L*E*O*N*A*R*D*O: KING OF THE WORLD
This amatuerish video was obviously created to cash in on DiCaprio's celebrity without supplying viewers with anything new or original. A compilation of blurry photographs (repeated sometimes ad naseum) and "interviews" with persons touted as DiCaprio's "childhood friends", it's something real fans of the actor can pass up without missing anything. The only truly informative portion of the video is a filmography and a few truncated recaps of some of the motion pictures in which DiCaprio has starred. Unfortunately, whomever was doing the "slide show" of images during some of the film synopses got them mixed up (showing images from one film while another was being talked about). And there is a glaring error made in one recap during which Diane Keaton's character in the motion picture "Marvin's Room" was inadvertantly confused by the narrator with the character played by Meryl Streep in the same film. These sorts of thing are inexcusable -- even in a amatuer video.
The only thing even remotely worthwhile keeping, as regards this video, is the box it comes in, which features an excellent photograph of DiCaprio.
26 Nisan 2008 Cumartesi
The Quick and The Dead
The Quick and The Dead
The skuttlebutt was that Leonardo DiCaprio originally turned down the role of "Fee, the Kid" in this 1994 film, and only accepted the part after co-producer and star, Sharon Stone, hand-selected him and begged him to work on the project. Also in the film are Gene Hackman and "Millenium's" * Henrickson (in a surprising role as a poker-playing, long-haired, somewhat narcassitic shootist).
THE PLOT: About 20 years ago Mr.Herod (Hackman) was instrumental in the death of the marshal of an unnamed town. Since that time, he's been running the place with an iron fist, keeping the general population under his thumb and on the brink of poverty, while he lives in splendor and subjects the town's inhabitants to "games" of duels in the street.
Into the town comes Lady (Sharon Stone), a sour, gun-toting woman with a chip on her shoulder and readiness to murder Herod. Because he's so heavily protected, she can't kill him outright, so she-- along with a cast of other Western stereotypes (the preacher, the scar-faced man, the Indian, the card shark) -- joins the next "game". The rules of the game are simple: Each participate can challenge any of the others to a gun-shooting duel. Whoever is alive at the end of the game win a cash prize. To Herod's surprise, however, his son Fee, "The Kid" (Leonardo DiCaprio) has signed himself up for the game in an attempt to impress his father with his skill. Not willing to be outdone by his own son, Herod adds his name to the contest as well... and the game begins.
Little by little viewers discover that Lady wants to kill Herod because he had forced the death of her father, the man who was once the marshal of the town. When Lady was a child, Herod and his gang broke into the marshal's home, and dragged him outside. Herod strung the marshal up and was going to hang him, when Lady ran out to try to rescue her father. Herod handed her a gun and told her that if in three shots she could shoot the rope that was being used to hang her father, he'd let her father live. Unfamiliar with guns, but willing to do anything to give her father a chance at life, Lady fired at the rope... and struck her father in the head by mistake. Now, a grown woman, Lady wants Herod dead.
The Preacher, Cort, viewers learn was once an expert gun-slinger who later renounced violence and became a minister of God. The only reason why he was participating in the contest was because Herod was forcing him to.
The Kid is having difficulty gaining his father's respect in part because his mother was unfaithful to Herod, and Herod isn't entirely certain that the Kid is really his son. He refers to the Kid as a "farmer" and complains that he doesn't have the hands of a shootist. Herod also hates his son because everyone in the town loves and reveres the Kid. When the Kid wins his rounds in the contest, all of the townspeople applaud him and carry him around on their shoulders. When Herod wins his own rounds, the people are silent and only supply him with meager applauses when he threatens them with retaliation of they don't.
In the game, as each challenge is given and accepted, the list of participants dwindles until there are only four contestants left: Lady, the preacher, Herod and the Kid. The Kid faces his father in the street and is stunned when, on the stoke of the town's clock tower, both he and father fire their guns at the same time. Herod is struck in the throat and falls, but doesn't die. Breathlessly exclaiming, "That was fast," the Kid crumples. As he lays in the street, he sees his father approach him. The Kid puts a hand out to Herod, silently begging the man to show him some sign of love and respect. Herod refuses, and the Kid dies in the arms of his lover and Lady with tears in his eyes.
