12. Gangs of New York (Best of the Decade)

Gangs of New York (2002)

In Martin Scorsese’s first impressive film since 1995’s Casino, he cast Leonardo Dicaprio as a poor Irish-American youth returning to his old neighborhood in Civil War-time New York. Amsterdam (Dicaprio) has returned after growing up in an orphanage because Bill “The Butcher” Cutting (Daniel Day-Lewis in his first performance in five years) killed his father in a street brawl when he was a child. He wants to avenge his father’s murder. The film beautifully recreates the look and culture of nineteenth-century Manhattan. It was a time of rapid growth and urban development, but it was also a time of poverty, of war—of a draft—and of staunch cultural divides between not only black and white, but between immigrant and native born, between Irish, Italian, English, Chinese, and any other number of people. The film’s explosive opening and riotous ending are unique and well crafted. Nominated for 10 Oscars, the film won none.