TV Times

TV Times

Bloody history of New York Gangs
‘Gangs of New York’, Martin Scorsese’s delayed and troubled epic to be screened here, takes on culture clashes, politics, love and revenge in 1860’s Manhattan’s ugly Five Points district-and ends up a bloody mess.

The ten academy awards nominated for Best Director (Martin Scorsese) and Best Actor (Daniel Day-Lewis) and winner of the Golden Globe award for the Best Director and British Academy Film Award (Best Actor) the film is a now being screened at Majestic cinema Colombo.

The film begins on a snowy morning in 1847 in Five Points, a lawless corner of New York. There, an Irish-Catholic immigrant street gang called the Dead Rabbits, led by “Priest” Vallon (Liam Nelson), emerges from the basement craves to fight a coalition of native gangs led by Cutting.

In the midst of the ferocious battle, Vallon is slain by Cutting (Daniel Day Lewis) as Vallon’s 5-year-old son watches. Sixteen years later, the boy, Amsterdam (Leonardo DiCaprio), returns from an orphanage planning to avenge his father’s death. Hiding his real identity, Amsterdam joins Cutting’s gang - now the undisputed master of Five Points - and soon finds himself a favorite of its leader.

Cutting is ruthless but he’s also charming, lyrically articulate and faithful to his obsolete code of honor. As he increasingly treats Amsterdam like a son, the boy suffers from a conflict of loyalty.

Amsterdam gets further confused by his attraction to Jenny (Cameron Diaz), a pickpocket who is close to Cutting, and due to the urgings of his father’s old comrade McGinn (Brendan Gleeson) he rebuilds the Dead Rabbits and fights Cutting for control of Five Points.

Meanwhile, President Lincoln has ordered a draft, which provokes enormous anger - unlike the Uptown rich, the poor cannot buy themselves exemptions - That explodes into the violence of the 1863 Draft Riots just as Amsterdam and Cutting ultimately face off.

The film is presented by Ceylon Theatres.

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