New York gangsbirth of a prestigious collaboration
Today Leonardo DiCaprio is, after Robert De Niro, Martin Scorsese’s favorite actor, with whom he made 6 films. A prolific and prestigious collaboration, with notable performances in memorable films such as Infiltrators, The Wolf of Wall Street or the recent The assassins of the Flower Moon. But during their first collaboration, in 2002 for New York gangsand while Leonardo DiCaprio is already, at 28 years old, a hero – played the same year Stop me if you can by Steven Spielberg -, the recognition that this historic gangster film by Martin Scorsese should have brought has been delayed…
In fact, in this film – then the most expensive and most epic directed by Martin Scorsese – he faces the actor considered the most talented of his generation and one of the best in the history of cinema: Daniel Day Lewis. And in the performance comparison game, Leonardo DiCaprio learned a lesson…

In 1846 in New York, during a clash between a group of Americans of English origin and a group of Irish immigrants, William Cutting, known as Bill the Butcher (Daniel Day-Lewis), leader of the Natives, an American gang, killed the nicknamed Priest (Liam Neeson), leader of the Irish gang the Lapins-Morts. Amsterdam Vallon (Leonardo DiCaprio), the Priest’s young boyfriend, witnesses the murder of his father. Now an orphan, he promises himself that he will avenge his father.
A superior performance and an Oscar nomination
In New York gangs, Leonardo DiCaprio plays the lead role. That of a young man determined to kill the man who killed his father, and who will be the first to approach him to take revenge on him. As in The Free, there is an idea of ”coming of age”, obviously in Scorsese’s violent and ambiguous universe where the main character follows the fate of a martyr. But the public and the press, who gave the film an excellent critical and commercial reception, had eyes only for Daniel Day-Lewis, terrifying and captivating as William Cutting, the antagonist of New York gangs.
The proof if there is one that Leonardo DiCaprio and Daniel Day-Lewis do not evolve at the same level is Daniel Day-Lewis, nominated in 2003Oscar for best actor For New York gangs, to the nose and bottom of Leonardo DiCaprio. The British-Irish actor is also nominated Golden Globe for Best Actor in a Motion Picture dramaticand gets the BAFTA for Best Actor. While Leonardo DiCaprio is not unworthy, far from it, in the role of Amsterdam Vallon, this is a small but real affront to the star of Titanic.
But what to do in front of Daniel Day-Lewis who, as usual, has prepared intensely New York gangs, taking lessons as an apprentice butcher and practicing knife throwing with specialists. A follower of the Method, he does not go out of character between takes and, even though he suffers from pneumonia, he refuses to wear a warmer coat or seek treatment, because at the time there was no demonstration of the game that delighted everyone. ‘unanimous criticism and which certainly gave Leonardo DiCaprio ideas for the rest of his career.
Source: Cine Serie

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