Gangs of New York is a 2002 epic historical drama film directed by Martin Scorsese and written by Jay Cocks, Steven Zaillian, and Kenneth Lonergan, based on Herbert Asbury's 1928 book The Gangs of New York. The film stars Leonardo DiCaprio, Daniel Day-Lewis, and Cameron Diaz, along with Jim Broadbent, John C. Reilly, Henry Thomas and Brendan Gleeson in supporting roles. The film also marks the start of a collaboration between DiCaprio and Scorsese.
The film is set from 1846 to 1902 when a long-running Catholic–Protestant feud erupts into violence, just as an Irish immigrant group is protesting the threat of conscription during the Civil War. Scorsese spent 20 years developing the project until Miramax Films acquired it in 1999. Principal photography took place in Cinecittà Studios in Rome, and Long Island City, New York City.
Gangs of New York was completed by 2001 but its release was delayed due to the September 11 attacks. The film was theatrically released in the United States on December 20, 2002, and grossed $193.8 million worldwide. It was met with generally positive reviews from critics, and Day-Lewis's performance was highly acclaimed. It received 10 nominations at the 75th Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Director for Scorsese, and Best Actor for Day-Lewis, but did not win in any category.
Plot
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In the 1846 slum of the Five Points, two rival gangs, the Anglo-Protestant Confederation of American Natives, led by William "Bill the Butcher" Cutting, and the immigrant Irish Catholic Dead Rabbits, led by "Priest" Vallon, engage in their final battle to determine which faction will hold power over the territory. Bill kills Vallon and declares the Dead Rabbits outlawed. Having witnessed this, Vallon's young son hides the knife that killed his father before being taken to an orphanage on Blackwell's Island.
Sixteen years later in 1862, Vallon's son "Amsterdam" returns to the Five Points seeking revenge and retrieves the knife. An old acquaintance, Johnny Sirocco, familiarizes him with the local clans of gangs, all of whom pay tribute to Bill, who remains in control of the territory. Amsterdam is introduced to Bill but keeps his past a secret as he seeks recruitment into the gang. He learns many of his father's former lieutenants – particularly "Happy" Jack Mulraney, who has become a corrupt Irish policeman on Bill's payroll, and McGloin – are now in Bill's employ, despite his deep anti-Irish views.
Each year, Bill celebrates the anniversary of his victory over the Dead Rabbits and Amsterdam secretly plans to kill him publicly during this celebration. Amsterdam soon becomes attracted to pickpocket and grifter Jenny Everdeane, with whom Johnny is also infatuated. Amsterdam gains Bill's confidence and becomes his protégé, involving him in the dealings of corrupt Tammany Hall politician William M. Tweed. Amsterdam saves Bill from an assassination attempt and is tormented by the thought that he may have done so out of honest devotion.
On the evening of the anniversary, Johnny, in a fit of jealousy over Jenny's affection for Amsterdam, reveals Amsterdam's true identity and intentions to Bill. Bill baits Amsterdam with a knife throwing act involving Jenny. As Bill toasts Priest Vallon, Amsterdam throws his knife, but Bill deflects it and wounds Amsterdam with a counter throw. Bill then beats him and burns his cheek with a hot blade before banishing him, believing Amsterdam to not be worthy of death.
Jenny implores Amsterdam to escape with her to San Francisco. Amsterdam instead returns to the Five Points seeking vengeance and announces his return by hanging a dead rabbit in Paradise Square in front of several Irish gangs that were allied with the Dead Rabbits. Bill sends corrupt Mulraney to investigate, but Amsterdam garrotes him to death and hangs his body in the square. In retaliation, Bill has Johnny beaten and run through with a pike, leaving it to Amsterdam to end his suffering.
