Cinema Wednesdays - Special edition: Les coronarétrospectives du cinéma - Loris S. Musumeci
He wasn't even twenty yet, but he'd already made a name for himself. After landing a number of TV roles in shows, sitcoms and commercials, Leonardo DiCaprio made his film debut in 1991 with the horror film Critters 3 by Kristine Peterson. The film wasn't brilliant, but the seventeen-year-old actor was already making a name for himself in Hollywood. Two years later, he starred opposite Robert De Niro in Secret wounds (1993) by Michael Caton-Jones. The meeting with this actor, who was already at the top of his game, was to be of great importance ten years later, because De Niro was Martin Scorsese's favorite actor - a privilege he would later gladly share with DiCaprio; and in 2002 Scorsese began a long and fruitful collaboration with DiCaprio, under De Niro's guidance.
DiCaprio and the birth of success
Meanwhile, still in 1993, the young actor caused a sensation alongside Johnny Depp with Gilbert Grape by Lasse Hallström. It's the first time he's acted in a profound, thought-provoking and moving film. And it's the first time he's been able to show that, when given a role, he gives it his all. Playing a mentally handicapped person requires more than just speaking without articulating, tilting your head to one side and bending your wrists. Disabled roles are among the most difficult to interpret. DiCaprio succeeds, so much so that the nineteen-year-old has become a benchmark in the interpretation of disabled characters. He's precise, true and alive. But it's a team effort; he can count on a shattering script that demands the utmost of him, and on perfect interaction with Johnny Depp, who is also building a great career.
Four films followed (The Foot Shooting Party, Rimbaud Verlaine, Basketball Diaries and Dead or alive); it can't be said that they stagnated DiCaprio's career, but they didn't reveal him any more than that. For three years, DiCaprio cut his teeth in independent cinema: he didn't necessarily gain in popularity, but his acting experience grew considerably as he moved from poet Rimbaud to junkie rocker. In 1995, he was cast as Romeo in Romeo + Juliet by Baz Luhrmann. Now it's clear. Those who haven't yet fallen under the spell of this handsome young man have no excuse not to succumb. A sensational beauty thrills the screen. DiCaprio is becoming the actor we love to see in movies, simply because he's so gorgeous. The girls all have him as a poster in their bedroom; there's no doubt about it.
DiCaprio and Winslet
The definitive consecration came two years later with the mythical Titanic (1997). At the age of twenty-three, DiCaprio stars in one of the most successful films in the history of cinema, with a director, James Cameron, who right up to his last projects never ceases to amaze the world of the Seventh Art, where he occupies a major place. DiCaprio proves that he's not just handsome and talented, he's also one of the best actors around. It's as if his career to date had already been foreshadowed by his role as Jack's romantic hero in Titanic. Not that her roles are all alike, but they all retain a romantic character, right down to the madness of Shutter Island (2010). Titanic, For DiCaprio, it was also a meeting with Kate Winslet, who has since become his best friend.
The journey of these two young prodigies continued before the camera of Sam Mendes - Kate's husband at the time - in 2008 with Les Noces rebelles. While not Mendes' most recognized achievement, nor DiCaprio's best performance, the film remains an excellent work, and above all an achievement for both director and actor. For the director, Sam Mendes, Les Noces rebelles is the culmination of his first film American Beauty (1999), in that it depicts bourgeois life in its most tragic guise, whereas if American Beauty does have a tragic ending, it is above all a comedy. For the actor, it's also an achievement. He reunites with Kate Winslet ten years after Titanic and the two actors, once again paired up in their respective roles, show what could have been in the sequel to Titanic if Jack had survived.
Read also: American Beauty, when love has no age
Jack and Rose got married in the hope of continuing a totally romantic and passionate relationship, but found themselves trapped in the «hopeless insignificance» of bourgeois life. DiCaprio and Winslet, a couple etched in cinematic history by Titanic, a complete discourse on love thanks to the Rebellious nuptials in fact, by going from crazy adventure to normal life. It's the journey of almost every couple. They dream of being Jack and Rose from Titanic, and Frank and April of the Rebellious nuptials. It's not just the films that reveal reality through fiction, but the actors who embody their characters too.
But between Titanic and Les Noces rebelles, there have been other roles and directors for DiCaprio, and not the least. After the phenomenal success of Titanic, DiCaprio set out to play only for the greatest, and only complex characters, where his work would be a ceaseless exploration of the most interesting human psychologies. A year after his collaboration with Cameron, he worked for the master Woody Allen in Celebrity.
