In 1846 New York, there is an Irish Gang called the Dead Rabbits, led by Priest Vallon. He is in conflict with the Native Americans. They are led by the brutal Bill ‘The Butcher’ Cutting. They fight for the future of the Five Points.
Following a battle that leaves Vallon dead, his son Amsterdam is raised in a Hellish orphanage, and sixteen years later returns to the mean streets of the Five Squares in order to find Bill and enact revenge.
He quickly becomes part of Bill’s inner circle, biding his time to get his revenge.
Direction
Martin Scorsese directs, and is full of American cultural history. His usual close shots/camera pans as well as his work in dark is brilliant. He uses his trademark use of deep focus well in some scenes too.
The 1846 opening battle with The Natives v Dead Rabbits includes great quick cuts, close ups, slow motion etc had has the traditional violent work Scorsese is known for. I wish it was a little longer.
Cast/Characters
Leonardo DiCaprio is the lead role of Amsterdam Vallon, who returns to the streets of NY, and quickly assimilates himself into Bill the Butcher’s inner circle, and enamoring himself with the man. He does a solid enough job in his first of many collaborations with Scorsese, however his Irish accent never feels organic or real – with his natural American accent flowing through.
Daniel Day Lewis is beyond sensational as Bill the Butcher. His dialect is near perfection, and is equal parts frightening, and even sympathetic when he discusses his past and his love for his city and country. Lewis himself wore a glass coating on his left eye to give the ‘fake’ eye feel – even tapping it with a knife in one bone-chilling diatribe to one of the characters. It is criminal that he didn’t win an Oscar for this.
Cameron Diaz plays Jenny, a former concubine of Bill’s who becomes Amsterdam’s love interest throughout the film. Her performance is okay, but struggles with some of the heavier aspects of the role. Her chemistry with DiCaprio is not believable, and her Irish accent is quite poor.
Liam Neeson appears very early on in the opening scene as Priest Vallon, whose death influences the rest of the movie, including the antagonistic relationship between Amsterdam and Bill.
Some secondary cast members include John C Reilly, Brendan Gleeson, Jim Broadbent and Henry Thomas.
Screenplay/Setting/Themes
The narrative of the film all stems from historical events, so watching this as someone who is not overtly familiar with the history will do yourself a disservice.
It would also help having an understanding of American culture, as the film does delve deeply on the immigration of the African and Irish to New York in 1862.
As a non native to New York the geographical history is something that is significant, especially as the area of the Five Points are so frequently discussed throughout.
Events such as the riots in regards to the confederation draft play an important part of the film, especially in the second half of the film. I felt like this took away from the primary story-line which was the conflict between Amsterdam and Bill.
As Bill discovers that Amsterdam is Vallon’s son with one hour to go, and beats him almost to death – I would have preferred more of their conflict than the historical aspects.
There is also an extended ‘election’ arc in this second half as well, that only really served the purpose to let an Irish immigrant become —- , and then to have Bill murder him.
There is a mid movie scene in which the characters are watching a play about Abe Lincoln, and Bill the Butcher is almost assassinated. There are two forms of irony here, one is that Lincoln was still alive when this film was set – the other is Day Lewis would go on to play Lincoln himself (and win another Oscar for that) a decade later.
One nitpick I did have on this was that there was slightly too much narration from DiCaprio’s Amsterdam – full of exposition.
Overall
Even at 160m this leaves you wanting more. Despite some of the minor nitpicks I found, the good outweighs the bad – and one could watch Daniel Day Lewis’ Bill the Butcher all day long.
A strong recommend.
4.5/5
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