Martin Scorsese's sweeping tale follows the rise of Irish and Italian gangsters in 1860s New York. While elsewhere in the country the Civil War ensued, residents of Manhattan's Five Points also were engaged in fierce battles. Leonardo DiCaprio plays Amsterdam Vallon, the son of a murdered gangleader who swears vengeance upon William Cutting, a k a Bill the Butcher (Daniel Day-Lewis), the gang leader who killed his father.
