#87698
11/24/2002 2:01 AM
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Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 4,189
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 4,189 |
I have never been able to get this to play, and, needless to say, I'm very dismayed. Can anyone else do so? I tried changing my RealPlayer7 connection settings to no avail. It's the first link next to the top dot. I now find it even more intriguing from a linguistic (and character) standpoint, because an article in the new Smithsonian, "Manhattan Mayhem", about the upcoming Scorsese film, Gangs of New York (about the brutal street warfare waged between immigrant groups in early-to-mid 19th century New York City), says a major key to authenticating the dialect and accents of the time was this rare 1892 wax recording of Walt Whitman (a native Long Islander and New Yorker) reciting four lines from Leaves of Grass. Whitman's accent would've been indicative of the nativists speech (the English and Dutch gangs who despised the Irish and other immigrants, and considered themselves entitled to native American soil). Quoting from the article (which I'll also supply a link to): "On it, the poet pronounces "world' as "woild," and the "a" of "an" nasal and flat, like "ayan." Tim Monich (the film's dialect coach) concluded that 19th century New Yorkers sounded something like Brooklyn cabbies of the mid-20th." I'm astonished to consider, that for all his literary eloquence, Walt Whitman spoke with a hard New York accent! That just never occured to me before.  so you're in good company, of troy!Also consulted by the dialect coach was The Rogue's Lexicon, a book of underworld idoms compiled in 1859 by a fomer New York City police chief who was fascinated by the inner life of gangs. (that Lexi sounds like a real treat for the hungry linguaphile! ) The voice recording: http://guweb2.gonzaga.edu/faculty/campbell/enl311/whitman.htmThe Smithsonian article: http://www.smithsonianmag.si.edu/smithsonian/issues02/dec02/gangs.html
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#87699
11/24/2002 3:18 AM
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Joined: Jun 2002
Posts: 7,210
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jun 2002
Posts: 7,210 |
I couldn't get it to play either. Real Player is a contradiction in terms...
formerly known as etaoin...
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#87700
01/08/2003 5:19 AM
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Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 4,189
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 4,189 |
I just saw Gangs of New York tonight. Excellent! Don't miss this one, folks. I don't want to ruin or influence, so I won't elaborate. Daniel Day-Lewis is superb. DiCaprio works fine here. The Smithsonian article about the production and the historical background will enhance your appreciation of the film, as Scorsese really strove for historical accuracy here. Here's the article lin, full text...the above link was just a 3 paragraph abstract...the article is a worthwhile read in itself, especially if you're a history buff): http://makeashorterlink.com/?D51031103Just one caution: if you don't have a stomach for gore, you might want to pass. But it's hard for me to recommend anyone miss this one.
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#87701
01/08/2003 11:32 AM
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Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 13,803
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 13,803 |
NPR had an interview with a historical expert on the subject. He said that his only historical problem was with the level of violence. Everything was pretty much calmer than depicted in the film.
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#87702
01/08/2003 4:11 PM
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Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 4,189
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 4,189 |
Yes, I felt the level of gang violence had probably been inflated a bit...but the violence of the draft riots was factual.
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#87703
01/08/2003 4:16 PM
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Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 13,803
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 13,803 |
He mentioned the draft riots, too, with the same conclusion. I think specifically, he said that there were no gunships sent to the fray.
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#87704
01/08/2003 4:59 PM
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Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 4,189
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 4,189 |
no gunships
True, I don't know why he did that. But otherwise the riot sequence was pretty spot-on...tamer even, in some respects. But I don't want to elaborate any further, since there's probably a lot of folks here who haven't seen it yet, and are planning to.
But, you know, even in striving for historical authenticity they always take some cinematic liberties for dramatic effect. Like in Gettysburg, where, during Pickett's Charge they had them climbing over the wooden fence and getting blown away like sitting ducks...looked great on film. But, actually, they had hatchet men who chopped the fence away so they could charge right through it. And historical accuracy was never more stressed than in the making of Gettysburg, but still they stretched it a bit. The 20th Maine, with Col. Chamberlain and his brother, were never relocated to the Union center before Pickett and Pettigrew's charge, either.
Saw the trailer for Gods and Generals last night, BTW...looks good. And Duvall's Lee sounds intriguing.
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#87705
01/08/2003 9:39 PM
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Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 1,819
Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 1,819 |
In reply to:
True, I don't know why he did that
Deus ex machina.
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#87706
01/08/2003 10:28 PM
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Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 508
addict
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addict
Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 508 |
Agreed, WO'N. It was a fine film. Daniel Day-Lewis was superb, but funny you should mention the dialect. I spent the first half of the movie trying to place his voice - to me, he sounded like someone else. I finally decided there was something about his intonation/accent that reminded me of Peter Falk's Columbo. Probably just my warped vocal memory but.  Maybe it was the glass eye  Or maybe I wasn't so far off base after all.
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#87707
01/08/2003 10:58 PM
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Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 4,189
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 4,189 |
Yes, Cutter's (Day-Lewis) accent is intriguing...it's a an attempt to recreate as authentically as possible, a mid-19th century New York accent, an extinct accent as it were (the accent has evolved and surely there are many elements remaining, such as when the article refers to a 50's NY Brooklyn cabbie). But they hired professional linguists and researched assiduously to authenticate it as closely as possible. So Day-Lewis had to, in effect, create an original accent, something the modern ear has never heard before. Pretty cool, huh?
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