Although the townspeople had turned on all of the other contestants killed in the game, and stolen from them all of their clothes, possesions, and even their teeth, when the Kid dies, the townspeople silently and respectfully carry him away untouched.
The preacher and Lady then face each other in the street, and Lady is shot and pronounced dead by the town coroner. The only two contestants left standing then are the preacher and Herod (God and The Devil). When the clocktower strikes the hour, an indication for the shooting to begin, Herod is astonished to hear explosions going off all over town. The preacher and Lady had, earlier, discovered a cache of dynamite (owned by the Kid), and used it to destroy Herod's mansion, the clock tower, and the bank where Herod's money was being kept. After all of this, Herod is doubly stunned to see Lady walking down the street toward him. The preacher had faked her death, so she could "come back from the dead" to kill Herod. Lady shoots Herod several times, making sure he's dead, then she turns to the preacher and tosses him the marshal's badge that had once belonged to her father. Satisfued that the town would be safe in the preacher's care, Lady gets on her horse and rides away.
The skuttlebutt was that Leonardo DiCaprio originally turned down the role of "Fee, the Kid" in this 1994 film, and only accepted the part after co-producer and star, Sharon Stone, hand-selected him and begged him to work on the project. Also in the film are Gene Hackman and "Millenium's" * Henrickson (in a surprising role as a poker-playing, long-haired, somewhat narcassitic shootist).
THE PLOT: About 20 years ago Mr.Herod (Hackman) was instrumental in the death of the marshal of an unnamed town. Since that time, he's been running the place with an iron fist, keeping the general population under his thumb and on the brink of poverty, while he lives in splendor and subjects the town's inhabitants to "games" of duels in the street.
Into the town comes Lady (Sharon Stone), a sour, gun-toting woman with a chip on her shoulder and readiness to murder Herod. Because he's so heavily protected, she can't kill him outright, so she-- along with a cast of other Western stereotypes (the preacher, the scar-faced man, the Indian, the card shark) -- joins the next "game". The rules of the game are simple: Each participate can challenge any of the others to a gun-shooting duel. Whoever is alive at the end of the game win a cash prize. To Herod's surprise, however, his son Fee, "The Kid" (Leonardo DiCaprio) has signed himself up for the game in an attempt to impress his father with his skill. Not willing to be outdone by his own son, Herod adds his name to the contest as well... and the game begins.
Little by little viewers discover that Lady wants to kill Herod because he had forced the death of her father, the man who was once the marshal of the town. When Lady was a child, Herod and his gang broke into the marshal's home, and dragged him outside. Herod strung the marshal up and was going to hang him, when Lady ran out to try to rescue her father. Herod handed her a gun and told her that if in three shots she could shoot the rope that was being used to hang her father, he'd let her father live. Unfamiliar with guns, but willing to do anything to give her father a chance at life, Lady fired at the rope... and struck her father in the head by mistake. Now, a grown woman, Lady wants Herod dead.
The Preacher, Cort, viewers learn was once an expert gun-slinger who later renounced violence and became a minister of God. The only reason why he was participating in the contest was because Herod was forcing him to.
The Kid is having difficulty gaining his father's respect in part because his mother was unfaithful to Herod, and Herod isn't entirely certain that the Kid is really his son. He refers to the Kid as a "farmer" and complains that he doesn't have the hands of a shootist. Herod also hates his son because everyone in the town loves and reveres the Kid. When the Kid wins his rounds in the contest, all of the townspeople applaud him and carry him around on their shoulders. When Herod wins his own rounds, the people are silent and only supply him with meager applauses when he threatens them with retaliation of they don't.
In the game, as each challenge is given and accepted, the list of participants dwindles until there are only four contestants left: Lady, the preacher, Herod and the Kid. The Kid faces his father in the street and is stunned when, on the stoke of the town's clock tower, both he and father fire their guns at the same time. Herod is struck in the throat and falls, but doesn't die. Breathlessly exclaiming, "That was fast," the Kid crumples. As he lays in the street, he sees his father approach him. The Kid puts a hand out to Herod, silently begging the man to show him some sign of love and respect. Herod refuses, and the Kid dies in the arms of his lover and Lady with tears in his eyes.
Although the townspeople had turned on all of the other contestants killed in the game, and stolen from them all of their clothes, possesions, and even their teeth, when the Kid dies, the townspeople silently and respectfully carry him away untouched.
