The "Bill The Butcher" movie

Rating: 8/10 (29 March 2003)

I went to see the long awaited "Gangs of New York" not knowing what to expect. When I got out of the theater I was filled with a sense of peace not because the movie portrayed it, but because it showed the other way around.

"Gangs of New York" is a movie about open war; about defeating your enemy by any means necessary, about going into battle when everything else has failed and you realize killing the other is the only way. The movie shows a place with no law but the street law, no order but the order the gangs establish; a place where violence is the common language. This is a city in which the strong survives and the weak is massacred (it reminds me of today's Tepito, Mexico City). And in the midst of chaos there is still room for honor, loyalty and love.
Martin Scorsese has done a great job transporting us to this dreadful city. Once again I have to (painfully) admit that there is no need for computer graphics to make a time and place, such as XIX century's New York city, come alive. I guess it is much easier for actors to be in character in a place they can see and touch. It also demonstrates that you don't have to be extremely explicit in your shots to achieve a sense of animal violence.
Daniel Day-Lewis and the rest of the actors did an excellent job, with the possible exception of Cameron Diaz. Leonardo DiCaprio has proved again that he can be not-annoying when he wants to. After this movie and "Catch me if you can" I wonder if he's only good when he's sharing the screen with a REALLY good actor, like Daniel Day-Lewis or Tom Hanks.
And speaking of Daniel Day-Lewis, HE IS AWESOME! His performance is the best of 2002-2003 and probably the best I'll ever see in years. Thanks to his portrayal, Bill "The butcher" has made it into the list of the best villains in the history of cinema; right up there with guys like Hannibal Lecter and Norman Bates. He's the face of pure undying evil. He's the most powerful guy around, he knows it too well and he will use it against you -personally- if you ever cross his path. I absolutely loved him. I think he is the trademark of the whole movie; I imagine a future conversation like this: -"Hey, what was the name of that movie with Bill The Butcher in it?" - "You mean Gangs of New York?" - "Oh yes, that's it".
There is one other thing I noticed about the structure of the storyline. It would seem it was based on a three-act play, the first being from the beginning to Amsterdam meeting Bill the Butcher, the second from their meeting to the betrayal and separation and the third from the separation to the end. Each act has its own climax and the pacing of the movie becomes very slow, and sometimes too slow, in the transitions between them.
The only thing this movie lacked for me to rate it a 9 is a good ending. Me, like many other people I know despised the ending, or at least didn't understand it at all. I liked the very last shot though. The one with that beautiful view of the evolution of New York City.
"Gangs of New York" is a must-see. Go see Daniel Day-Lewis in the performance of a lifetime.