The Gangs of New York

by Martin Scorsese

Set in the turbulent streets of Lower Manhattan in the mid-nineteenth century, Martin Scorsese's Gangs of New York depicts the politically corrupt and volatile social climate of New York during the early years of the Civil War.
While the North is fighting in the South, the difference between the insular opulence of uptown life and the lawless destitution of those living downtown becomes more intolerable. Irish immigrants and emancipated slaves add to the swelling numbers of the poor. The city is a bomb ready to explode.

The action unfolds at the Five Points, a notoriously corrupt, gang-infested area between New York harbor and lower Broadway, where the native-born (Protestant) Americans and the Irish (Catholic) immigrants battle for control of the city. Amsterdam Vallon (played by Leonardo DiCaprio) is a young Irish-American who has returned to New York, after fifteen years in a house of reform, to seek revenge against Bill the Butcher (Daniel Day-Lewis), the nativist gang leader who had killed Vallon's father. The movie follows Amsterdam as he infiltrates Bill's inner circle, falls in love with Jenny Everdeane (Cameron Diaz), a beguiling pickpocket, and fights for the honor of his family and people. His personal struggle explodes in tandem with the 1863 draft riots, the most dramatic episode of urban unrest in American history.

Included in the book are interviews of the principal people involved with the making of the film: the director, actors, cinematographer, designers, screenwriters, and producers; the complete shooting script; a historical introduction by the writer Luc Sante, the film's technical advisor; color stills taken during the shooting; sketches of the lavish sets and costumes, and a portfolio of behind-the-scenes photographs taken by Brigitte Lacombe. This is an inside look at how an epic movie, one which the director had envisioned for twenty-five years, got made.

About the Author


Martin Scorsese (Director) has directed seventeen feature
films (among them Mean Streets, Taxi Driver, Raging Bull, After Hours, Goodfellas, Cape Fear, The Age of Innocence, Casino, Kundun, Bringing Out the Dead) and several documentaries, most recently Il Mio Viaggio in Italia. In 1990 he founded the Film Foundation with other prominent directors to foster film restoration and preservation; and he fights tirelessly for artists' rights.

Genres: Film, Crime

288 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2002

About the author

Martin Marcantonio Luciano Scorsese is an American Academy Award-winning film director, writer, and producer. Also affectionately known as "Marty", he is the founder of the World Cinema Foundation and a recipient of the AFI Life Achievement Award for his contributions to the cinema and has won awards from the Golden Globe, BAFTA, and Directors Guild of America. Scorsese is president of the Film Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to film preservation and the prevention of the decaying of motion picture film stock.

Scorsese's body of work addresses such themes as Italian American identity, Roman Catholic concepts of guilt and redemption, machismo, and the violence endemic in American society. Scorsese is widely considered to be one of the most significant and influential American filmmakers of his era.[3] He earned an MFA in film directing from NYU's Tisch School of the Arts.

Reviews

[Evan Jones · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gangs Of New York Review

In the book gangs of New York, Amsterdam Vallon is a young Irish immigrant released from prison. He returns to the Five Points seeking revenge against his father's killer, Bill the butcher (William Cutting), a powerful anti immigrant gang leader.
Amsterdam knows that revenge can only be obtained by joining Bills gang. When amsterdam joins Bills gang he show him what he's made of. He fights against one of bills gang members and he beats the crap out of him. Bill was very impressed and slapped him with a piece of meat in a jokingly way. In the movie Amsterdam meets a beautiful redhead named jenny, but jenny isn't an ordinary women, she loves to flirt and steal mens valuables.
The year of 1864, the day that bill the butcher killed Amsterdams father, Priest Vallon. That day changed Amsterdams mind for the rest of his life. Sixteen years later he returns back to the five points, when he arrives he sees how much has change in the past sixteen years. When he walks into town he goes back to the cave where his father had last spoken to him, in that room there was a secret hatch on the floor,in the hatch was the knife that Bill used to kill Amsterdams father. When Amsterdam grasped his father's knife, two native gang members tried to jump Amsterdam, Afters they fought one of the gang members johnny, went back up to amsterdam and says, “ I was there on they day your father died, remember I was the one who helped you. At that moment Amsterdam's journey becomes a fight for personal survival and to find a place for the Irish people in 1860's New York. This book really made no sense to me but all the crazy violence and the way the people lived and acted in the five points made the book interesting.