The preacher and Lady then face each other in the street, and Lady is shot and pronounced dead by the town coroner. The only two contestants left standing then are the preacher and Herod (God and The Devil). When the clocktower strikes the hour, an indication for the shooting to begin, Herod is astonished to hear explosions going off all over town. The preacher and Lady had, earlier, discovered a cache of dynamite (owned by the Kid), and used it to destroy Herod's mansion, the clock tower, and the bank where Herod's money was being kept. After all of this, Herod is doubly stunned to see Lady walking down the street toward him. The preacher had faked her death, so she could "come back from the dead" to kill Herod. Lady shoots Herod several times, making sure he's dead, then she turns to the preacher and tosses him the marshal's badge that had once belonged to her father. Satisfued that the town would be safe in the preacher's care, Lady gets on her horse and rides away.
Titanic
Titanic
This 1997 blockbuster of a movie went on to win 11 Academy Awards including the Oscar for Best Picture.
OTHERS REVIEWS:
From Mr. Showbiz on the web: "...James Cameron’s Titanic is cruising into multiplexes as the most eagerly anticipated movie of the holiday season, and the good news is that it floats. Both a lavish historic retelling of the British ocean liner’s collision with an iceberg in the North Atlantic and an old-fashioned epic romance, Titanic is surprisingly limber, light, and entertaining for a flick that clocks in at over three hours. It’s not an instant romantic classic like Dr. Zhivago or Gone With the Wind, but it dazzles and diverts. The “unsinkable ship of dreams” is depicted with thrilling D.W. Griffith-like showmanship by Cameron, who combines technical wizardry with an involving human story...
Unlike the sober, documentary-like account of the ill-fated vessel in A Night to Remember, Titanic isn’t concerned with tracking an ensemble of seafarers. Instead, it focuses on the fictional characters of first-class passenger Rose DeWitt Bukater (Kate Winslet), a sheltered 17-year-old society girl, and third-class passenger Jack Dawson (Leonardo DiCaprio), a young, penniless artist who wins his ticket in a last-minute poker game as the ship is boarding. Rose is being coerced by her manipulative mother (Frances Fisher) into a loveless marriage to a cold-hearted heir (Billy Zane); Jack is free of responsibility and eager to return to America. The disparate duo meet on the night Rose attempts to jump overboard, and a forbidden friendship blossoms into a passionate affair. Their story is told by the 101-year-old Rose (Gloria Stuart) to a grungy treasure hunter (Bill Paxton) on the quest for a legendary diamond that allegedly sank with the ship.
... Though the dialogue is at times cheesy (Rose: “You have a gift. You see people.” Jack: “I see you.”), the stars have real chemistry.... Best of all in Titanic is the boat itself. Before we ever see his re-creation of the vessel, Cameron takes us to the bottom of the ocean to see the ghostly remains of the wreckage. In a long underwater tracking sequence, the camera homes in on a crystal chandelier and a dilapidated piano as we hear the faint sounds of ballroom music. It’s a beautiful, haunting precursor to the thrilling finale of the ship’s inevitable collapse. Titanic will take you by surprise as a romantic, fast-paced, entertaining spectacle that deserves to make its money back." --Kevin Maynard
AN INTERVIEW WITH DiCAPRIO:
Good Morning America
Leonardo DiCaprio
Good Morning America's Joel Siegel chats with the young star about his dashing performance in the most expensive movie ever made
LEONARDO DICAPRIO stars in James Cameron's Titanic as Jack Dawson, a cocky bohemian who wins his ticket onto the big boat in a card game. Dawson's ill-fated romance with a wealthy passenger (Kate Winslet) does more than pass the time between special effects: it gives DiCaprio his most likable character yet.
Great performance. The second I saw you I liked that guy. I really liked that character.
It was interesting because I've traditionally played characters that have been tortured in some aspect, whether it be by love, or drugs, or whatever, but this guy was like an open book. He was an open-hearted guy with no demons, and it was more of a challenge than I ever thought it would be.
How much of you is in that character. Are you like that character?
I would like to be like that character. I mean, Jack sort of embodies a lot of things that I think we all find admirable. Like a bohemian that lives life day to day, finds his own sort of happiness. You try to be like that. I wish . . . I think I do have some of those aspects, but he's almost like the kind of guy we all wish to be.
When they [Jack and Rose] see each other, all [the audience wants] is for these two people to be together.
