Customer Reviews

Vendetta

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Walken is a joy to watch, but the whole movie is bland. There is no cohesive feeling of a city and its people. We do not get a flavor of the population in and out of New Orleans. The violence is too contrived and meaningless. We see no real port, just a market where the central action takes place. This is a very low budget film and it shows. The history involved is not accurate.

I enjoyed this film, but the someone should have told the propmaster that whiskey bottles at the turn of the century (the previous century) did not have barcodes!!

I am a Christopher Walken fan and did a search using his name for movies he has been in that I might not have heard of. You know, a hidden, unseen by human eyes, jewel. To quote a famous guy "Dis ain't it". Chris makes a couple of good appearances but the movie is centered on corrupt politicians' attempts to lengthen their hold on the local economy by eliminating the competition through nefarious means.

If you're looking for more of Chris, I'd pass.

When we hear of lynchings we often think of African-Americans being strung up by the KKK. But the biggest mass lynching by a vigilante mob in the U.S. happened in 1890 to the Italian immigrants of New Orleans. HBO should be commended for having to courage to make a film about the most tragic time in Italian-American history.

In the film, 20 Italians were arrested at random and put on trial for the shooting murder of Police Chief Hennessy, an Irishman who may have been prejudiced towards Italians but would not lock them up unless he had concrete evidence against them. In other words, conspiracy and membership in a group whose name was heard for the first time--the Mafia.

In the trial, the Italians were acquitted. But that didn't stop a crazed vigilante mob from breaking into the city jail with shotguns and blowing them all away. (The film, however, shows that two do survive.) When the king of Italy heard about this he almost started a war with the US. Instead, then President Benjamin Harrison gave $25,000 in restitution, and everyone forgot about it. But not the Italians who witnessed the bloodshed for themselves. It's too bad the Mafia weren't there at that time; they could've fought back.

All the trouble starts when Mr. Houston, played by Christopher Walken, wants to get control of the docks which are run successfully by Mr. Macheca and the Provenzano family. He relies on the corrupt law system, but even the DA, played by Edward Herrmann, believes there's no case. He says, "Why would Macheca be with the Mafia? He's rich. He's got nothing to gain and everything to lose." The prejudice of the city fathers is remarkable. They always refer to Italians as either dagos or Italians with "I" pronounced like "eye".

In the end Mr. Houston takes over the business which Macheca built up from the bottom by himself. A statue is raised to the memory of Hennessy; but is there a monument in New Orleans to the killed Italians? It's amazing to see how some people thought nothing of toting shotguns and committing murder. Viewers of the film "Rosewood" will find this familiar ground.

One more thing: Unlike other ethnic groups, Italians have never bought into the cult of victimology. They do not issue calls for reparations. But every Italian-American should be aware of what happened a century ago in New Orleans. To this day there are still morons who believe that all Italian-Americans are part of the Mafia. And TV shows like "The Sopranos", now matter how riveting, do not help the image of these people, either. If you are Italian, and you see this movie, you will cry like the Jews after the Holocaust--"Never Again! Never Again!".

I believe this movie should be more widely known & seen. I picked this up in a large lot of movies I bought on eBay. I had never heard of it & had low expectations. I thought it was one of the most powerful movies I've seen, particularly because it is based on a true story that is no longer widely known. I thought it was well made & particularly well acted. The start was a bit rough & the budget circumscribes the range of the movie a little but otherwise it was excellent. Very appropos of the current dialogue on immigration. But especially poignant as a case study of injustice, corruption & the mob mentality. The end is quite chilling.

This film is a forgotten contribution to public understanding of the history no history teacher wants to tell you. That is precisely why you need to see this movie. While it is not at the same quality level as "Gangs of New York" there are definitely highlights of quality work. Christopher Walken has a special style of playing villains. When you are ready to shoot him, you have to realize he just "got you." This is the mark of a real actor in a villain role. This is basically one of the most compelling stories of political corruption, and was the largest lynching in American history. Many good Italian American families suffered in the process.

I would like to start out by saying that I have not seen this movie, but, I am rather curious about the storyline,
screenplay, perfomance, and fictional accounts possibly related to immigration. I hate explicit sex, violence, and inaccurate information protrayed in storylines and I am not looking to be merely entertained.