When Amsterdam's gang beats McGloin, Bill and the Natives march on the church and are met by Amsterdam and the Dead Rabbits, with new and former members filling its ranks. No violence ensues, but Bill promises to return soon. The incident garners newspaper coverage, and Amsterdam presents Tweed with a plan to defeat Bill's influence: Tweed will back the candidacy of Monk McGinn for sheriff and Amsterdam will secure the Irish vote for Tammany. Monk wins in a landslide via ballot stuffing, and a humiliated Bill murders him with his own club. McGinn's death prompts an angry Amsterdam to challenge Bill to a gang battle in Paradise Square, which Bill accepts.
The Civil War draft riots break out as the gangs are preparing to fight, and Union army soldiers are deployed to control the rioters. As the rival gangs face off, cannon fire from ships hits Paradise Square, interrupting their battle shortly before it begins. Many of the gang members are killed by the naval gunfire, soldiers, or rioters. Bill and Amsterdam fight each other amidst the chaos until Bill is wounded by shrapnel. Finally, Amsterdam uses his father's knife to fatally stab Bill, who dies as Amsterdam holds his hand.
Amsterdam buries the knife next to his father in a cemetery in Brooklyn, erecting a makeshift headstone with the name William Cutting over it now alongside the actual tombstone of Priest Vallon. As Amsterdam and Jenny leave, the skyline changes as modern New York City is built over the next century, from the Brooklyn Bridge to the Empire State Building to the World Trade Center, and the cemetery becomes overgrown and forgotten.
Cast
Production
Martin Scorsese had grown up in Little Italy in the borough of Manhattan in New York City in the 1950s. He noticed there were parts of his neighborhood that were much older than the rest, including tombstones from the 1810s in Old St. Patrick's Cathedral, cobblestone streets and small basements located under more recent large buildings; this sparked Scorsese's curiosity about the history of the area: "I gradually realized that the Italian-Americans weren't the first ones there, that other people had been there before us. As I began to understand this, it fascinated me. I kept wondering, how did New York look? What were the people like? How did they walk, eat, work, dress?"
Development
In 1970, Scorsese came across Herbert Asbury's book The Gangs of New York: An Informal History of the Underworld (1928) about the city's nineteenth-century criminal underworld and found it to be a revelation. In the portraits of the city's criminals, Scorsese saw the potential for an American epic about the battle for the modern American democracy.
At the time, Scorsese was a young director without prestige; by the end of the 1970s, with the success of crime films such as Mean Streets (1973), about his old neighborhood, and Taxi Driver (1976), he was a rising star. In June 1977, producer Alberto Grimaldi ran a two-page ad in Daily Variety, announcing the film's production with Scorsese set to direct. That same year, Scorsese and Cocks wrote the first draft, but Scorsese decided to direct Raging Bull (1980) instead. Weinstein was not pleased with the shooting script and wanted other screenwriters brought in for more rewrites. To placate Weinstein, Scorsese called Cocks into a room and fired him. Telling The Globe and Mail, Cocks recalled the situation: "You ever been fired? It's terrible. Terrible. Even if it's a job you don't like, it pisses you off, right? Well you can extrapolate from that, exponentially." Due to this, the final shooting script was not fully completed when filming began. Hossein Amini was hired and wrote the last two drafts, but he was uncredited for his work. Due to the strong personalities and clashing visions of director and producer, the three-year production became a story in and of itself. Scorsese strongly defended his artistic vision on issues of taste and length while Weinstein fought for a streamlined, more commercial version. During the delays, noted actors such as Robert De Niro and Willem Dafoe had to leave the production due to conflicts with their other productions. Costs overshot the original budget by 25 percent, bringing the total cost over $100 million.
Post-production and distribution
After post-production was nearly completed in 2001, the film was delayed for over a year. The official justification was that after the September 11 attacks, certain elements of the picture may have made audiences uncomfortable; the film's closing shot is a view of modern-day New York City, complete with the World Trade Center's towers, despite them having been destroyed by the attacks over a year before the film's release. Scorsese also went on a two-month hiatus during the film's editing. However, this explanation was refuted in Scorsese's contemporary statements, where he noted the production was still filming pick-ups, even into October 2002. The filmmakers had also considered removing the towers, having the towers dissolved out of the shot to acknowledge their disappearance, or remove the entire sequence altogether. It was ultimately decided to keep the towers unaltered.
