The movies that influenced Leonardo DiCaprio on ‘Shutter Island’
On top of being one of the most celebrated actors of his generation, Leonardo DiCaprio is also one of Hollywood’s most well-known cinephiles. After all, he once revealed that when he got his start in the movies at only 15 years old, he made a point to spend a year and a half watching all the great cinema he could get his hands on. It left him with one overriding goal for his acting career – to emulate the great artists whose work had spoken to him the most.
When DiCaprio first began collaborating with Martin Scorsese on 2002’s Gangs of New York, he found a kindred spirit. After all, there aren’t many directors in Hollywood who love cinema more than Scorsese.
In recent years, the legendary director has come under fire in certain quarters for his controversial take that Marvel films aren’t “cinema”. However, when the man has such an encyclopedic knowledge of world cinema and has spent nearly 60 years making some of the greatest motion pictures in history, few could argue that his opinion at least holds weight. Indeed, DiCaprio once said he’s only met one other person who knows as much about cinema as Scorsese – and that’s Steven Spielberg.
With Scorsese, DiCaprio clearly found a director who shared his passion for cinema, and, in turn, Scorsese found a star who was more than willing to delve into the annals of cinema history to prepare for a project. For example, as the pair ramped up to shoot 2010’s mind-bending thriller Shutter Island, Scorsese immersed DiCaprio in the world of classic film noir.
These hardboiled films from the 1940s and ’50s were characterised by morally compromised characters who made choices that took them down dark paths. They were shot in a moody filmmaking style that favoured shadows and inky blacks. Naturally, this was perfect preparation for DiCaprio to play a fedora-wearing US marshal who travelled to a foreboding island to search for a recently escaped killer from a prison for the criminally insane, all while battling with the demons in his own head.
In 2012, famed critic Roger Ebert e-mailed DiCaprio to enquire about this Scorsese-led film noir crash course. He asked, “Which actors did you respond to? Was there a particular film that struck you?”
DiCaprio responded: “Certainly Dana Andrews and Jimmy Stewart. And you know, on my own, Travis Bickle in Taxi Driver. The films that we saw ranged from Steel Helmet to Laura to Out of the Past to Vertigo to a documentary about a mental asylum called Titicut Follies. All of which are great points of reference when you’re on the set working with Mr. Scorsese.”
For DiCaprio, this process was no chore – it was both inspiring and integral to understanding the kind of film Scorsese wanted to make. He explained: “Like a great painter, you’re a part of the pre-production process while you’re working with the actors and the cinematographer and the set director, who decorated to really give us a deep understanding of the movie he was trying to create through cinema’s past. So, with Scorsese, it’s always a unique, enjoyable experience that gets you excited about making movies.”
