Bloodshed Gang Warfare in Early New York

`Gangs of New York` is a story about early years of New York. In the mid 1800s, Five Points district in New York was an area plagued with fraud, gambling, killing and prostituting. Irish immigrants came to the new land en masse every day, however, hoping to fulfill their American dreams.

Irish gangster sects, including `Carry Onions,` `Chichster,` `Shirts Tales` and `Dead Rabbit,` soon found themselves in feud with the established gangs in New York. In 1846, head of `Dead Rabbit` Vallon (Liam Neeson) was brutally murdered by head of indigenous gangs Bill (Daniel Day Louise), and the Irish were thrown away.

16 years have passed, and Amsterdam (Leonardo DiCaprio), seeking to avenge death of his father, approached Bill and became one of his men.

The charm of this movie is its sheer scale. Watching the brutal battle scene, where thousands fought hard with axes and hammers in their hands, the audience gets overwhelmed by the energy.

Director Martin Scorsese depicts people and historic events like the Slave Liberation and the Civil War against the background of early New York in the mid 1800s.

The master also sticks to `realism` by not using computer graphics at all to recreate New York in the 1860s. He built old New York in a studio located in Chinechita, Italy and poured $130 million in production.

The movie seems too fever-pitched, however, as the story about taking revenge for the dead father drags along for two hours and 46 minutes.

The director puts his great effort on every each scene for the movie he has been planning for the last 30 years. Due to the intensity, however, the whole plot gets less intertwined. The part when Amsterdam makes love with Jenny (Cameron Diaz) also seem isolated from the whole story.

The message of the movie, however, is strong. During daytime, scoundrels hang some poor crooks to teach residents a lesson, and at night there are flamboyant dance parties.

Scorsese tells about the foundation of New York, contradiction between blood and dancing, to give a message that death is a driving force of life. Revengeful Amsterdam is a testament that death buttresses life and becomes an engine that makes the history circle around.

What catches people` attention most is the act by Daniel Day Louise. Making a comeback in 6 years after `the Boxer` in 1997, he plays an impressive character and truly deserves the title as the world`s top actor. Released on February 21, aged 18 or over.

Soo-Kyung Kim skkim@donga.com