Weinstein kept demanding cuts to the film's length, and some of those cuts were eventually made. In December 2001, film critic Jeffrey Wells reviewed a purported workprint of the film as it existed in the fall of 2001. Wells reported the work print lacked narration, was about 20 minutes longer, and although it was "different than the [theatrical] version ... scene after scene after scene play[s] exactly the same in both". Despite the similarities, Wells found the work print to be richer and more satisfying than the theatrical version. While Scorsese has stated the theatrical version is his final cut, he reportedly "passed along [the] three-hour-plus [work print] version of Gangs on tape [to friends] and confided, 'Putting aside my contractual obligation to deliver a shorter, two-hour-and-forty-minute version to Miramax, this is the version I'm happiest with,' or words to that effect".
In an interview with Roger Ebert, Scorsese clarified the real issues in the cutting of the film. Ebert notes,
Soundtrack
Robbie Robertson supervised the soundtrack's collection of eclectic pop, folk, and neo-classical tracks. The score is by Howard Shore. The rest of the selections included on the soundtrack album are a mix of contemporary pop and world music compositions and tunes from mid-nineteenth century Ireland.
Historical accuracy
Scorsese received both praise and criticism for historical depictions in the film. In a PBS interview for the History News Network, George Washington University Professor Tyler Anbinder said the visuals and discrimination against immigrants in the film were historically accurate, but both the amount of violence depicted and the number of Chinese, particularly female, immigrants were greater in the film than in reality.
Asbury's book described the Bowery Boys, Plug Uglies, True Blue Americans, Shirt Tails, and Dead Rabbits, who were named after their battle standard, a dead rabbit on a pike.
Anbinder said Scorsese's recreation of the visual environment of mid-19th-century New York City and the Five Points "couldn't have been much better".
As early as 1839, Mayor Philip Hone said, "This city is infested by gangs of hardened wretches" who "patrol the streets making night hideous and insulting all who are not strong enough to defend themselves". The large gang fight depicted in the film as occurring in 1846 is fictional, although there was one between the Bowery Boys and Dead Rabbits in the Five Points on July 4, 1857, which is not mentioned in the film. Reviewer Vincent DiGirolamo concluded that "Gangs of New York becomes a historical epic with no change over time. The effect is to freeze ethno-cultural rivalries over the course of three decades and portray them as irrational ancestral hatreds unaltered by demographic shifts, economic cycles and political realignments." The bombardment of the city by Navy ships offshore to quell the riots is wholly fictitious. The film references the infamous Tweed Courthouse, as "Boss" Tweed refers to plans for the structure as being "modest" and "economical".
In the film, Chinese Americans were common enough in the city to have their own community and public venues. Although Chinese people migrated to America as early as the 1840s, significant Chinese migration to New York City did not begin until 1869, the time when the transcontinental railroad was completed. The Chinese theater on Pell St. was not finished until the 1890s. The Old Brewery, the overcrowded tenement shown in the movie in both 1846 and 1862–63, was actually demolished in 1852.
In the film, Priest Vallon recites the St. Michael Prayer, but in reality, this prayer was not composed until 1886.
Release
The original target release date was December 21, 2001, in time for the 74th Academy Awards, but the production overshot that goal as Scorsese was still filming.
Reception
Box office
The film made $77,812,000 in Canada and the United States. It also took $23,763,699 in Japan and $16,358,580 in the United Kingdom. Worldwide, the film grossed a total of $193,772,504.