[Rêbwar Kurd · Rating 5 out of 5]

«دار و دسته نیویورکی» روایت مردانی که وطن‌شان را نه با رأی، که با مشت و قمه می‌سازند. شهری که در آن پرچم، مهم‌تر از انسان است و چاقو، برنده‌تر از قانون.

در دل این داستان، تاریخ آمریکا از پنجرهٔ جهنم نگاهت می‌کند. جایی که عدالت هنوز یونیفورم نپوشیده، و شهروندان با خون رأی می‌دهند. خیابان‌ها میدان نبرد ایدئولوژی‌ها نیستند؛ میدان نبرد قبیله‌هاند. ایرلندی و آمریکایی، پروتستان و کاتولیک، مهاجر و بومی، همه با مرزهایی نامرئی اما خونین از هم جدا شده‌اند.

شخصیت "بیل قصاب" تجسم همان چیزی‌ست که نیچه از آن به‌عنوان «اخلاق اربابان» یاد می‌کند. او اخلاق خودش را دارد، قوانین خودش را دارد، و آن‌چه او را از یک جنایتکار ساده متمایز می‌کند، ایمانش است؛ ایمانی کور اما استوار به نظم، به شرف، به خشم.
بیل، مثل راسکولنیکوف، با قتل نمی‌لرزد؛ چون قتل را نه یک جنایت، که یک وظیفه می‌بیند. او خودش را قاضی و جلاد می‌داند، و جهانش را درون یک تیغ خلاصه می‌کند.
قتل برای او یک هنر است، و خون، جوهر حقیقت.

از منظر روان‌شناسی، این داستان سفر در ذهن‌هایی‌ست که مرز میان دفاع از "ارزش" و توجیه خشونت را نابود کرده‌اند. مردانی که با قساوت‌شان زنده می‌مانند و با زنده‌ماندن‌شان، قساوت را توجیه می‌کنند. و جامعه‌ای که به‌جای درمان این ذهن‌ها، از آن‌ها قهرمان می‌سازد.

از منظر اجتماعی، این داستان افشاگر ریشه‌های فاشیسم پنهان در تمدن آمریکایی‌ست. جایی که خشم طبقاتی، نژادپرستی، مهاجرستیزی و توهم برتری، در لباس میهن‌پرستی جا خوش کرده‌اند. شهر نیویورک اینجا نه نماد فرصت، که نماد وحشت است. فرصتی برای قوی‌ترها تا ضعیف‌ترها را با تیغ فرهنگ غالب سلاخی کنند.

دار و دسته نیویورکی، داستانی ست درباره‌ی اینکه چگونه یک جامعه برای بقا، باید اول خودش را بدرَد. و اینکه گاهی نظم، تنها با هرج‌ومرج است که ممکن می‌شود.

[James · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am grateful for these interviews, these insights into a movie that I love in an unreasonable way. GONY is filmmaking greatness, and the artists, costume-makers, song researchers, and historians who fueled Scorsese and Jay Cocks' vision is truly astounding. I enjoyed the script and then did a re-watch of the film. There is a sense of place in this film and book that just is incredibly rare; the photos are stunning. The fawning, self-praise of producer Harvey Weinstein, significantly less so. This movie is almost 20 years old.

[Kim · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent Scorcese film with gore, violence, & character development. Points to the early era of New York when lawlessness reigned. Speaks of rival gangs that essentially ran a turf war of bribery, corruption, & bartering. The essential theme was this was the time of the great immigration to Ellis Island-namely the Irish vs the natives-those of German & Dutch descent who were already settled here. An excellent Daniel Day Lewis role w/ Leo Dicaprio in tow.

[Rey · Rating 4 out of 5]

darwin's theory with passion

[Carol Storm · Rating 5 out of 5]

A lush, informative, stunningly beautiful movie book that is much, much better than the sprawling, vicious, self-indulgent movie it was attempting to promote. Five stars just for Liam Neeson talking as a fan and giving his take on Raging Bull.

[David Ward · Rating 3 out of 5]

Gangs of New York: Making the Movie by Martin Scorsese (Miramax Books 2002) (791.4370). Fantastic sets and costumes made this period piece from New York circa 1844 noteworthy. My rating: 6/10, finished 9/19/11.