A Flawed but Masterful Epic

Rating: 8/10 (3 January 2003)

Gangs of New York is a flawed film. It is gigantic in scope and Scorsese and the production design team bring the feel and the look of the time to life, creating a dingy and dangerous world inhabited by a number of interesting characters. Perhaps the biggest problem with the film is the fact that the story that has been used to draw the viewer into this world does not do justice to the characters and the visual scope of the film.

The other major flaw is in the casting. The performances are all good. DiCaprio and Diaz are both surprisingly good. Henry Thomas brings a great measure of awkwardness and toughness to the role of Amsterdam's sidekick. Brendan Gleeson is great, making the figure of Monk as larger than life as he would need to be to live as an independent in the heart of gang conflict. However, towering above them all is the incredible embodiment of Bill "The Butcher" Cutting by Daniel Day-Lewis. Much has been written about the strength of Day-Lewis' performance and all of it is accurate. His Bill is frighteningly ruthless, vicious, and calculating. He is the lord of the Five Points and it is abundantly clear how this man could muster so much fear in a population of hoodlums and gang members. His performance, however, is so great that it absolutely overwhelms DiCaprio's. Amsterdam never feels a worthy adversary for the Butcher and certainly does not seem strong enough to stand against the imposing figure of Bill.
The film is violent and especially in its opening sequence brutal. But it is also a brilliant depiction of a world that is not as ancient history as we would probably like to think it is. What really makes the film interesting, however, are the multiple themes developed throughout, including the religious division between the Natives and the Dead Rabbits gangs and the political corruption that went hand in hand with the lives of the gangs. The relationship between the Butcher and political leader Boss Tweed is perhaps the most interesting in the film. The subtle dance of power between the muscle of the Butcher and the organizational brain of Tweed is an almost hypnotizing back and forth. This relationship also brings up the most dominant theme of the film, the one brought out in the tagline, that is the manner in which the city of New York as a microcosm of America was built and the men who built it.
These themes, however, also highlight the flaws of a film that perhaps tries to do and be too much. The rogues gallery of characters are interesting but the story does not always make them compelling. The lives of the characters seem to be secondary to the world that they inhabit and the themes that likely drew Scorsese to this project with such passion. These themes, however, seem to be not fully developed, especially the religious theme common to much of Scorsese's work and so the film raises questions and ideas but does not always adequately explore them with the audience. The triumph of the film is that it manages to overcome these flaws and maintain the interest of the audience throughout. The film moves briskly through its almost three hour length and in some ways leaves the audience wanting more. Despite its missteps, it is compelling and engaging, provocative and thoughtful, and above all an incredible feat of movie-making. While it won't be remembered as Scorsese's best picture it certainly deserves notice as his most ambitious and it is a marvel simply to see the tapestry that weaves slowly and deliberately before your eyes. Gangs is a great film, it is simply not as great a film as perhaps we wish Scorsese could have produced.