The Gangs of New York - Softcover

Scorsese, Martin

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0786868937 ISBN 13: 9780786868933

Publisher: Miramax, 2003

Synopsis

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 this title

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.

From Publishers Weekly:

Featuring interviews with almost every big job title among the cast and crew, copious production stills, the ostensibly complete screenplay and a nearly scholarly essay by New York historicist Sante, this melange of documentation and memorabilia pays homage to the epic production of Gangs of New York. Much of the information found in its pages is absorbing, in particular the list of films director Scorsese drew on for his grimy mise-en-scene, some of which seem intuitive, like The Bowery (1933) and Oliver Twist (1948), and others, like Fellini Satyricon (1970), that are more surprising. Also intriguing is the explanation of Scorsese's personal obsession in driving the film from its conception in the early 1970s to its final execution in 2002. The bloody New York street history and the nuts and bolts of filmmaking depicted in these pages makes for good browsing, and those inspired by the film will relish this celebration of it.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: Miramax
• Publication date: 2003
• ISBN 10: 0786868937
• ISBN 13: 9780786868933
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 288