Gangs of New York (2002)

Director: Martin Scorsese
Screenplay: Jay Cocks, Steven Zaillian, Kenneth Lonergan (based on the book by Herbert Asbury)
Cast: Leonardo DiCaprio, Daniel Day-Lewis, Cameron Diaz
Music: Howard Shore
Time: 162 minutes
Bottom-line: Almost entirely a Daniel Day-Lewis show

Martin Scorsese’s first collaboration with Leonardo DiCaprio, and my least favourite, Gangs of New York is a historical drama set in the 19th century. Daniel Day-Lewis, Cameron Diaz, Jim Broadbent also play the lead roles. While the story is boring many a time, Scorsese’s direction and the electrifying performances provide lots of entertainment. The film was nominated for ten Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Director and Actor (Day-Lewis).

1843 - In a battle between the Native Americans, led by Bill “The Butcher” Cutting (Day-Lewis) and the Irish Catholics, led by Priest Vallon (Liam Neeson), Bill murders Vallon in front of Vallon’s son, Amsterdam. 16 years later, Amsterdam (DiCaprio) returns from Hellgate orphanage to take revenge on Bill. He is anonymously introduced to Bill, and he becomes part of Bill’s gang. Amsterdam plans to execute Bill in public. Meanwhile, Amsterdam also falls in love with Jenny (Diaz), a pickpocket. Does Amsterdam take revenge on Bill, even though the latter seems to know everything and everyone around him? Watch Gangs of New York to find out!

DiCaprio as Amsterdam 

This is perhaps the first film where DiCaprio has an ‘adult’ look. His performance was good, but not one of his best works. I didn’t like his hairstyle, and his accent didn’t work that well either. Cameron Diaz was pretty close to useless in this film... I didn’t like her acting at all, except in one or two scenes. But the star was Daniel Day-Lewis. He plays one of the most fearsome and violent villains I have seen, and with what style too! Day-Lewis puts on a New York accent, and in spite of suffering from pneumonia, he delivers a magnificent performance. The character of Bill is weird; while you loathe him for committing such cold-blooded murders, you admire him at the same time for his talent with knives; and Day-Lewis is the perfect fit for playing Bill.

Day-Lewis as Bill

The story is very violent; there is a lot of bloodshed, a lot of murder and lots of fighting. There are many unnecessary scenes throughout the film, and hence, the film is at times very slow. It is also a bit difficult to remember the names of all the characters. But few parts were interesting, and the knife-throwing scene was perhaps the best of the lot. In that one scene, you drop all your hatred towards Bill and just stare in amazement at his talent and style. Scorsese does well to portray almost the entire character sketch of Bill in just that 5 minute scene.

Diaz as Jenny

But though the story was boring, I liked Scorsese’s direction. He gives importance to the different accents of the different ‘gangs’ of New York. The cinematography and production design were superb too. I liked the ending of the film, where the formation of modern-day New York is shown smoothly. The score was good at some places. During the closing credits, the band U2’s song ‘The Hands that Built America’ is played, and I liked the song too.

So, Scorsese’s Gangs of New York should be watched mainly for Scorsese’s direction, the settings and Day-Lewis’ classy performance. The story is very boring; DiCaprio’s acting is fairly good, but Diaz’s acting could have been much better. But out of all the Oscars the film was nominated for, it deserved only Best Actor and Best Art Direction. Now that I have seen all five Scorsese-DiCaprio films, I feel that The Aviator is their best work together, followed by The Departed, and then Shutter Island. The Wolf of Wall Street comes next, and lastly, Gangs of New York.

My Rating: 3/5
Rotten Tomatoes rating: 75%