The characterization of Cyrus in The Warriors (1979)

The man himself -- Cyrus. Can you dig it?

In Walter Hill's The Warriors (1979), the character of Cyrus is present in but a single scene, for he is killed within the first half hour. Nonetheless, his brief appearance is replete with characterization. He is at once vehement and eloquent, commanding total respect and attention from his audience; an intellectual and a strategist, considering his ambition to run New York through a massive, unified gang; and a true leader, with all of his followers pledging allegiance. Whereas all others in the courtyard setting are darkly lit, crowded together, and uniformly dressed, Cyrus is in the spotlight, in the center stage, in the garb of a king.

In this scene, Cyrus, leader of the Gramercy Riffs, New York's most powerful gang, has called for a conference of all of the gangs in the city to hear his proposal: should they all unite, the gangs of New York could outnumber and therefore theoretically overtake all of the city's institutions, political, economic, social -- the whole shebang. The obstacle faced by Cyrus is the potential for rejection; perhaps the representatives could find his suggestion bogus, or perhaps they may be distrustful of another gang member, regardless of his appeal and charisma. However, through his delivering of a veritable clinic of public speaking, he is able to overcome this challenge overwhelmingly superbly; the overall consensus of the "suckas" in the crowd is that they can, indeed, "dig it."