It's interesting. I mean, that's what initially attracted me, more so than even the dynamic of what the Titanic meant to the world. And what the sort of story the Titanic was, was this love story. And when the ship goes down it's like their whole world coming to a halt.
How difficult were the action sequences,the water sequences? It's got to be cold.
It was cold. There was a gigantic sort of tank that the interior of the Titanic was in, and it was on hydraulics. So it basically has a level of sea water to it and whenever he wanted corridors to be flooded with sea water he'd tip the hydraulics on it. And the water would come rushing in. It was always like a new sort of roller-coaster ride to jump into. Granted, after the fiftieth or sixtieth time doing it, it becomes tedious. But the initial excitement of doing it for the first time was cool.
Lots of wrinkles on your fingers.
Oh, for sure. I remember a scene toward the ending where the ship goes straight up and it's completely bobbing up and down in the water and we're at the top of it. And looking up and seeing like fifteen gigantic cranes moving around and we're on this hydraulic poop deck and below us we see like thirty stuntmen on bungee cords. Kate and I looked at each other and said "How did we get here?"
When you see it on the screen, you see a lot of things on the screen that were not happening really because a lot of stuff was computer-generated. Are you awestruck by the effects?
Oh, when I first saw it, there's a whole sort of world that goes on while you're doing your stuff and I didn't want to focus on what was going on. Otherwise I would have been overwhelmed. I needed to do just what I needed to do. And make this character as real as possible. And concentrate on our little story that was going on. And then we actually see the ship cracking in half right in front of you. And it looks more real than anything. It looks like you're there.
One of the most powerful shots for me in the whole movie was a panning shot with Kate Winslet's character, Rose, in the water sort of paddling and it pulls back to reveal like a marathon of over a thousand people just screaming and trying to survive hypothermia. It touched me. Working with Kate Winslet. There's real chemistry there, chemistry on the screen.
I hope so. I mean, we have it in real life. I think she's such a terrific girl. It's unbelievable. We were such good friends throughout this whole movie. We were almost joined at the hip. Everything that we wanted to complain about, we did it with each other, rather than doing it on set, and we got it all out in the open in our trailers. She's such a solid actress, and she possesses so much strength on-screen, it's unbelievable. And I think she's gonna be one of our best.
When this opened in Tokyo at the Tokyo film festival, you were in Tokyo.
Yeah.
And I read that you had special entrances and exits and the Japanese girls were all over you. How do you relate to things like that?
I sort of have always realized that there's always sort of a new pretty face and you--you definitely want to be remembered for your work rather than being sort of the hunk-of-the-month type of deal. That's what I've always aimed for. I don't know how long whatever is gonna last. It's like something that I don't expect is gonna stay around forever. What you want is your work to speak for itself. And as far as these fans are concerned, I like it. It's great to get that kind of attention, but it's also strange at the same time because you don't know many of these people individually. You know what I mean? You have your people in your life which is people that influence you. But it almost becomes surreal and unrealistic because most of the people you don't really know. So it's hard to feel a lot from it, you know.
Have you had to give up things that you like to do?
Not quite yet. I mean definitely it's bordering on that. But I think no matter what I'm gonna continue to try and do the things that I did before even if it's a little more difficult. I just have to do it. I can't be confined to my house.
This 1997 blockbuster of a movie went on to win 11 Academy Awards including the Oscar for Best Picture.
OTHERS REVIEWS:
From Mr. Showbiz on the web: "...James Cameron’s Titanic is cruising into multiplexes as the most eagerly anticipated movie of the holiday season, and the good news is that it floats. Both a lavish historic retelling of the British ocean liner’s collision with an iceberg in the North Atlantic and an old-fashioned epic romance, Titanic is surprisingly limber, light, and entertaining for a flick that clocks in at over three hours. It’s not an instant romantic classic like Dr. Zhivago or Gone With the Wind, but it dazzles and diverts. The “unsinkable ship of dreams” is depicted with thrilling D.W. Griffith-like showmanship by Cameron, who combines technical wizardry with an involving human story...
