A sprawling epic not to be missed

Rating: Null/10 (10 January 2003)

Martin Scorsese's long awaited epic "The Gangs of New York" clocks in at 168 minutes,but it is one of the grandest epics that you will see anywhere else and also this will be the year that the director of such classics as "Mean Streets","Taxi Driver","Raging Bull","Goodfellas", and "Kundan" will finally win the Oscar for Best Director. As for the movie itself,it's a violent sprawling epic set in the early 1860's in an area of Lower Manhattan known as Five Points,a wretched neighborhood sullied by routine bloodshed,police brutality,political corruption,seething ethnic tensions and rampant lawlessness. But as for the film in general,it would have been benefited from some serious trimming. If Scorsese had jettisoned the meandering subplots and underdeveloped characters,thereby lopping it off an hour or so,then "Gangs" might have been more of the potent picture it was meant to be and so forth.
On the other hand,"Gangs",paradoxically,might have also benefited from being longer. Though it largely takes place in a confined location,"Gangs" is a ambitious movie,and Scorsese's canvas is huge,rich,with thematic elements and historical ramifications. Another half-hour or more into the running time could have served to fill in the gaps. As it is,"Gangs",despite its panoramic reach,is at heart a straightforward revenge tale,as well as old fashioned Western,with feuding immigrant groups,axes and cleavers in place of cowboys,Indians, arrows,and guns. Gussied up with Dante Ferreti's extraordinary production design and bogged down by a messy narrative,the movie shackles Leonardo DiCaprio(of "Titanic")in a one-note role which features a game but out-of-element Cameron Diaz,and relegates such fine actors as Liam Neeson,John C. Reilly,Henry Thomas,and Brendan Gleason to the background.
In the foreground,however,is Daniel Day-Lewis,and does he ever give the film some juice. Absent from the screen for six years(his last film was 1997's "The Boxer")he is a volcanic presence as William Cutting,better known as Bill The Butcher,a vicious gang leader who controls and rules all of Five Points. With his sideburns,upcurled mustache,greasy hair and stovepipe hat,the character could have come across as a caricature,and in some respects he does pull this one off brilliantly. But Mr. Day-Lewis swaggering,fericious performance somehow goes over-the-top yet remains rooted in reality. His flamboyantly chews up the scenary,plowing through caricature and transcending it to emerge as one of the most startling villains ever displayed on the screen.
From its opening sequence in 1846 that includes a brawl between Irish gangs and immigrants to the backdrop of the 1863 draft riots with the protest of the Civil War not to mention political corruption adds a foreground to the story and keeps it going strong. "Gangs of New York" is more than a triumph of atmosphere and production design than anything else. The film was shot at the legendary Cinecitta Studios in Rome,and the Five Points set looks like a set to make it realistic. Yet the meticiously realized neighborhood,with its melting pot of accents and outdated slang,its saloons and floozies,its murderers and thieves,its poverty and filth and abandoned children is a character unto itself. Scorsese has crafted a robust movie that,from moment to moment,is powerful and sometimes pulses with vitality,but the picture gets away from him. Still,there are enough impressive moments to recommend this movie which is one of the year's best films. It will be interesting to watch during the Oscar ceremonies to see if Daniel Day-Lewis,who tour-de-force should put him at the front of the Oscar for Best Actor race and Scorsese for Best Director,not to mention Best Picture.