Martin Scorsese spent decades preparing Gangs of New York (2002). It's a world apart from his usual crime sagas, a grandly ambitious, monumentally flawed historical epic. Daniel Day-Lewis creates an unforgettable villain, while Scorsese's direction evokes 19th Century America in painstaking detail. Too bad Gangs is an uneven, sprawling mess.New York's Five Points is a slum populated by ethnic street gangs. In an epic brawl, Bill "the Butcher" Cutting's (Daniel Day-Lewis) Nativists defeat the Irish Dead Rabbits, killing their leader Priest Vallon (Liam Neeson). In 1863, Vallon's son Amsterdam (Leonardo DiCaprio) emerges from Hellgate reformatory, determined to seek revenge. He insinuates himself into Bill's inner circle, falling for pickpocket Jenny (Cameron Diaz). Amsterdam gets caught up in Bill's criminal and political enterprises. With the Civil War raging, discontent over bloodshed and military conscription reaches fever pitch just as Amsterdam challenges Bill.
Collaborating with Sergio Leone's producer Alberto Grimaldi, Scorsese recreates New York on Cinecitta sets. The set design's "Hollywood proletariat" (ugly in an aesthetically pleasing way) but the costumes, make-up and Jay Cocks/Steve Zaillan/Kenneth Loneragan's forked dialog ring true. Gangs draws grotesque details from Herbert Asbury's book: the Old Brewery's squalorous catacombs, the Bowery's rat fights, Hellcat Maggie's (Cara Seymour) metal claws and filed teeth. Howard Shore's incredible score uses insistent pipe music and violent percussion to match the film's violence.
Scorsese's New York becomes a feudal battleground, its inhabitants defined by race, religion and class. Street battles are brutal melees with blades and blunt instruments spraying blood and shattering limbs. Politicians like Boss Tweed (Jim Broadbent) build empires exploiting these tensions, using gangs to strong-arm voters; the rich preach reform while luxuriating in wealth. The Civil War brings tensions to the boiling point: why should New Yorkers care about abolishing slavery or preserving the Union when life is hellish misery?Gangs of New York culminates in an incredible re-staging of the New York City Draft Riots, when tens of thousands of New Yorkers attacked the upper classes and Negroes they held responsible for the war. Scorsese's style works best here, with editor Thelma Schoonmaker condensing four days of hideous, confusing violence into fifteen chaotic minutes. Amsterdam and Bill's vendetta gets swept up in the violence, denying Gangs a tidy denouement.
True, Gangs condenses a decade's worth of history into six months. The real Bill the Butcher died in 1855 and was less colorful than Daniel Day-Lewis's flamboyant supervillain. The Know-Nothing Party fields a candidate three years after it ceased to exist. These are academic quibbles considering Scorsese's incredible cinematic achievement. Like a blood-soaked Luchino Visconti, he prowls brothels and theaters, luxurious mansions and dingy tenements with a sociologist's eye.
Sadly, this focus occasionally detracts from Gangs. The revenge plot provides an easy hook, but Amsterdam's development seems fumbled, superficial. He's less determined than pouty, achieving maturity by wanting to bludgeon Bill rather than shoot him. The movie spits out its subplots, half-digested. Why is Democrat Tweed supporting Know-Nothing Bill? Why did Bill outlaw the Dead Rabbits but not his other rivals? Who cares about Jenny? The Sheriff's election seems an after-thought, coming from nowhere and quickly forgotten - just another minor detail.Ultimately, Scorsese's Dickensian sprawl falters through inconsistencies and cockeyed point-of-view. Bill's "moral code" spares Amsterdam's life as unworthy, yet doesn't prevent him from offing other offenders. It's one thing if Bill's a hypocrite, but Scorsese treats his brickbat chivalry with unconscionable reverence. Somehow we're to mourn the passing of these bloodthirsty street brawlers, as if they're knights or John Ford gunslingers outliving their time. Instead it's easier to sympathize with the Union troops pitilessly quashing them.
Daniel Day-Lewis is Gangs' most obvious selling point. He relishes the opportunity to chew scenery, with baroque accent, mutton chops and an eagle-adorned glass eye. Day-Lewis could descend into caricature, yet he folds Bill's eccentricities into a more layered characterization. When Bill isn't frothing invective or hurling knives he's contemplating his place in a changing world, or pondering his paternalism towards Amsterdam. For anyone but Day-Lewis, this would be a once-in-a-lifetime role.
Leonardo DiCaprio became Scorsese's go-to star after this movie, yet he's alternately bland and annoying. Ditto Cameron Diaz, whose dodgy accent only highlights her lame character. In contrast, Jim Broadbent steals every scene, playing Tweed as an amoral huckster with a smidgen of dignity. Brendan Gleeson scores as Amsterdam's reluctant ally; John C. McGinley plays a crooked cop, Stephen Graham one of Amsterdam's pals. Veteran British actors David Hemmings and Alec McCowen have minor roles.One can't help admiring Gangs of New York for its astonishing aesthetics. Certainly Daniel Day-Lewis will electrify even casual viewers. Yet Gangs isn't entirely satisfying. Perhaps it's the sloppy script, the overreaching scope, the truncated subplots and anemic protagonists. Either way, it's an impressive movie that narrowly misses greatness.
