Gangs of New York: Inside Scorsese’s Epic About 19th-Century New York City Gangs

Scorsese Brings the Bloody Past of New York to Life

Hard to imagine that where tourists now pose for selfies in Manhattan’s Chinatown once stood the slums of Five Points, one of the most violent neighborhoods in American history. Gangs of New York throws you straight into the dirt and chaos of 19th-century New York, with Martin Scorsese at the helm and a cast that doesn’t miss a beat. Released in 2002, this film isn’t just another historical drama—it’s a brutal, sometimes overwhelming look at the roots of what New York City is today.

The film kicks off with an all-out street war in 1846. You’ve got Leonardo DiCaprio playing Amsterdam Vallon, a kid who watches his dad—the Irish gang leader Priest Vallon—fall in battle to Daniel Day-Lewis’s unforgettable Bill ‘The Butcher’ Cutting. Bill’s not just a villain. He’s the kind of character you can’t look away from, decked out with a handlebar mustache and dropping lines that burn into your memory. Amsterdam is left orphaned, the city covered in blood and grime, and Scorsese makes sure you feel every hint of that chaos.

Fast forward sixteen years, and Amsterdam’s all grown up, out for revenge. The city has only gotten meaner, full of new immigrants, old prejudices, and a political system just as dirty as the streets. Amsterdam weaves his way into Bill’s gang, blending in with nativists who want to keep Irish immigrants like him out. Along the way, he falls for Jenny Everdeane—played by Cameron Diaz—a pickpocket with her own painful past, and deals with shifting loyalties from fellow street rats like Johnny Sirocco.

Power, Betrayal, and the Madness of the Five Points

This is no simple shoot-’em-up. The plot thickens as Amsterdam’s plan for revenge spirals into a clash not just between two men, but between entire populations fighting for survival. The film’s Five Points is a world where everything’s for sale—loyalty, justice, even peace. Boss Tweed, the scheming political giant, uses the chaos to tighten his grip on the city. When Amsterdam’s friend, Monk McGinn, is voted into office only to get murdered for crossing Bill, it’s clear this city destroys hope just as quickly as it creates it.

The showdown everyone’s waiting for finally explodes during the 1863 Draft Riots. This wasn’t just a fight between gangs—the whole city’s on fire, mobs looting and burning, cannons booming. The chaos on screen rivaled what was really happening in New York at the time: immigrants furious about being drafted into a war they wanted no part of, clashing with authorities and the wealthy who could buy their way out of service. Scorsese’s direction turns the riots into a kind of hellscape—a reminder that our modern peace wasn’t easily won.

• The cast is stacked. Day-Lewis is terrifying and charismatic as Bill; DiCaprio delivers raw desperation as Amsterdam; and John C. Reilly plays a crooked cop you love to hate. Cameron Diaz proves she’s more than a rom-com queen, holding her own in every scene.
• The set design is outrageous and authentic. The production team recreated huge chunks of old New York on Rome’s Cinecittà studios to capture the city’s fetid atmosphere. When you see muddy streets, crumbling tenements, and candlelit bars, you know this isn’t Hollywood gloss.
• The film’s score, from folk melodies to pounding percussion, throws you back in time and underlines every desperate move the gangs make.

At nearly three hours long and with a budget of $100 million, Gangs of New York takes risks that smaller movies wouldn’t dream of. It’s a history lesson and a blood-soaked epic, showing how violence and corruption shaped the city we know today. Still, for all its spectacle, the heart of the story is personal: a young man struggling between love, vengeance, and the hope that tomorrow might—maybe—be a bit less brutal than today.