Robert De Niro: His career could have been over because he accomplished it

In 1996, two films were released with the participation of Robert De Niro, and no less important: Heat and Casino. The first is directed by Michael Mann, and the second by Martin Scorsese. After these two masterpieces, De Niro’s career would never again be at this level of demand and never again know such perfection.

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Heat was released on French screens on February 21, 1996. It brought together Al Pacino and “Bob” De Niro in the same scene for the first time in a mind-blowing 5-minute showdown. Defying public expectations of seeing them together for most of the film, Michael Mann is sending the message that the interest in his film does not rest on its royal cast.

What interests Mann is the hunt for Hannah (Pacino) to lock up McCauley (De Niro) and how his characters learn from each other without crossing paths. For De Niro, Heat is not just a detective film in which he plays a gangster. It’s more of a dive into McCall’s psyche, his motivations, his code of honor, so to speak, “old-fashioned” thievery.

With an audience rating of 4.3/5 on AlloCiné, Heat is now considered one of the best thrillers of all time.

Casino

Casino arrives in less than a month, on March 13, 1996. The eighth collaboration between the actress and her beloved director Martin Scorsese, this over three-hour thriller immerses the audience in the mafia investments of Sam Rothstein, known as “Ace”. Played by De Niro. His childhood friend Nicky Santoro (Joe Pesci), a violent type, is responsible for protecting him, but very quickly becomes more and more unruly.

De Niro’s acting is unbelievably good as, breaking with Pesci’s character’s swagger and powerful screen presence, he opts for a more monolithic performance and puts everything on looks, whispers and small, careful gestures. Not easily angered, Ace gets others to do the dirty work, and it’s this habitual calmness that fuels his rare cable bravado: if he goes off the rails, it’s because things are going really well. Evil.

In the United States, Casino was released on November 22, 1995, and Heat on December 15, 1995. Surprisingly, none of De Niro’s got a Best Actor Oscar nomination, and yet, what a year!

After 2001’s The Score , aside from a few rare roles in landmark films like The Irishman , Joker , or Reasons of State , De Niro would never return to this level of involvement or game science. Heat and Casino are two timeless films. , a peak in De Niro’s career, which will prove irresistible to him over time.