Gangs of New York
I didn’t really care for this film, but it was not the worst movie I have ever seen. I thought that the film was going to be about current day gangs, but to my surprise the film was based on the original gangs of New York. I thought that the acting was done well and I did like the characters, but the storyline was not one that I particularly cared for. I also felt as though the film began to rush things towards the end of the film so they were able to get everything in. When the film felt rushed, I lost interest because everything was happening and coming to a conclusion so fast. However, the characters were very interesting and I really enjoyed how the characters were all intermingled. I also enjoyed the historic part of the film and the realness of how different things were in the past compared to present day.
The beginning of the film was a gruesome battle between two opposing gangs for control over the Five Points. In this scene, young Amsterdam witnessed the death of his father Priest Vallon by the Butcher. It was interesting to see how battles were conducted in the past, they were very brutal and they seemed to be a certain death sentence. This was a sad scene, watching a child experience and see the death of his loving and respectable father. However, this scene set the mood of the film and it gave me a sense of who the characters were. It also determined what the conflict would be throughout the remainder of the film.
The character relationships were complicated in this film. When Amsterdam returned to the Five Points, after years of juvenile detention, several followers of the outlawed Dead Rabbits recognized him. One character in particular, Johnny, remembered him and took him in. Amsterdam quickly became one of the Butchers main men, which made Johnny angry and resentful towards him. This was unexpected because the Butcher killed Amsterdam’s father, so throughout the film I was waiting for Amsterdam to turn against the Butcher and avenge his father’s death. Amsterdam also met Jenny through Johnny. Jenny was one of my favorite characters because she was a beautiful woman with a crooked and shady life. Amsterdam swayed Jenny, which created more conflict between him and Johnny. After Johnny felt completely miss used and unimportant, he turned against Amsterdam and revealed his true identity to the Butcher. I anticipated that this would eventually happen.
Amsterdam lived a double life, a life of truth and a life of fraud. He was true to himself and returned to the Five Points to continue his father’s legacy. He was also a fraud, he worked for his father’s killer and he turned against his own people. I know that Amsterdam befriended the Butcher so he trusted him and he could get close to him, but I don’t understand how he could do it without revealing his true intentions. This proved that Amsterdam was a very strong willed individual, with an abundance of self control. Their relationship with one another was very strange. Amsterdam came to the Five Points with hatred in his heart, but after being with the Butcher for a while, he began to look up to him and enjoy his company. However, this quickly changed as the movie progressed.
There was some symbolism in this film, at the start; Priest Vallon taught Amsterdam that the blood stays on the blade. This quote can be interpreted to symbolize the conflict within this movie. I think that this quote means, even after killing somebody and cleaning your blade, their blood is forever stained on your knife. After killing some one, you will still carry their death with you and cleaning of their blood does not mean that you are spared from remembering them. I think this quote was very significant in the film because it could be related to several of the characters.
Overall, this film was not my favorite. It had its high points and its low points like other films, but it just wasn’t a story that I enjoyed. The best part of the film was the character relationships and the setting of the scenes. It gave me a new perspective on how New York came to be. It also enlightened me to how hostile and unfair life was in the past.
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