Review of Gangs of New York (2002) by Essama — 26 May 2019

The story of the movies revolves around Amsterdam Vallon (played by Leonardo DiCaprio) who is young Irish immigrant to the US and recently released from prison. With the view of seeking revenge from his father’s murdered Bill cutting (played by Daniel Day-Lewis). Bill is the leader of an anti-immigrant gang and possesses great hold over the region. Amsterdam is aware of the fact that the revenge he is seeking can only be taken if he gains the trust of Bill. The journey of Amsterdam turns into a fight for his own survival. He also makes attempts to become well known among the people of the 1860s living in New York and have irish origins. The film was directed by Martin Scorsese and produced by Harvey Weinstein and Alberto Grimindi.

A number of truisms have been portrayed by the movie, both broadly and contextually. The life in the Five points has been efficiently depicted by Martin in the film. Attention to the smallest of details was paid by him and his team. The customs, language and set accurately depicted what five points had looked like. It will not be wrong to say that some of the audience might had got the feeling that they were actually at the five points. There were two reasons for the popularity of five points i.e. the nativist and the Irish street gangs. Problems among the blacks, the protestants, the Catholics and the Irish have also been presented in the movie. Moreover, a historically accurate portrayal of the riots that occurred as a result of the Conscription Act of 1863 have also been presented in the film. However, the deconstruction process indicated that the places were nothing but almost purely fiction. Gangs of New York by Herbert Asbury does provide inspiration and historical background for the film to some extent. Herbert was a newspaper delivery man and become famous because of his salacious writing about the underworld of New York. However, his writings were usually based on myths rather than actual facts. There is no doubt that the area of five points was known for its violence, however exaggerated scenes filled with bloodshed and explosions have been presented in the movie. The five points’ author Tyler Anbinder, a Professor, claims that, contrary to the common misconception, the city was more productive and less violent and dangerous. A great many immigrants that arrived there were skilled workers.

The movie is set in the year 1862 when a young immigrant of Irish origin named Amsterdam Vallon comes back to the area of Five Points area in the city New York to seek the revenge for the murder of his father from Bill “the Butcher” cutting.

In my opinion, the is perfect as far as the acting, production, direction etc. are considered. It can be taken as a “more than one-time watch” movie if you ask a cinephile. However, there are a number of historical accuracies and inaccuracies depicted by the film. For example, more violence has been depicted in the movies than that that actually used to happen in the five points area of New York city. Murders and armed attacks were not as common as portrayed in the film. It can be said that the movie did depict historical events. However, the intensity of the violence related to those very events has been exaggerated to a considerably high degree. No doubt the movie can is quite entertaining, especially for those who are fond of watching violence and crimes in movies. Moreover, crimes were also brilliantly depicted by Martin in the movie.