Critical reception
On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, Gangs of New York has an approval rating of 72% based on 210 reviews, with an average rating of 7.10/10. The website's critical consensus reads: "Though flawed, the sprawling, messy Gangs of New York is redeemed by impressive production design and Day-Lewis's electrifying performance." Metacritic gave the film a score of 72 out of 100, based on 39 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews. Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B" on a scale of A+ to F.
Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times praised the film but believed it fell short of Scorsese's best work, while his At the Movies co-host Richard Roeper called it a "masterpiece" and declared it a leading contender for Best Picture.
Paul Clinton of CNN called the film "a grand American epic".
In Variety, Todd McCarthy wrote that the film "falls somewhat short of great film status, but is still a richly impressive and densely realized work that bracingly opens the eye and mind to untaught aspects of American history". McCarthy singled out the meticulous attention to historical detail and production design for particular praise.
The February 2020 issue of New York magazine lists Gangs of New York as among "The Best Movies That Lost Best Picture at the Oscars".
Some critics were disappointed with the film, with one reviewer on CinemaBlend feeling it was overly violent, with few characters worth caring about. Others felt it tried to tackle too many themes without saying anything unique about them, and that the overall story was weak.
Cameron Diaz's divisive performance as Irish immigrant pickpocket Jenny Everdeane has been cited as an example of poor casting and, along with DiCaprio, one of the worst Irish accents in film.
Top ten lists
Gangs of New York was listed on many critics' top ten lists of 2002.
- 1st – Peter Travers, Rolling Stone
- 1st – Richard Roeper, Ebert & Roeper
- 2nd – Richard Corliss, Time
- 2nd – Ann Hornaday, The Washington Post
- 3rd – F. X. Feeney, L.A. Weekly
- 3rd – Scott Tobias, The A.V. Club
- 5th – Jami Bernard, New York Daily News
- 5th – Claudia Puig, USA Today
- 6th – Mike Clark, USA Today
- 6th – Nathan Rabin, The A.V. Club
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| Best Director
| Martin Scorsese
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| Best Actor
| Daniel Day-Lewis
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| Best Original Screenplay
| Jay Cocks, Steven Zaillian, Kenneth Lonergan
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| Best Production Design
| Dante Ferretti, Francesca Lo Schiavo
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| Best Cinematography
| Michael Ballhaus
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| Best Costume Design
| Sandy Powell
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| Best Film Editing
| Thelma Schoonmaker
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| Best Original Song
| Bono, The Edge, Adam Clayton, Larry Mullen<br><small>For the song "The Hands That Built America"</small>
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| Best Sound
| Tom Fleischman, Eugene Gearty, Ivan Sharrock
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!scope="row" rowspan=12| British Academy Film Awards
| rowspan="12" | February 23, 2003
| Best Film
| Alberto Grimaldi, Harvey Weinstein
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| rowspan="12" |
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| Best Direction
| Martin Scorsese
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| Best Actor in a Leading Role
| Daniel Day-Lewis
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| Best Original Screenplay
| Jay Cocks, Steven Zaillian, Kenneth Lonergan
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| Best Cinematography
| Michael Ballhaus
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| Best Film Music
| Howard Shore
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| Best Editing
| Thelma Schoonmaker
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| Best Sound
| Tom Fleischman, Ivan Sharrock, Eugene Gearty, Philip Stockton
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| Best Production Design
| Dante Ferretti
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| Best Costume Design
| Sandy Powell
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| Best Makeup
| Manlio Rocchetti, Aldo Signoretti
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| Best Special Visual Effects
| R. Bruce Steinheimer, Michael Owens, Ed Hirsh, Jon Alexander
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! scope="row" rowspan="3"| Chicago Film Critics Association
| rowspan="3" | January 8, 2003
| Best Director
| Martin Scorsese
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| rowspan="3" |
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| Best Actor
| Daniel Day-Lewis
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| Best Cinematography
| Michael Ballhaus
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! scope="row" rowspan=3| Critics' Choice Movie Awards
| rowspan="3" | January 17, 2003
| Best Picture
!