Unlike the sober, documentary-like account of the ill-fated vessel in A Night to Remember, Titanic isn’t concerned with tracking an ensemble of seafarers. Instead, it focuses on the fictional characters of first-class passenger Rose DeWitt Bukater (Kate Winslet), a sheltered 17-year-old society girl, and third-class passenger Jack Dawson (Leonardo DiCaprio), a young, penniless artist who wins his ticket in a last-minute poker game as the ship is boarding. Rose is being coerced by her manipulative mother (Frances Fisher) into a loveless marriage to a cold-hearted heir (Billy Zane); Jack is free of responsibility and eager to return to America. The disparate duo meet on the night Rose attempts to jump overboard, and a forbidden friendship blossoms into a passionate affair. Their story is told by the 101-year-old Rose (Gloria Stuart) to a grungy treasure hunter (Bill Paxton) on the quest for a legendary diamond that allegedly sank with the ship.
... Though the dialogue is at times cheesy (Rose: “You have a gift. You see people.” Jack: “I see you.”), the stars have real chemistry.... Best of all in Titanic is the boat itself. Before we ever see his re-creation of the vessel, Cameron takes us to the bottom of the ocean to see the ghostly remains of the wreckage. In a long underwater tracking sequence, the camera homes in on a crystal chandelier and a dilapidated piano as we hear the faint sounds of ballroom music. It’s a beautiful, haunting precursor to the thrilling finale of the ship’s inevitable collapse. Titanic will take you by surprise as a romantic, fast-paced, entertaining spectacle that deserves to make its money back." --Kevin Maynard
AN INTERVIEW WITH DiCAPRIO:
Good Morning America
Leonardo DiCaprio
Good Morning America's Joel Siegel chats with the young star about his dashing performance in the most expensive movie ever made
LEONARDO DICAPRIO stars in James Cameron's Titanic as Jack Dawson, a cocky bohemian who wins his ticket onto the big boat in a card game. Dawson's ill-fated romance with a wealthy passenger (Kate Winslet) does more than pass the time between special effects: it gives DiCaprio his most likable character yet.
Great performance. The second I saw you I liked that guy. I really liked that character.
It was interesting because I've traditionally played characters that have been tortured in some aspect, whether it be by love, or drugs, or whatever, but this guy was like an open book. He was an open-hearted guy with no demons, and it was more of a challenge than I ever thought it would be.
How much of you is in that character. Are you like that character?
I would like to be like that character. I mean, Jack sort of embodies a lot of things that I think we all find admirable. Like a bohemian that lives life day to day, finds his own sort of happiness. You try to be like that. I wish . . . I think I do have some of those aspects, but he's almost like the kind of guy we all wish to be.
When they [Jack and Rose] see each other, all [the audience wants] is for these two people to be together.
It's interesting. I mean, that's what initially attracted me, more so than even the dynamic of what the Titanic meant to the world. And what the sort of story the Titanic was, was this love story. And when the ship goes down it's like their whole world coming to a halt.
How difficult were the action sequences,the water sequences? It's got to be cold.
It was cold. There was a gigantic sort of tank that the interior of the Titanic was in, and it was on hydraulics. So it basically has a level of sea water to it and whenever he wanted corridors to be flooded with sea water he'd tip the hydraulics on it. And the water would come rushing in. It was always like a new sort of roller-coaster ride to jump into. Granted, after the fiftieth or sixtieth time doing it, it becomes tedious. But the initial excitement of doing it for the first time was cool.
Lots of wrinkles on your fingers.
Oh, for sure. I remember a scene toward the ending where the ship goes straight up and it's completely bobbing up and down in the water and we're at the top of it. And looking up and seeing like fifteen gigantic cranes moving around and we're on this hydraulic poop deck and below us we see like thirty stuntmen on bungee cords. Kate and I looked at each other and said "How did we get here?"
When you see it on the screen, you see a lot of things on the screen that were not happening really because a lot of stuff was computer-generated. Are you awestruck by the effects?
Oh, when I first saw it, there's a whole sort of world that goes on while you're doing your stuff and I didn't want to focus on what was going on. Otherwise I would have been overwhelmed. I needed to do just what I needed to do. And make this character as real as possible. And concentrate on our little story that was going on. And then we actually see the ship cracking in half right in front of you. And it looks more real than anything. It looks like you're there.
One of the most powerful shots for me in the whole movie was a panning shot with Kate Winslet's character, Rose, in the water sort of paddling and it pulls back to reveal like a marathon of over a thousand people just screaming and trying to survive hypothermia. It touched me. Working with Kate Winslet. There's real chemistry there, chemistry on the screen.
