he is not really committed to Vallon. When he agrees to help the Dead Rabbits, the music swells back to its former height, but it vanishes the moment the door is kicked open, to reveal outside world. The camera exits through the open door in a Tracking Shot which becomes an Establishing Shot for Paradise Square.

The inside of the Old Brewery is a metaphor for the coffin ships that took the Irish to the new world. In its earlier establishing shot, it was huge, dark, crowded, wooden, and even listed slightly to one side. The outside world represents America, so McGinn, the closest to the door, is the least committed to the cause, while Vallon, who came the farthest, is the most committed. For a fee, McGinn opens the door to a world totally unlike the one the Irish are familiar with. The whites and cool colors clash totally with the warm darkness inside. The camera and scene are totally still, and the music stops instantly. Paradise Square is unfriendly, inhospitable, and alien, and from the moment they immerge, the Irish are met with violence and hostility.