User reviews

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.

A very good made-for-TV-movie.

A great cast , some good performances, but above all, a great story. As is almost always the case, the best stories are the true stories, the ones that actually occurred. Often they exceed our imagination, as is the case with this one. Hadn't I known that this was a true story, I would have deemed the plot to be far fetched, unrealistic... Goes to say...

Watch this film if you can, it will teach you a little about the past and how some great fortunes where made at that time, the movie is definitely worth it.

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.

As a descendant of Charles Matranga, and a former New Orleanian who has done extensive research into this historical era, I can absolutely assure that this movie, like many "Hollywood" movies, is so factually incorrect it is laughable, and somewhat offensive. My great grandfather, known also as "Millionaire Charlie" Matranga, one of the original founders of the New Orleans Sicilian Mafia (the first "family" in the USA, before New York) was most definitely not an "innocent fruit vendor turned scapegoat" as portrayed in this debacle. In fact, he was the original true Godfather very much like the fictional Don Vito Corleone, before the time of the Godfather films. Clearly, the filmmakers chose to ignore the several in-depth investigations easily accessible in libraries, although not widely known by the American public. Truth is, The New Orleans Mafia has been operating for well over a hundred years in relative obscurity, while the New York and Chicago Mafiosi have received a lot of attention. I think the fact of this lack of attention to the New Orleans mafia was probably not lost on the filmmakers, who may have purposely used it to their advantage thinking that most people wouldn't know the historical reality otherwise. While there were indeed many innocent Italians who suffered extreme prejudice and violence, the major players in the assassination of police chief Hennessey, and some of which were victims of the consequent lynching, were most definitely Sicilian-born and descended Mafiosi or associates. Hennessey himself was a corrupt cop, from a family of corrupt cops, who willingly chose the "wrong side" to align himself with in the battle over the New Orleans docks and territory between the Matranga and Provenzano families. I have never seen a film which has so blatantly distorted historical events as "Vendetta". Instead of using the opportunity to make a historically accurate film to show the rise and motivations of the first American family of the Sicilian mafia(as an accurate "prequel" of sorts to "The Godfather"), the true plight of Italian immigrants in a foreign and often inhospitable land, and the operations of corrupt political, judicial, and law enforcement systems (akin to Scorsese's Gangs of New York), instead the filmmakers decided to make a revisionist, "politically correct", fictional debacle and have the shameful audacity to say it is "based on true events". In short, the film is based on bullshit. The truth may not be what people want it to be, and I certainly don't want to believe my ancestor was a murderer and criminal, but it is what it is. He had his reasons. People did what they thought they had to do, for the survival and success of their families and themselves. Some innocent people died as collateral damage, and for this reason, the American Mafia established a "rule" that is generally followed to this day - don't kill cops, especially not the chief cop, or major crap will happen, sometimes to innocent people, sometimes to the guilty. This movie doesn't really show or suggest that, although in reality, that was probably the most important take-home message of the actual events. In short, don't watch this film if you're looking for a movie that is even remotely historically correct. It's a damn shame, because Christopher Walken is one of the finest actors of our time. Ask yourself this - if this film's portrayal really was the way it was - why was it made into a TV movie, and not a cinematic release ? Why ?...because it's malarkey, that can easily be verified as such... by reading a book.

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.

Although it has one of the more depressing endings ever filmed (and I normally don't like that kind of thing), I was unable to stop watching it. The story, no doubt simplified for the screen, was engaging and has me interested in seeking out Gambino's book to get the broader picture as well as the facts. :) Christopher Walken's accent was a tad iffy, but he wasn't the main attraction of the film. The collection of players were extremely well-balanced so that everyone had a chance to do their stuff and be memorable and they were! Darragh O'Malley as the Irish investigator was a pleasure to see after the days of Sharpe's Rifles and Joaquim de Almeida likewise captured interest with his diginified performance. Bruce Davison and Edward Herrmann as the warring attornies were also solid and interesting. I completely enjoyed this film.

9/10

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

The story is great, and the actors are very good too. I guess I like the story more than the acting. Though it has no happy ending, but it feels real. Wonderful movie.

