Gangs of New York

Gangs of New York is a film about Amsterdam Vallon's (Leonardo DiCaprio) quest for vengeance against the man that killed his father 15 years earlier during a very chaotic and violent time in New York's history. The backdrop of the movie is in the infamous Five Points area of New York City.

The film opens with Vallon's father and his gang of Irish immigrant named the Dead Rabbits preparing for battle against the William Cutting (Danielle Day-Lewis) led gang of self-proclaimed Natives. The Natives win the battle and Cutting, who is referred to as the Butcher, kills Vallon's father. Vallon witnesses his father's death and escapes in the vast backdrop of New York City afterward.

The film jumps ahead 15 years when Vallon returns to Five Points . While walking the streets he recognizes people who fought for and against his father years ago. He meets up with Johnny Sirocco (Henry Thomas), a boy that helped him escape Five-Points years ago. Sirocco introduces Vallon to the Butcher, who is now a menacing and powerful mob-like figure who rules over the activities of Five-Points. The Butcher takes a liking to Vallon and eventually Vallon begins working on his behalf.

Vallon meets Jenny Everdeane (Cameron Diaz) not long after returning to New York. There is tension between them throughout the film. They originally seem to despise each other. Everdeane steals a medal given to Vallon by his father and Vallon has to forcefully get it back. Later during a dance they show romantic feelings for each other, but Vallon walks away after he learns she has had relations with the Butcher. They eventually fall in love, which provides an interesting subplot to the film.

While at a local theater, Vallon surprisingly saves the Butcher's life by pushing him out the way of an assassin’s bullet. Vallon wants the Butcher dead, but by his own hand and in front of a large crowd as he celebrates his victory over the Dead Rabbits and the killing of Vallon's father.

Sirocco, who has feelings for Everdeane and is hurt when he Vallon and her in a romantic embrace, reveals Vallon's true identity to the Butcher. Vallon attempts to kill the Butcher at a Five-Points theater but the Butcher is waiting for his attempt on his life and stabs him in the stomach. The Butcher spares Vallon's life but burns him on his face with his hot knife and brands him a coward to the crowd.

Everdeane nurses Vallon back to health in the caves of the mission where his father and the Dead Rabbits would meet years ago. Vallon begins to gain influence in the Irish community because of his stand against the Butcher. Tensions in Five-Points spill over when the Butcher publicly murders a recently elected Irish sheriff. Vallon challenges the Butcher to a battle between the Natives and reinvigorated Dead Rabbits, which Vallon has organized.

The film concludes as the two gangs plans to face of in a repeat of the epic battle of 15 years earlier. The battle is planned during a time of civic unrest over the draft for the Civil War. The United States military converges on New York to squash the uprising and the battle between the Dead Rabbits and Natives is lost under the siege of cavalry soldiers and bombs from ships from the harbor. Vallon eventually kills the Butcher in the aftermath, avenges the death of his father.

The Gangs of New York was filmed on a one-mile-square set in Italy where the Five-Points neighborhood and other sections of Manhattan were recreated. The film is very appealing from a Cinematic point of view. Martin Scorsese, the films director, uses rich blacks and other dark colors to increase contrast and add depth to the film and its characters. Scorsese also using smoke and grainy overcasts throughout the film to soften background images which enhances the viewer's focus on the primary characters.

The film is generally shot with dark undertones but Scorsese uses bright colors when filming upper class neighborhoods. This is most evident when Vallon and Everdeane are walking through an affluent neighborhood and when New York's elite are shown dining in their homes.

In the early part of the film, Scorsese uses the backdrop of snow to accentuate the opening battle scene. Depth is added to the warriors who are dressed in dark attire. The contrast of deep red blood spilled on fresh white snow enhance the violence of the battle.

The film frequently uses panning techniques to reinforce that the movie's main conflict is isolated to a very small portion of New York. As an example, immediately after the opening battle scene, Scorsese pans the film back from a close up of the warriors, then to a full view of the battle ground, then to a view of the Five-Points neighborhood and finally to a full aerial view of New York City.

Scorsese also varies the use of camera speed effectively. He alternates between normal, slow and fast speeds during the battle scenes in the film. He also uses fast camera techniques to reinforce the speed of the Butcher's knife when he is demonstrating his knife-throwing skills in the theater.

The film also uses score effectively. The sound of drums are evident when the gangs are preparing for battle. This adds tension and increases the viewers anticipation. Irish music is used frequently throughout the movie to remind the viewer of the conflict between Irish immigrants and the native people of New York.

Two editing sequences particularly caught my attention during the film. The first is when Scorsese, in essentially a single shot, shows Irish coming to the shores of the United States for the first time, are encouraged to enlist in the Union army, are given uniforms and weapons, and finally are loaded back onto ships to go fight for their country.

The second editing sequence is Scorsese's use artificial time-lapsed photography at the end of the film. In this scene, we see the grave yard where Vallon's father and the Butcher are buried next to each other overlooking the City of New York. We are shown the altering landscape of New York from the period of the film to current time. In my view this is meant to demonstrate that while very significant while in the fight, conflicts such as those in the film are relatively insignificant over the course of time. It is a visual representation of the phrase used by many, “Who's going to care 100 years from now”.