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| rowspan="3" |
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| Best Director
| Martin Scorsese
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| Best Actor
| Daniel Day-Lewis
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! scope="row"| Directors Guild of America
| March 1, 2003
| Best Director – Feature Film
| Martin Scorsese
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! scope="row" rowspan=2| Empire Awards
| rowspan="2" | February 4, 2004
| Best Actor
| Daniel Day-Lewis
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| rowspan="2" |
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| Scene of the Year
| The flag speech
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! scope="row" rowspan=2| Florida Film Critics Circle Awards
| rowspan="2" | January 3, 2003
| Best Actor
| Daniel Day-Lewis
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| rowspan="2" |
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| Best Director
| Martin Scorsese
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! scope="row" rowspan="5"| Golden Globe Awards
| rowspan="5" | January 19, 2003
| Best Motion Picture – Drama
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| rowspan="5" |
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| Best Director
| Martin Scorsese
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| Best Actor– Motion Picture Drama
| Daniel Day-Lewis
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| Best Supporting Actress – Motion Picture
| Cameron Diaz
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| Best Original Song
| Bono, The Edge, Adam Clayton, Larry Mullen<br><small>For the song "The Hands That Built America"</small>
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! scope="row" rowspan=2| Los Angeles Film Critics Association
| rowspan="2" | December 15, 2002
| Best Actor
| Daniel Day-Lewis
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| rowspan="2" |
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| Best Production Design
| Dante Ferretti
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! scope="row" | New York Film Critics Circle
| January 12, 2003
| Best Actor
| Daniel Day-Lewis
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! scope="row" rowspan=8| Online Film Critics Society Awards
| rowspan="8" | January 6, 2003
| Top 10 films
!
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| rowspan="8" |
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| Best Director
| Martin Scorsese
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| Best Actor
| Daniel Day-Lewis
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| Best Cinematography
| Michael Ballhaus
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| Best Ensemble
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| Best Art Direction
| Dante Ferretti
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| Best Costume Design
| Sandy Powell
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| Best Sound
| Tom Fleischman, Eugene Gearty, Ivan Sharrock
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! scope="row" | San Diego Film Critics Society Awards
| December 20, 2002
| Best Actor
|rowspan=2| Daniel Day-Lewis
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! scope="row" rowspan=7| Satellite Awards
| rowspan="7" | January 12, 2003
| Best Actor – Drama
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| rowspan="7" |
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| Best Art Direction
| Dante Ferretti
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| Best Costume Design
| Sandy Powell
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| Best Cinematography
| Michael Ballhaus
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| Best Editing
| Thelma Schoonmaker
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| Best Sound
| Tom Fleischman, Eugene Gearty, Ivan Sharrock
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| Best Visual Effects
!
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! scope="row" | Screen Actors Guild Award
| March 9, 2003
| Best Actor
| Daniel Day-Lewis
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! scope="row" rowspan=3| Vancouver Film Critics Circle
| rowspan="3" | January 30, 2002
| Best Film
!
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| rowspan="3" |
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| Best Director
| Martin Scorsese
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| Best Actor
| Daniel Day-Lewis
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! scope="row" rowspan=2| Visual Effects Society Awards
| rowspan="2" | February 19, 2003
| Best Supporting Visual Effects
| Michael Owens, Camille Geier, Edward Hirsh, Jon Alexander
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| rowspan="2" |
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| Best Matte Painting
| Brett Northcutt, Ronn Brown, Mathieu Raynault, Evan Pontoriero
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! scope="row"| Writers Guild of America
| March 8, 2003
| Best Original Screenplay
| Jay Cocks, Steven Zaillian, Kenneth Lonergan
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See also
- Irish Americans in New York City
- Irish Brigade (Union army)
- List of 2002 films based on actual events
- List of identities in The Gangs of New York (book)