Sixteen years after witnessing his father's death, Amsterdam Vallon (DiCaprio) starts to work for Bill "the Butcher" Cutting (Daniel Day-Lewis), the man who killed his father. But as Amsterdam gets closer to having his revenge, tensions between rival gangs flare to which a war is ignited.
Oh man, Scorsese. You really like directing intense movies, don't you? It's a shame that Gangs of New York got nothing at the Oscars that year. Day-Lewis gives a really excellent performance (which is almost something you should watch before seeing There Will Be Blood), but if you were to ask me who deserved the Oscar that year I'd go with Adrien Brody in The Pianist. Cutting's lust for blood and power is terrifying. A couple of people were saying that DiCaprio was miscast, which I sort of agree on. I mean, he was good but he didn't keep that Irish accent for very long. But overlooking that, he gives an underrated performance (along with another performance from the same year Catch Me If You Can). The representation of violence throughout Gangs of New York shows that it is the only means of having anything resolved. Scorsese gives us an unflinching look of life in 19th century New York City.
My Rating: *****
I loved Bill The Butcher. I didn't like this as much as you but it was solid.
ReplyDeleteI've grown to like this film more on subsequent viewings.
ReplyDeleteThe first time I saw this I was "meh". But I gave it another shot and now I love it. Must not have been in the right mindset the first time. I actually like DiCaprio in this.
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