DiCaprio and Scorsese
In 2002, he and Gangs of New York the new favorite actor of his favorite director: Martin Scorsese. The collaboration continues between the two Italo-Americans, who not only share an extraordinary talent in their field and an unconditional love of cinema, but also simply have the kind of class we love. Aviator and The Infiltrated have enjoyed the success they deserve, but the Scorsese DiCaprio duo have even bigger surprises in store for audiences in 2010. In the meantime, DiCaprio has had the opportunity to try his hand at action films, starring alongside Tom Hanks for a certain Steven Spielberg in Stop me if you can (2002).
With the 2010s, the star's talent breaks all records. As announced, Scorsese and DiCaprio prepare a surprise, and it's not long before the actor inaugurates his most important decade to date with Shutter Island in 2010. Between the depressive cop and the madman, Scorsese gave his protégé the opportunity to play a new role, one that could not be more anguished, or more successful. DiCaprio returns the favor. His performance gives Scorsese's film that extra something that makes it even more dizzying than the script intended. Having DiCaprio as an actor, in the same way as having Tom Hanks or Robert De Niro, gives a director the assurance of obtaining a film that is not just successful, but offers cinema and its viewers a new experience.
After Shutter Island, Scorsese and DiCaprio reunite for The Wolf of Wall Street (2013), no less exceptional. And since it now seems to be the custom of both to deliver a surprise at the start of each decade, we can only look forward to Scorsese's next film. Killers of the Flower Moon - in which De Niro joins the shock duo - due for release later this year. Between Shutter Island and The Wolf of Wall Street, DiCaprio has not been idle. On the contrary, he's been discovering other directors, who are undoubtedly the best at the moment. In 2010, he worked with Christopher Nolan in Inception. In 2011, with Clint Eastwood for the fascinating biobic J. Edgar on the first director of the FBI.
DiCaprio and the film elite
And as if Nolan and Eastwood weren't enough of a prizewinner.., bam! DiCaprio plays for Quentin Tarantino in Django Unchained in 2012. His second role as the negro Calvin, leads him to a second collaboration with Tarantino - another Italian-American? just goes to show there's something between the Ritals and cinema - in 2019 with Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. I may be misled in my considerations by the passionate yet platonic love - for the time being... - that I have for Margot Robbie, But for me, it's both Tarantino's best film and the one in which DiCaprio gets his best role as Rick Dalton.
Read also: Once upon a time... Quentin Tarantino
Although I don't think any role is better than this one, DiCaprio was magnificent in Gatsby the Magnificent (2013) by Baz Luhrmann, whom he reunited with after almost twenty years and to whom he owes so much for Romeo+Juliet. Rick Dalton does not prevent us from recognizing the talent of a bearded, scruffy and wild DiCaprio in The Revenant (2015) by Alejandro Gonzales Inarritu, for which he won the Oscar for Best Actor for the first and only time to date. Indeed, he is gifted in his cries of suffering - the character he plays, Glass, was mauled by a grizzly bear, I agree, that's got to hurt a bit - but he was undoubtedly rewarded more for the journey and evolution he has accomplished in twenty years of cinema, than precisely for this role, which, important though it is, still leaves us a little disappointed. DiCaprio is the epitome of beauty and charm, so his allure as a caveman is a little jarring.
Finally, there's the actor, and then there's the man. Some biographies shed light on works of art. Others matter little. DiCaprio is DiCaprio in the roles he plays. His political and societal commitments are commendable, no doubt genuine, but they don't interfere with his acting. DiCaprio has the merit of clearly distinguishing his commitments as a democratic citizen who works in favor of children and ecology, and his commitments as an actor. His love life, on the other hand, is more like many of the roles he plays, in that it's very eventful, but always with women who compete beautifully with each other. But for me, DiCaprio is Romeo, Jack, Rick Dalton and so many others. DiCaprio is a dream come true on screen. DiCaprio is cinema's elite. DiCaprio is simply the best.
On today's program with «Les coronarétrospectives du cinéma», you'll find reviews of four films in which DiCaprio shone, charmed, frightened or gave you a thirst for success:
– Romeo + Juliet (1996) by Baz Luhrmann
– Stop me if you can (2002) by Steven Spielberg
– Shutter Island (2010) by Martin Scorsese
– The Wolf of Wall Street (2013) by Martin Scorsese
Write to the author: loris.musumeci@leregardlibre.com
Photo credit: © Instagram de @leonardodicaprio official
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