Vendetta is a tough film to watch without feeling sadness and outrage, but such is the stuff that HBO churns out, honest pieces of history that sting you with their refusal to honey coat or gloss over the nasty details (I'm looking at you, History Channel). This one takes place in 1890 New York City, a time of mass Irish and Italian immigration which spurred a ton of unrest among those already settled and raised in that area. Everyone is fighting tooth and nail for a piece of the pie and a chance to feed their families, and the ones with a bunch of pie just greedily want more. The influx of Italians is a cause for insidious worry for James Houston (Christopher Walken), an obscenely wealthy and deeply corrupt piece of schit. He's joined by equally nasty William Parkinson (Luke Askew), and Mayor Joe Shakespeare (Kenneth Welsh), as the trio cook up an evil scheme to implicate a few young Italian men in the mysterious death of a sympathetic and kindly Irish police chief (Clancy Brown). This sets in motion a tragic outbreak of riots and and angry acts of violence against the Italians. Even their union representitive Joseph Macheca (Joaquim De Almeida) cannot bring peace or stop what Walken and team have started. You may think why make a film of this, as it heads straight for the bleakest of resolutions, but I think it's important to shine a light on even the darkest patches of history, in order to understand the levels of deception and human cruelty so that we may see it coming before it's too late next time around. This was a terrible, terrible event and the film hits you square in the face with it's blunt truth and unwavering honesty. Kudos to HBO fpr taking it on. Watch for the late Edward Herrmann and Bruce Davison as rival lawyers in the chaos.

Theodore Roosevelt was contemptuous of races and nations he considered inferior. When a mob in New Orleans lynched a number of Italian immigrants, Roosevelt thought the United States should offer the Italian government some remuneration, but privately he wrote his sister that he thought the lynching was "rather a good thing" and told her he had said as much at a dinner with "various dago diplomats . . . all wrought up by the lynching."

This was the attitude of America in 1891. The New York Times on March 14, 1891, published an article describing the events in this film with the following headline: CHIEF HENNESSY AVENGED; ELEVEN OF HIS Italian ASSASSINS LYNCHED BY A MOB. The attitude of the whites in New Orleans can best be summed up by the comments from one businessman, "I would rather have a thousand Chinamen, than one Italian.

This information is critical to understanding the movie, the truth of which is well documented. It was not just African Americans that suffered lynching after the Civil War, many Italians suffered the same fate across the country, but mostly in the South.

Timothy Prager's script hewed very closely to Richard Gambino's book. The performances were outstanding, particularly Christopher Walken, Joaquim de Almeida, and Clancy Brown, in the short time he was on screen. Alessandro Colla and Megan McChesney provided a romantic distraction amid the chaos. This was their only screen roles, and they did very well.

I am grateful to Alan DiFiore, Mark Israe,Sue Jett,Gary Lucchesi,Tony Mark, Nicholas Pileggi, and Gary A. Randall for making this important film.

As this is a true story, it is an awful story indeed. Its is masterfully recaptured and reconstructed, from the smallest details and the advent of the chief protagonist, a young greengrocer from Sicily and his first arduous trials and horrible experiences of American justice, developed incident by incident to the last apocalyptic atrocities in the very heart of New Orleans in 1891, Theodore Roosevelt himself expressing his approval of the gross outrage. The camera work is admirable all the way, the story of the main crook James Houston (Christopher Walken) with his intrigues and shadowy manoeuvres is gradually revealed, and the creation of this extremely important film must be highly admired and praised. It strikes the very heart and core of the lynching mentality in a fabulously precise anatomy of this dreadful phenomenon, which unfortunately always has been marked as typically American. It is a horrible film of injustice running amuck to extreme length, but as such it is vitally important. Yet it was only a TV film, and the title is totally misplaced - the one thing missing here is any vendetta.

I loved the movie! It had a great story behind it, and the acting was terrific! As a member of the City of Kingston, I was proud to have lived in the city during the filming period! but then again, thats just my opinion, go rent it, and judge it for yourself, not everyone has the same taste in movies. I was absolutly Superb! Enjoy the show!

people should be grateful for true history.so that nobody forgets.it's a great movie and somewhat a documentation.i would like to thank hbo for making movies that are true. i hope that hbo keeps these movies coming,that's how most people discover history and learn the truth.

This seemed like a really good movie. Now I'm not sure if that's because I worked as an extra in it and the sight of myself in an HBO movie just overwelmed me or if it was good by itself. It has some great courtroom drama if you like that sort of thing.