This film is flawed. But so is INTOLERANCE, THE FALL OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE, SATYRICON. Over time, the riches and wealth of details in this film will stand cleareer than it’s admitted weaknesses.

This is an over-the-top film. A vision of 19th Century street life without any comparison in film history. The sets by Dante Ferretti are masterpieces in their own right. Leo DiCaprio and Daniel Day-Lewis are great in their very over-the-top roles but overall the sheer grandeur and tragedy of the immigrant experience and how it made the city of cities seeps in through every frame building to a crescendo that’s heartbreaking.

Not Scorsese at his best, but it’s a film that has meant a great deal more to me than a better film like GOODFELLAS or MEAN STREETS