I hope so. I mean, we have it in real life. I think she's such a terrific girl. It's unbelievable. We were such good friends throughout this whole movie. We were almost joined at the hip. Everything that we wanted to complain about, we did it with each other, rather than doing it on set, and we got it all out in the open in our trailers. She's such a solid actress, and she possesses so much strength on-screen, it's unbelievable. And I think she's gonna be one of our best.
When this opened in Tokyo at the Tokyo film festival, you were in Tokyo.
Yeah.
And I read that you had special entrances and exits and the Japanese girls were all over you. How do you relate to things like that?
I sort of have always realized that there's always sort of a new pretty face and you--you definitely want to be remembered for your work rather than being sort of the hunk-of-the-month type of deal. That's what I've always aimed for. I don't know how long whatever is gonna last. It's like something that I don't expect is gonna stay around forever. What you want is your work to speak for itself. And as far as these fans are concerned, I like it. It's great to get that kind of attention, but it's also strange at the same time because you don't know many of these people individually. You know what I mean? You have your people in your life which is people that influence you. But it almost becomes surreal and unrealistic because most of the people you don't really know. So it's hard to feel a lot from it, you know.
Have you had to give up things that you like to do?
Not quite yet. I mean definitely it's bordering on that. But I think no matter what I'm gonna continue to try and do the things that I did before even if it's a little more difficult. I just have to do it. I can't be confined to my house.
Marvin's Room
Marvin's Room
This 1996 film boasted a stellar cast comprised of Meryl Streep, Leonardo DiCaprio, Diane Keaton, Robert DeNiro, Hume Cronin, and Gwen Verdon.
THE PLOT: Bessie (Keaton) cares for her Parkinsons-ridden father, Marvin (Cronin), and aging aunt (Verdon) in her home, and is devastated to discover that she herself has become afflicted with leukemia. Although they have been separated for decades, Bessie calls upn her sister, Lee (Streep) and her family to come to Florida and undergo testing for a possible bone marrow transplant.
Struggling to make a life for herself and her two sons, Lee had become so entirely estranged from her sister and father, that when she mentions to her son, Hank (DiCaprio), that "Aunt Bessie" might be dying, he doesn't know who his mother is talking about. Making matters more difficult is the fact that Hank has been confined to a mental institution because he's run out of control and burned down his mother's house. Nevertheless, Lee gets permission to take Hank out of the hospital long enough for him to go to Florida with her and his brother Charlie, meet Bessie, and be tested as a possible marrow donor.
At first defiant and looking for "the angle", Hank delays being tested for the transplant, while he puts Bessie's love and intentions to the test. Most telling is the use of "glass" to separate Hank from the "untrustworthy" adults around him. The adults can see him through the windows of the car, or through the glass panels at the doctor's office, but they can't touch him, can't reach him without his permission. It's only when he comes out from behind the glass, that viewers (and the adults in the film) get a glimpse of the tender and vulnerable young man behind the self-imposed facade of arrogance and faux "lunacy".
Eventually, the two start to warm to one another, and Hank slowly allows his Aunt Bessie to see beyond the transparent barriers of rage and bravado he's built up around himself. Later, he becomes despondent when he discovers that his marrow is not compatible with his aunt's.
As the story unfolds, viewers also learn more about the characters: Lee has been through a series of bad relationships, including one to the man who fathered Hank and his brother. Hank discovers that his father, whom he idolizes but hasn't seen since he was four, used to beat him whenever Lee left Hank alone with his dad. And Bessie discovers that for all Lee's posturing and seemingly selfishness, Lee is a strong woman who's just trying to figure out how to live her life and be happy in it.
By the end of the film, everyone begins to trust and appreciate one another... and Lee makes the selfless decision to remain in Florida, and rebuild and care for her family.
OUR REVIEW: This isn't one of DiCaprio's best or most challenging role, but he embues Hank with enough raw emotion and underlying vulnerability to make him an interesting and believable character. To see Hank evolve from the violent teenager who had to be restrained by the police and drugged into submission at the beginning of the film, to the bright and passionate young man who takes his ailing Aunt Bessie on a joy-ride along the beach front and tries to exlain to her the hurt and fear he experienced in the mental institution is thoroughly satisfying. The fact that we care what Hank thinks and feels is a credit to DiCaprio's ability.
