Original artwork, not a still
I want this guy dead! I want his family dead! I want his house burned to the ground! I want to go there in the middle of the night and piss on his ashes!
— The Untouchables · 1987
Behind the line
What it means
Our interpretation.
It is the screaming-gangster speech boiled down to its most quotable, most vulgar escalation: each demand tops the last until there is nothing left to burn. De Niro plays the rage as theatre, a boss who has been made to look small. Fans quote the last image on its own, and the build-up is a ready-made template for comic overreaction.
Context reviewed
In context
Spoilers for The UntouchablesShow the scene
In Brian De Palma's 1987 Prohibition drama, written by David Mamet, Robert De Niro's Al Capone loses his temper over Eliot Ness's Untouchables. He tells his men to find the "Nancy-boy" Ness and kill him, then escalates: his family dead, his house burned to the ground, and Capone himself there in the night to piss on the ashes. The popular form drops the name and the opening demand to get Ness "where he breathes"; in the film the target is named. The story moves on towards the tax-evasion case that finally brings Capone down.
Sources (2)
- Wikiquote: The Untouchables (film)Section 'Al Capone'Reference checked
- Wikipedia: The Untouchables (film)PlotReference checked
Context reviewed
