Scorcese 'does' Leone

Rating: Null/10 (17 January 2003)

It was only at the very end though that I realised what was happening - Scorcese was 'doing' Sergio Leone. This I gathered from the way there is no title at the begining but at the end - after three hours of a revenge drama set against the meticulously accurate backdrop of Historical America taking in questions of internal American shame, and political corruption as a staple of the formation of American way of life - at the end, the screen goes black and the words 'Gangs of New York' appear on the screen for a few moments (I think in the form of a print press template) before the credits flash on the screen in a curiously generic 'western' typeface. For those in the know (and that would be me and.......?) it was a moment of revelation. Unfortunately, Scorcese didn't have Morricone to score the film, as I'm sure he was aware personally and very sad about, so the film never reached the peaks of greatness that Leone managed with his 'History Trilogy' - Instead, Scorcese has a very contemporary rock soundtrack with U2 groaning over the credits which sours things considerably. Also, although Daniel Day Lewis was very good, I couldn't help but think he was 'doing' Robert De Niro.