Vendetta

1999
6.1| 1h57m| en
Details

Based on a true story, Vendetta tells the shocking and tragic story of a group of Sicilian immigrants working on the New Orleans docks in the 1890's. After the Chief of Police was brutally murdered, much of the city's Sicilian population was rounded up and brought in for questioning. Eventually, thirteen were formally tried for murder and nine went to trial, and while they were acquitted, a series of brutal lynchings showed they had as much to fear from the city's general populace as they did from the corrupt police force.

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Also starring Pierrino Mascarino

Reviews

Fairaher The film makes a home in your brain and the only cure is to see it again.
BeSummers Funny, strange, confrontational and subversive, this is one of the most interesting experiences you'll have at the cinema this year.
Gurlyndrobb While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.
Janis One of the most extraordinary films you will see this year. Take that as you want.
lastliberal African Americans were not the only group lynched in the US. In the 1890s, there were six lynchings of Italians, three of them in Louisiana. This is the story of one such lynching in New Orleans.After the emancipation in 1865, the power in New Orleans imported Sicilians to replace the African American. After a time, they came to regret this decision, as the Italian population grew to about 30,000 by 1890. They, particularly James Huston (Christopher Walken), set about trying to play the two factions of Sicilians (the Machecas and the Provenzanos) against each other.It should be noted that politically correct terminology is not used for the two races.Since the Sheriff (Andrew Connolly) wouldn't go along with the Mayor (Kenneth Welsh) and the other leaders, he was disposed of. Another policeman (Luke Askew) reported that "dagos" did it and riots ensued. Six men were pointed out by a "witness" that was intimidated by the police.A "trial" was held, but the results weren't what the town expected, so they took matters into their own hands, stirred up by the Mayor with threats by Huston that it will be done "with you or without you." Of course, many more were murdered in the real event that took place, but this is a movie.Huston got what he wanted.
cobram-1 No wonder this movie was never exhibited in theaters, after all, who would believe a Hollywood movie plot that doesn't portray Italians as belonging to the mafia? This movie is a good reminder that every group that has ever existed has had its problems and it's persecutors, and that the animosity usually boils down to economic reasons. Every group has something to be resentful about, the successful ones are those that put the past behind them and look to the future. I do have trouble with the title though, unless of course it was meant as an ironic title, since there was no Vendetta in the main plot. Christopher Waken stands out with another great performance, he is totally believable in his role, and his acting doesn't disappoint. This movie could have been much better if it hadn't brushed over the personal lives of the characters, but I think the filmmakers had to decide on whether to concentrate on the factual story or an in depth character study of the immigrant experience. Had they decided to pursue both in this case it probably would have made an excellent mini-series
albert-35 This was a fairly interesting historical drama, but the portrayals were so black and white that the story seemed improbable to me. I suspect the true story is a bit more "gray" than the movie suggests. Our politically correct society allows these one sided views only when the "white anglo saxon protestant" male is the villain.
Dale-40 This film is based on a real story of a century ago that probably is not in any of the New Orleans tourist brochures. Thirty thousand Italians were brought into New Orleans between the end of the Civil War and 1890 as a source of cheap labor to work on the docks and in the farm produce market. There is real money to be made and some of the most powerful men in the city resent the wealth of two Italians who have given their countrymen an incentive to be very productive. The police chief who won't go along with a takeover plot hatched by the mayor and the men who have put the mayor in power is assassinated. A group of Italians who are in the wrong place at the wrong time and the two wealthy Italian businessmen are framed. After the courtroom drama, there is an even more dramatic finale.

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