Gangs of New York
Yesterday I went with Will and Aaron to see Gangs of New York, the latest film by Martin Scorcese. It was intense. The film is nearly three hours long and it is chock full of sex and violence. This is not a movie for your eight year old. However, in this film the violence was necessary.
Gangs of New York is about the Irish immigration during the Civil War period. The Irish were as despised as African Americans by much of the population. In the movie, this stringent nativisim is characterized by Bill the Butcher, the villain of the film. Leo DiCaprio plays Amsterdam Vallon, a young Irishman who seeks revenge on Bill the Butcher for the murder of his father, Priest Vallon. Priest Vallon is played by Liam Neeson, who is excellent in his short-lived role.
The movie takes place in the Five Points, an impoverished neighborhood in New York. It is a neighborhood packed with Irish, Poles, and American “natives.” A number of street gangs arise out of need for self-defense and protection. Amsterdam’s gang, the Dead Rabbits, is a thorn in the side of Bill the Butcher, who cries whenever he sees a “poor, helpless rabbit murdered.” The main conflict of the movie is the bad blood between Amsterdam and Bill the Butcher.
I thought Gangs of New York was an excellent film, one of the five best of the year. If you need something to do this holiday weekend, go see Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers and Gangs of New York. You won’t be disappointed.
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After watching Gangs of NY with a bunch of friends, we all came out of the theater with a nauseated feeling at the pits of our stomach. Indeed, this movie is an accurate and gory description of the corruption and hatred that went on during the Civil war period in this great country of ours.
I have to say, that as a girl, the violence did disturb me quite a lot, but looking back on it, I’d have to say that as horrifying it is to think about, that kind of discrimination against the Irish, African Americans and other minority groups was indeed, already beginning to take root in the society of that time period.
I was thoroughly impressed with Daniel-Day Lewis’ role as Bill the Butcher. (Sorry, all you sappy Leonardo DiCaprio fans, but I’m sure those of you who have seen this movie will agree that he is NO Jack Dawson from TITANIC…so go watch Catch Me If You Can if you want something to swoon over.) Lewis really got into his character and really complemented the society and background that director, Martin Scorsese so skillfully created.
As far as the portrayal of sex in this movie…holy hell…sex is this movie is basically treated as a violent art of foreplay as illustrated by Leo and Cameron’s…uh…”memorable” scene where they intially start slapping and biting each other, thereby cleverly leading to a hard core sex scene. The movie has no problem in allowing the audience to view bare-breasted women parading half drunk around the ****houses and having sex with anyone, anywhere and everywhere in full public view. Again, the young lady in me sees a problem with this, but I guess I have to remind myself that this is how the ****houses were at the time… drunken, wild and orgy infested establishments. So good job to Martin Scorsese for allowing all of us to partaketh in such glory and show the audience how the women of the lower classes had to live during that time period…it basically boils down to having sex for money and God knows how many STDs.
So overall, this really was a great movie if you’re a history nut and the type that wants to get an accurate picture of the disorganized American society during the 1860s…I guess it’s also a great movie for those Daniel-Day Lewis fans too…hehe. Otherwise, if you’re scared stiff at the sight of dismembered body parts, pig heads, bloody people and animals or if you are uncomfortable about watching nudity and hard core sex…you should probably stay away. STAY FAR, FAR AWAY!