I am a "big fan of Christopher Walken", and I find him to be somewhat captivating in certain roles he protrays, but, some of the movies he has been in leaves a lot less to be desired and what a waste of good talent. Did any of you feel that Chris and the other actors represented the character roles accurately? What year was this storyline representing? I did not care much for amazon's synopsis of this movie.

Folks, if you are going to critique a movie, especially a movie that has not been viewed by the general populace,
please give more of a indepth review of the storyline. I would love to know as much as possible about the main
elements of the storyline. Did any of you read the book? Did any of you feel that the writer, producer, and director achieve the main focal point of what the movie was suppose to be about? What do you feel that they could have done to make the storyline more believable? Bigotry and racism is an age old problem, especially in the U.S. and nothing is being done about it, did the writer and or producer address any of the issues which the immigrants were facing? Why not?

I have stage 4 renal cancer and severe heart disease and cannot get out of the house to go anywhere anymore, so, I depend heavily on your movie reviews and critiques. Please also give reviews about the time element in the screenplay and weather or not it was historically accurate, correct and consistent. Was this movie about labor
disputes for un-documented immigrants? I hope that I do not come across as a nut but I love history and issues on
civil rights.

I love reading some of your reviews. I wish that I could read my books but the cancer has destroyed a good part of my body including my eyes. I purchase a lot of movies from amazon based upon some of your reviews and I am not one who invest money on garbage. I am looking for a bite of accurate history in films as well the entertainment factor, which really is not that important to me.

Please give a good synopsis of the storyline, acting, and the time period. I hope I am not offending anyone. If I
am please accept my apologies. I really wanted to purchase this film, but, after reaading the reviews, I am not certain. Thank you for your time and patience, God bless you.

This HBO film is based on true and tragic events, which is well-made and interesting. The DVD is in 1.33:1 aspect ratio with high quality picture and sound.

African-Americans and Jews were not the only ethnic groups to bear the brunt of violent, narrow-minded bigotry in the land of the free. In the late 19th century, Italians in New Orleans were lynched for a trumped up charge based on the pure greed of the "city fathers". Greed, said Gordon Gecko in the movie Wall Street, is good. Wrong, Gordon.

Greed is corruption. Corruption is inextricably and inevitably linked to violence. When some people are greedy, other people get hurt. Or die. That's what happened. This made-for-HBO film, Vendetta, is a well thought out depiction of the events culminating in the terrible slaughter of Italians at that time. Although Christopher Walken is the marquis player--and he is, as usual, really good--credit should also go to the supporting players, all of whom were well cast here. Kenneth Welsh, Edward Herrmann, Bruce Davison, Clancy Brown, Richard Libertini, and the younger actors whose roles are the Provenzano brothers and Gaspare Marchese are all excellent.

Many people, including myself (Jewish), did (or do) not know about this horrific event. It is to HBO's credit that they dramatized this telefilm under the direction of Nicholas Meyer (The Seven-Percent Solution, The Day After). Credit should also go to writer Timothy Prager whose script is rock solid. HBO has produced many well-crafted cable TV films and this is certainly one of them.

Will greed in America ever go away? This film says no. And I think that's true. It will certainly continue to be in place with the man currently running things in a white office that not quite circular, circa 2005. He's not a tree, he's a (fill in the blank).

Definitely recommended.

Taking a look back into the time of 1890, in what is now the party central Mardi Gras area of New Orleans, Walken is a dominating sadist who controls the government and cotton industry. Basically Walken runs the town, and tries to eliminate the Italiens, whom he perceives as the problem of the area. Typical of movies of this nature, the problem is himself and his overwhelming greed that ends up killing some prominant Italien immigrants. Two thumbs up, but hey `I AM ON THE COVER, THE GUY IN THE BROWN SUIT LEADING THE MOB'. Although I'm on the cover, I'm no real part in this movie, about three seconds to be exact. OH WELL EH! Rent this movie, it is a powerful depiction of a time in our history, thank GOD, that we do not have to fight through again. The laws that we have today are established for us, through true heroes who fought through the rich and powerful to make 3 cents an hour. Mayer's uses the Italien immigration time of 1890, and the horrible imagery of lynching innocent labourers, to illustrate this point to us, who more or less take this for granted today. Really look at the heart of this movie, and understand how lucky we really are today....