ULASAN FILEM
“I got Harlem. I took care of Harlem, so Harlem’s gonna take care of me.”
Directed by Ridley Scott, ROZLIN RUSHARMEEN ROSMIN describes the
terror in the movie, ‘American Gangster’ and how it has really stepped up
the game for Scott in creating his masterpiece.
H
arlem, a large neighbourhood located in
the northern part of the New York City of
Manhattan. The place where it is said to
be hectic and crowded with people, walk-
ing down the street and minding their own business.
The ambience of Harlem during 1970’s is successfully
interpreted in the movie American Gangster (2007).
Directed by Ridley Scott, a well-known director that is
recognized through his significant masterpiece such as
Hannibal (2001), Black Hawk Down (2001) and Rob-
in Hood (2010). The film focuses on the bad-guy Har-
lem drug lord, Frank Lucas (Denzel Washington) and
the good-guy determined cop, Richie Roberts (Russell
Crowe) who is hunger in taking the bad-guy down.
108 . SASARAN JURNAL KRITIKAN MEDIA
It starts with an unmerciful scene where Frank
burns down his target and repeatedly shoots him while
the audience is left perplexed and the the screaming
sound from the victim is clearly heard. Frank, who
works as a loyal driver, bodyguard and coat holder to
his famous boss, Bumpy Johnson who dies in the first
four minutes of the film. After promised himself to track
down all the people that have been owning money from
his boss, he, who inherits the crime empire decides to
corner the New York drug trade with splendid capital-
ist strategies that none of the gangsters use in generat-
ing their business, not even the mafias of the Harlem.