Ok I am going to be very unbiased about my opinions about this movie disregarding Scorsese’s earlier works. I am first going to take stab at it from a 30, 000 feet level view and then probably have a closer look. So what’s the plot?! Two gangs, two gang leaders, one of them kills the other and many many years later the son of the deceased leader comes back to avenge his father’s death...end of story. Sorry to spill the beans folks but I don’t think there was much to hide about this movie. And also sorry for not being impressed about the story because we Indians have seen this overkill over and over again in Hindi films. What’s the difference then...in the details I guess and the whole packaging, some brilliant scenes and dramatics and the historical relevance.
“Gangs of New York” tries to tell a story of revenge using a fascinating and turbulent period of American history as the backdrop. Scorsese probably wanted to make it look like an epic, but it falls short of it, although he has crafted the whole piece with lot of attention to details pertaining to accents, sets, make-ups, costumes and the whole feel.
Daniel Day-Lewis returns to the screen after a hiatus of 5 years with a bang and he proves again that he is still one of the brilliant and intense actors in the business. The story is set in 1860s, New York during the times of American Civil war, but starts with a short prologue in 1846. The prologue shows the gang war between the New York-born Nativists (who are anti-black and anti-immigrant) and the immigrant Dead Rabbits. Bill the Butcher (Daniel Day-Lewis) is the leader of the New York-born Nativists and Priest Vallon (Liam Neeson) is the leader of the immigrant Dead Rabbits. Bill slays Priest Vallon in this battle. Amsterdam, the priest’s son witnesses his father’s death and escapes to come back one day. 16 years later the grown up Amsterdam enacted by Leonardo DiCaprio comes back to Five Points in lower Manhattan to settle his score. He sees that Bill now rules the Five Points with an iron fist and he needs to be working with his head than his heart. During this process of blending in to the Five Points community and also becoming a confidante of Bill, he starts having a love interest in Jenny Everdeane (Cameron Diaz), an ex-flame of Bill, a woman pickpocket. So the finale is about how Amsterdam achieves his revenge, although I am not so sure if he really achieves one. There are some good performances by the supporting cast in Jim Broadbent as Tammany boss Tweed and Brendan Gleeson as ’’Monk’’.
But time and again I could not help associating this movie to an average Hindi revenge movie for it’s each prominent characters and also for its length probably (2hrs 45 min). The difference lies in the toned-down melodramatics, which makes these characters more believable and more acceptable in our minds. What I gained through this movie is an insight into sprawling history of the turbulence of New York in the mid-1800s which the director has brought into life in a very meticulous and spectacular manner. It is amazing to find out that New York was what it was in the 1800s (ugly, abject poverty, prostitution, gory). The movie does become a little drag towards the end. But to sum it up some brilliant scenes, some brilliant dramatics from Daniel Day-Lewis and insight into the history of New York makes this movie worth watching. Great attempt, a good product!
Rated R (Violence, profanity, sex, nudity)
Some Cast and Credits
Cast: Leonardo DiCaprio, Daniel Day-Lewis, Cameron Diaz, Jim Broadbent, John C. Reilly, Henry Thomas, Brendan Gleeson, Liam Neeson
Director: Martin Scorsese
Producers: Martin Scorsese, Alberto Grimaldi, Harvey Weinstein
Screenplay: Jay Cocks and Steven Zallian and Kenneth Lonergan
Cinematography: Michael Ballhaus
Music: Howard Shore
© Roshan Thomas