This new Martin Scorcese epic has famously been in production for a long time, and in the editing suite even longer. Now it finally reaches our screens (after a Christmas Day release in the US), but has it been worth the wait?
Well a qualified yes. It is undoubtedly a spectacular film, and Daniel Day-Lewis is fantastic in it – he doesn’t make nearly enough films these days, preferring to do other things in far flung corners of the world (well Italy by all accounts).
The sets, built in the famous Cinecitta in Rome, are remarkable with a very vivid picture of what it was like 150 years ago in New York. I must admit that I had no idea it was quite so lawless. I guess I think about it being more like that in the wild frontiers of the country, not on the docks where the immigrants all arrived.
I’m not sure about di Caprio though. Cameron Diaz is fine, although sometimes a little too made up. And there’s a good supporting cast with plenty of faces to recognise from British TV! The music is excellent, particularly the drum beat led piece as they march to fight in the opening sequence. Although, as someone behind me in the cinema said, the odd sequence sounded very Lord of the Rings-ish. Not surprising as they’re both scored by Howard Shore.
Spectacles like this don’t come along too often, so should be savoured.