"Gangs of New York"
by
"Michael Stone"

"Gangs of New York" was Martin Scorsese's dream project for nearly thirty years, finally got made, then was supposed to be released last year in a 3 hour cut but was held back by Miramax's notorious meddling president Harvey Weinstein, and has finally been released this year 45 minutes shorter. Until that version is released - cross your fingers - on DVD sometime next year, we'll never really know how flawed this version is. What's on display though is an amazing, frustrating, fascinating glimpse of our past. "Gangs" is one of the gutsiest films of the year - and an ironic counterpoint given its release as the Trent Lott mess played out - looking at the rampant racism, corruption, and everyday violence of early America. There's so much in the movie that it's frustrating that Scorsese keeps turning away from it to dwell on Leonardo DiCaprio and Cameron Diaz.
"Gangs" centers on New York and one particular location, the infamous "Five Points" neighborhood which made Dicken's London slums look cushy. Scorsese opens with an 1846 battle between between Liam Neesom's Irish immigrants and Daniel Day-Lewis' "natives" who hate the immigrants. Lewis kills Neesom, orphaning his son who grows up to be Leonardo. Leo comes back to the Five Points in 1863 as the Points are in an even worse stew over the Civil War, Lincoln, and "The Niggers" to kill Lewis but finds himself conflicted after Lewis takes him unwittingly under his wing and discovers Lewis honors his dead father as "the only man I ever killed worth remembering" as a honorable warrior and leader of his people. Lewis is having troubles of his own as his alliance with New York's infamous "Boss" Tweed is coming undone. Tweed was notoriously corrupt, but oddly far-seeing, telling Lewis that immigrant or not, the people coming off the boat represent votes and votes are the power that will let him build a machine that will deliver a better life to everyone. Lewis' final break with Tweed is both violent and shocking, sealing his fate. Lewis and DiCaprio gather their gangs together for one final clash, only to find themselves caught in an even bigger clash as the Draft Riots of 1863 break out and the US Navy shells New York to end the riots, which killed over two thousand people and destroyed five million dollars worth of property.

To film "Gangs", Scorsese recreated five acres' worth of long-vanished New York at Rome's legendary Cinecitta studios. They're easily some of the most amazing sets you've seen in ages. Scorsese also gathered a terrific cast for his secondary parts including John C. Riely, Brednan Gleeson, and Jim Broadbent. The problem is that Leonardo DiCaprio is fatally miscast, along with Cameron Diaz, and that most of the movie actually centers around these two. The person the movie should actually spend most of its time with, and doesn't, is Daniel Day-Lewis, who is certain to clench a "Best Actor" nomination and may pull off the win for a larger-than-portrayal of a falling urban King whose kingdom is about to pas-portrayal of a falling urban King whose kingdom is about to pass into history.
It's hard to know whether the earlier cut would be better balanced about the characters - it's obvious an awful lot is missing, but until then, this and "The Two Towers" are the best movies of the year, daring to take us places we've never been before, with characters we'll never forget.

"Michael Stone"