At one point or another, everyone has complained about some branch of the government.  We complain about the DMV, we complain about the school boards, we complain about the IRS, CIA and FBI, but there is one fact that we seem to forget sometimes.  During our desires and complaints, we forget that this was a nation founded by violence and the desire for change.  If we don’t like or agree with something, we now have rules and measures to take to try and amend it.  But in the infant years of our new nation, while we were still getting our legs under us, these rules and measures were less defined, less understood or just non-existent.  Anarchy and corruption typically ran rampant, politicians and those officially empowered took more liberties, and more often than not, those really in control, were not always those appointed to that position.  Gangs of New York explores some of the darkest days in this era.  It shows better than any movie ever has, that not only was our independence bathed in blood, but the years and struggles that resulted were even more violent and brutal.  Martin Scorsese has taken historical facts and built a strong, at times ironic, historical commentary on America.  The story is set in New York, but could be set in any number of large areas that were struggling with newfound freedom.  His tale focuses on the revenge of one on another, but deals with so many other issues of unrest including the abolishment of slavery, the opposition to the draft, the resentment of immigrants and the ever present social class struggles.  Scorcese has taken on a monumental task, and while it shows moments of being a bit burdensome, it is truly an epic in more of a sense than The Two Towers in that it never seems to drag for too long and has a much smoother transition while juggling several stories and issues.