Boondock Saints
Boondock Saints
“Never shall innocent blood be shed, yet the blood of the wicked shall flow like a river. The three shall spread their blackened wings and be the vengeful striking hammer of God”. Connor and Murphy MacManus take justice into their own hands in the city of Boston, as if they are instruments of God Himself. The two brothers go to great lengths to clean up the scum from the streets. The Boondock Saints is a movie about religion, family and vigilante justice.
Connor and Murphy are Irish-Catholic fraternal brothers living in Boston. Sick and tired of dangerous men getting away with heinous crimes, they take matters into their own hands. After killing a man from the Russian Mob, they are tracked down by FBI agent Smecker. Rocco, the brothers’ close friend who has ties to the Italian Mafia, joins them in their pursuit of evil. In the end, Connor and Murphy are reunited with their father, Il Duce.
While the two brothers were resting on a metal slat in a jail cell, they are awoken by the same vision. Water drips from the ceiling on to the middle of Connor and Murphy’s forehead. They are recalling the words of the monsignor, look at one another and realizing what lies ahead for them. It was time to carry out their dangerous Mission from God.
The scene I chose is religious because it is symbolic of baptism. The water dripping down onto them was as if God Himself had given them permission to eradicate the wicked. In that moment it seemed like the brothers were reborn into new men. Men that were willing to kill for the greater good. Connor and Murphy didn’t need permission from man because they had it from God.
After the brawl at the bar, Ivan finds where the brothers live. With a gun pressed against his skull, Ivan tells Connor he is going to kill his brother and proceeds to handcuff him to the toilet. Ivan then takes Murphy downstairs to execute him but not before Connor, with all his might, rips the toilet from the floor. He is going to save his brother at any cost and Murphy would do the same for him. As Murphy prepares to meet his fate, Connor drops the toilet from the fifth floor onto Ivan, killing him instantly and saving his brother.
Love for family is powerful in this scene and it really set the tone for the rest of the movie. No matter what pain the brothers may experience, family was always first. It didn’t matter that Connors wrists were bleeding from the handcuffs, he was not going to let Murphy be killed. After Connor drops the toilet, he jumps from the fifth floor onto Ivan’s partner and is knocked out from the fall. Murphy picks him up and carries him away, showing that he would also do anything to protect his brother Connor.