Billy Bathgate (film)

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Movie
German title Billy Bathgate
Original title Billy Bathgate
Country of production United States
original language English
Publishing year 1991
length 102 minutes
Age rating FSK 16
Rod
Director Robert Benton
script Tom Stoppard
production Robert F. Colesberry , Arlene Donovan
music Mark Isham
camera Néstor Almendros
cut Alan Heim , Robert M. Reitano
occupation

Billy Bathgate is an American gangster film from 1991 . Directed by Robert Benton , the script was written by Tom Stoppard . The plot is based on the award-winning novel of the same name by EL Doctorow from 1989 .

action

The action takes place in New York City during the Prohibition and Great Depression in the 1930s . Billy grew up in poverty in Bathgate, the Bronx . In life as a gangster , he sees an opportunity for social advancement and seeks closeness to gang boss Dutch Schultz , whom he admires for his wealth and criminal skill and takes as a role model. After he cleverly gains access to one of the gang hiding places and meets Schultz there personally, he hires the shrewd boy, who from now on calls himself Billy Bathgate, for various menial jobs in his environment. But Kosher Nostra Schultz is under considerable pressure, as a potentially damning legal process is imminent. And the naive Bathgate soon gets a first impression of Schultze's brutality when he kills a fire inspector in his nervous tension when he enters his bar, disturbs him at lunch and obtrusively wants to collect the fire service tax. Shortly afterwards, through a tip from his accountant Otto Berman , Schultz also learns that his deputy Bo Weinberg is apparently cheating on him and making agreements with the competing Italian-American mafia about the redistribution of the New York neighborhoods.

Schultz has Weinberg and his lover Drew Preston kidnapped by loyal gang members and put on a boat. He himself arrives a little later in the company of the young Bathgate and enters the boat without him in which the two kidnapped people are. Bathgate initially remains undecided on the quay, but then bravely jumps onto the boat that has already cast off. There he is discovered by Schultz after a while and asked to enter the cabin in which Weinberg is tied to a chair and trapped with his feet in a metal bucket filled with hardening concrete. Weinberg tries to dissuade Schultz from his obvious plan, but receives only cynical comments. In order to punish and torment Weinberg even more, Schultz orders his men to bring his lover Drew Preston into the cabin, where he meets her for the first time and obviously takes a liking to her. He spares them, although something else was originally planned. Shortly afterwards, Irving and Bathgate drag the vineyard, which is trapped in the concrete of the metal bucket and additionally tied up, to the rail of the boat. There Irving Bathgate initially leaves the vineyard alone, who is struggling for balance while standing, and Weinberg forces the emotionally overwhelmed young Bathgate to promise to protect Drew Preston from Schultz. But even before Irving comes back to finish his job, Schultz himself steps onto the outside deck and kicks Weinberg in the back with a force, so that he loses his balance, falls over the rail and sinks into the sea.

Preston appears to be in an open marriage to her husband, who is apparently homosexual . The film indicates this fact with an obviousness: when Preston - accompanied by Bathgate - comes home, not only Preston's husband, but also another man gets up from behind a sofa.

Schultz tries to move the process to the province, where he is a sponsor and a. occurs at the local bingo , and he tries to bribe the prosecutor in charge . Even the powerful gang boss Lucky Luciano is present during a service celebrated for Schultz .

To what extent Preston gets involved with Schultz voluntarily or correctly assesses the danger for himself remains unclear in the film. Otto Berman is very critical of this affair with Preston and warns Schultz that Preston could become an incriminating witness for the murder of Weinberg. Bathgate, in turn, warns Preston of the dangers of knowing this murder.

When Schultz also shoots his leading debt collector for protection money , Bathgate has to let Lulu Rosenkrantz break his nose to make the blood stain plausible on the floor of the hotel.

Bathgate and Preston also get closer and sleep together; Bathgate is aware of the dicey situation. For Preston it still seems to be just a game, while Bathgate has already indirectly informed Preston of the murder plan from Berman, because Preston has to be in the racecourse box on time, although there is actually no reason for it. So Schultz decided to kill his new girlfriend after all. Bathgate secretly informs the husband; who turns out to be very influential; in any case, he is able to save his wife under police protection by taking her directly from the racetrack to a small plane and flying away with her.

Schultz is acquitted in the province, but the federal attorney has now also filed a lawsuit. An attempt at bribery through a trusted contact had failed and Bathgate had returned from this mission unsuccessfully. Schultz now wants to kill the prosecutor and freaks out in his usual way when he learns from Bathgate that Bo Weinberg had met Lucky Luciano before his death. This information came from Preston, whom Luciano had recognized in the church.

Otto Berman interprets this fact correctly and suspects that Luciano will take action against her. He fires Bathgate and tells him that the gang have never liked him. Bathgate leaves the place dejected. Shortly afterwards it becomes clear that Berman Bathgate wanted to save his life. The killers are already there; they take Bathgate prisoner, break into the building and shoot everyone present. Bathgate is kidnapped to Luciano, who is also supposed to be killed there. But he can convince Luciano that Dixie Davis has not only betrayed Schultz, but also wants to trick him. Luciano believes Bathgate and lets him go after telling him that he knows where he and his mother live and work. Luciano even leaves him his generous severance payment, which he had just received from Otto Berman.

Reviews

Roger Ebert described in the Chicago Sun-Times of November 1, 1991 the character of Billy Bathgate as colorless , Loren Dean in the leading role as a bad cast. He criticized the portrayal of Nicole Kidman as fake , for which he praised Dustin Hoffman's .

backgrounds

The gangsters mentioned with and around Dutch Schultz were real people; the described murder of Bo Weinberg and Schultz actually took place in a similar form. Weinberg's body was never found, however, and the type of killing described remains speculation. Schultz was murdered by Murder, Inc. , which carried out the assassination attempt with only three perpetrators - including escape drivers - while in the film at least five people appear to have carried out the crime.

The characters of Billy Bathgate and Drew Preston, on the other hand, are completely made-up fictional film characters without real role models; a mobster like Lucky Luciano - head of the Genovese family - in the sense of omertà - would never negotiate directly with a petty criminal non-member of La Cosa Nostra - like Billy Bathgate - or even make threats like in the film - against the mother of Bathgate Give witnesses.

Awards

Nicole Kidman was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress .

literature

Web links

See also