Friday, December 20, 2002

R

For intense strong violence, sexuality/nudity, language

Crime, Drama

Leonardo DiCaprio, Daniel Day-Lewis, Liam Neeson, Cameron Diaz, Pete Postlethwaite, Henry Thomas

Martin Scorsese, Jay Cocks, Steven Zaillian

Martin Scorsese

Gangs of New York (2002)

Martin Scorsese’s “Gangs of New York” unfolds in 1860s lower Manhattan during a period of great unrest in America. With the Civil War underway, the country was torn apart and on the brink of chaos. For the lower-class inhabitants of New York City, a war was also raging closer to home.

Their home was the Five Points, one of the poorest neighborhoods in America, where rival gangs fought continuously for control of the streets. An area of poverty and criminality between New York harbor, the flourishing Wall Street business district, and lower Broadway (home to P. T. Barnum’s famous American museum), it was a magnet for underworld activity.

In this time of lawlessness and the rampant political corruption that filled the halls of city government, the film follows the story of Amsterdam Vallon (Leonardo Di Caprio), a young Irish-American immigrant. Released from prison after fifteen years, he returns to the Five Points bent on revenge against William Cutting, a.k.a. Bill the Butcher (Daniel Day Lewis), the powerful anti-immigrant gang leader who killed Amsterdam’s father. Amsterdam knows the first step toward accomplishing his mission is to infiltrate Bill's inner circle. However, Amsterdam finds his difficulties increasing when he meets Jenny Everdeane (Cameron Diaz), an enigmatic pickpocket whose fierce independence and undeniable beauty fascinate him. Yet Jenny has a past too, which unexpectedly complicates his plan.

Amsterdam's journey becomes a fight, for both personal survival and to find a place for his people. The struggle reaches a fevered crescendo during the 1863 Civil War Draft Riots - the most explosive episode of urban unrest the American nation had yet seen.