Gangs of New York is a brilliant love letter to NYC and American history

It gets a lot a flack as being one of Scorcese's weaker films. And there are some messy elements to the movie, but hot damn it is a brilliant commentary on nationalism, tribalism and historical accuracy. Make no mistake, the story is "based" on a person that really lived but Scorcese knows that the story is being bent to serve narrative structure and even that is not an accident in the overall broader message.

I could write an essay but I will just highlight my y favorite part that really ties the message up into a bow: The last shot and the ending credits.

Last shot is the skyline being erected and the graves disappearing, showing that the trials and tribulations of the "gangs of New York" were not as important to the city as they were to the characters of the story, and show the deeply personal plight of these individuals was inconsequential to a world they thought was theirs to shape.

Then the credits bookend that statement with the (admittedly super cheesy) U2 song that ends with the line "these are the hands that built America", and as the song fades out the remainder of the credits just has ambient city street audio of sirens, traffic and construction sounds...

Their fight, their cause, their hands were building the foundation, it was everything in the world to them, but the echoes of their labor in the annals of history are unheard over the common daily bustle of the streets. I love it. Scorcese is the man.

Submitted October 18, 2020 at 07:18PM by Iplaymusicforfun https://ift.tt/357Fbu1