Martin Scorsese is one of if not my favourite director and I can reel off the top films he has put together (Raging Bull, Taxi Driver, Goodfellas, The Aviator, The Departed). When Gangs of New York was released in 2002 I have to admit that I was not bowled over by the film or the cast.
Six years down the line I’m sat in front of the television watching the film I always imagined being “not my cup of tea”. The premise of the film is that Amsterdam Vallon (Leonardo DiCaprio) watches his father killed in a war between the Irish and the Natives in New York. The man who kills him is “The Butcher” Bill Cutting played by Daniel Day-Lewis, young Amsterdam is sent away for 16 years and kept away from the place he saw his father brutally murdered in the war of the streets.
Of course he returns and the only thing on his mind is to get payback for his father’s death but it does not go as smoothly as he would’ve liked and to begin with ends up becoming friends with the man who killed his father. Young Vallon becomes the apprentice of Bill Cutting who is none the wiser about who this new young gun is.
The film is dictated a lot about politics, immigration and gangs on the streets of New York. Thousands and thousands of Irish pile into New York to be sent into war for America which “The Butcher” totally disagrees with. He hates the Irish so much but because of his power the Irish have to tolerate him, but Amsterdam plots to kill Bill. He makes an attempt but fails and Bill teaches him a lesson but Vallon comes back for me with along with thousands of Irish and a war breaks out but in the end there is no real winner. The army come in between the Irish and the Natives by killing them all but Amsterdam does get his revenge and stabs Bill to death.
The film is an outstanding portrayal of how New York was during the Irish invasion and Daniel Day-Lewis gives a phenomenal performance as Bill Cutting. I am a big admirer of Leonardo DiCaprio having enjoyed his performances in films such as The Beach, Catch Me If You Can, The Departed and The Aviator however his performance in this film was a let down. He could not pull off the Irish accent and many times during the film you wasn’t sure if he was Irish or American.
This said the performances of Cameron Diaz and Daniel Day-Lewis along with the direction and great script provide for a compelling story and fantastic film.
* * * * * * * * * *
Six years down the line I’m sat in front of the television watching the film I always imagined being “not my cup of tea”. The premise of the film is that Amsterdam Vallon (Leonardo DiCaprio) watches his father killed in a war between the Irish and the Natives in New York. The man who kills him is “The Butcher” Bill Cutting played by Daniel Day-Lewis, young Amsterdam is sent away for 16 years and kept away from the place he saw his father brutally murdered in the war of the streets.
Of course he returns and the only thing on his mind is to get payback for his father’s death but it does not go as smoothly as he would’ve liked and to begin with ends up becoming friends with the man who killed his father. Young Vallon becomes the apprentice of Bill Cutting who is none the wiser about who this new young gun is.
The film is dictated a lot about politics, immigration and gangs on the streets of New York. Thousands and thousands of Irish pile into New York to be sent into war for America which “The Butcher” totally disagrees with. He hates the Irish so much but because of his power the Irish have to tolerate him, but Amsterdam plots to kill Bill. He makes an attempt but fails and Bill teaches him a lesson but Vallon comes back for me with along with thousands of Irish and a war breaks out but in the end there is no real winner. The army come in between the Irish and the Natives by killing them all but Amsterdam does get his revenge and stabs Bill to death.
The film is an outstanding portrayal of how New York was during the Irish invasion and Daniel Day-Lewis gives a phenomenal performance as Bill Cutting. I am a big admirer of Leonardo DiCaprio having enjoyed his performances in films such as The Beach, Catch Me If You Can, The Departed and The Aviator however his performance in this film was a let down. He could not pull off the Irish accent and many times during the film you wasn’t sure if he was Irish or American.
This said the performances of Cameron Diaz and Daniel Day-Lewis along with the direction and great script provide for a compelling story and fantastic film.
* * * * * * * * * *
1 comment:
I agree, I wasn't running out to see it at first because of the actors. But I do admit, the movie was really good.
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