A Great Lesson in American History

Rating: 10/10 (25 May 2008)

Gangs of New York marked Martin Scorsese's shift from Italian-American crime films to Irish-American crime films with the story of the beginning of the Irish in America. Waves of Irish immigrants, driven largely by the Irish potato famine of 1845 to 1852, landed in America through much of the middle of that century, including throughout the Civil War (which would be the equivalent of moving to Russia in the 1940s or to Iraq today to find food and work; so Ireland must have been pretty bad at the time).
In one of the greatest performances I've ever seen, Daniel Day-Lewis plays Bill 'the Butcher' Cutting, leader of the so called Nativists, and vehemently opposed to all foreign influence on his country. The character is based loosely on a man named William Poole, who was really more of blow-hard than a rough and tough street fighter and who died long before the 1860s in which the majority of this film is set. The evil nature of this character is ratcheted up several notches by Scorsese and Lewis, with his push broom mustache, glass eye and invented accent (think Jerry Seinfeld if he was always mean and angry and a few octaves lower in voice).
The other notable character is Jim Broadbent's Boss Tweed, leader of the corrupt Tammany Ring that influenced politics in New York well into the 20th Century. The appearance of Broadbent as Tweed is so spot on that you could easily put him in an encyclopedia an few would notice any difference. This man was a model for modern politicians. He says, "The appearance of the law must be upheld, especially when it's being broken," as he employs gangs for muscle work while trying to create the appearance of order.
While Tweed courts the Irish vote, the Butcher and his men throw rocks and harass them as they come off the boats. "If only I had the guns Mr. Tweed, I'd shoot each and every one of them before they set foot on American soil" he says. The Butcher is extreme in his actions, though typical in the attitudes behind them. He is the embodiment of American self-righteousness, wrapping himself in the American flag (literally at one point!) and claiming moral superiority on the basis of things his father did. He hates the Irish for their different language and their strange religion (Catholicism). After a failed assassination attempt against him by a Celtic-speaking Irishman, he attempts to get information from the wounded man the only way he knows how, delivering my favorite lines of the film, "Who's man are you?... You see this knife? I'm going to teach you to speak English with this (expletive) knife!" If that's not a perfect representation of the modern neo-conservative attitude toward foreigners, I don't know what is.
For brevity's sake I haven't even mentioned the main plot line about Amsterdam Vallon (Leonardo DiCaprio)'s revenge plot against the Butcher, but it's almost incidental to the real strengths of the film. Chiefly, these include an honest portrayal of a brutal era of history. We see rival fire brigades fighting each other while houses burn, rigged elections that make modern Florida look like a democracy and the Draft Riots of 1863, (New York's most violent moment until 9/11) For incredibly well crafted sets, great acting throughout and themes that ring true as much today as ever, Gangs of New York makes my top 10 list.