There are moments of sheer joy, worry, and heart-touching sadness in this film, which explores and exposes the realities of human fear, selfishness, selflessness, and familial love.
OTHERS REVIEWS:
From Mr. Showbiz on the web: "...Easy to see, as early as two minutes in, why this film attracted such a forty-carat cast. The characters are intense and authentic, and the story is driven entirely by their feelings and how they act on them.... Streep and DiCaprio are especially convincing as a mother and son because, even at war, they are matched heavyweights in terms of talent. Without ever stooping to any obvious gestures, they both make us feel the sorrow under their identical, highly defensive bouts of selfish behavior... Marvin's Room is a remarkable paradox: a comedy about pain. The anguish and laughter are both genuine." --F.X. Feeney
This 1996 film boasted a stellar cast comprised of Meryl Streep, Leonardo DiCaprio, Diane Keaton, Robert DeNiro, Hume Cronin, and Gwen Verdon.
THE PLOT: Bessie (Keaton) cares for her Parkinsons-ridden father, Marvin (Cronin), and aging aunt (Verdon) in her home, and is devastated to discover that she herself has become afflicted with leukemia. Although they have been separated for decades, Bessie calls upn her sister, Lee (Streep) and her family to come to Florida and undergo testing for a possible bone marrow transplant.
Struggling to make a life for herself and her two sons, Lee had become so entirely estranged from her sister and father, that when she mentions to her son, Hank (DiCaprio), that "Aunt Bessie" might be dying, he doesn't know who his mother is talking about. Making matters more difficult is the fact that Hank has been confined to a mental institution because he's run out of control and burned down his mother's house. Nevertheless, Lee gets permission to take Hank out of the hospital long enough for him to go to Florida with her and his brother Charlie, meet Bessie, and be tested as a possible marrow donor.
At first defiant and looking for "the angle", Hank delays being tested for the transplant, while he puts Bessie's love and intentions to the test. Most telling is the use of "glass" to separate Hank from the "untrustworthy" adults around him. The adults can see him through the windows of the car, or through the glass panels at the doctor's office, but they can't touch him, can't reach him without his permission. It's only when he comes out from behind the glass, that viewers (and the adults in the film) get a glimpse of the tender and vulnerable young man behind the self-imposed facade of arrogance and faux "lunacy".
Eventually, the two start to warm to one another, and Hank slowly allows his Aunt Bessie to see beyond the transparent barriers of rage and bravado he's built up around himself. Later, he becomes despondent when he discovers that his marrow is not compatible with his aunt's.
As the story unfolds, viewers also learn more about the characters: Lee has been through a series of bad relationships, including one to the man who fathered Hank and his brother. Hank discovers that his father, whom he idolizes but hasn't seen since he was four, used to beat him whenever Lee left Hank alone with his dad. And Bessie discovers that for all Lee's posturing and seemingly selfishness, Lee is a strong woman who's just trying to figure out how to live her life and be happy in it.
By the end of the film, everyone begins to trust and appreciate one another... and Lee makes the selfless decision to remain in Florida, and rebuild and care for her family.
OUR REVIEW: This isn't one of DiCaprio's best or most challenging role, but he embues Hank with enough raw emotion and underlying vulnerability to make him an interesting and believable character. To see Hank evolve from the violent teenager who had to be restrained by the police and drugged into submission at the beginning of the film, to the bright and passionate young man who takes his ailing Aunt Bessie on a joy-ride along the beach front and tries to exlain to her the hurt and fear he experienced in the mental institution is thoroughly satisfying. The fact that we care what Hank thinks and feels is a credit to DiCaprio's ability.
There are moments of sheer joy, worry, and heart-touching sadness in this film, which explores and exposes the realities of human fear, selfishness, selflessness, and familial love.
OTHERS REVIEWS:
From Mr. Showbiz on the web: "...Easy to see, as early as two minutes in, why this film attracted such a forty-carat cast. The characters are intense and authentic, and the story is driven entirely by their feelings and how they act on them.... Streep and DiCaprio are especially convincing as a mother and son because, even at war, they are matched heavyweights in terms of talent. Without ever stooping to any obvious gestures, they both make us feel the sorrow under their identical, highly defensive bouts of selfish behavior... Marvin's Room is a remarkable paradox: a comedy about pain. The anguish and laughter are both genuine." --F.X. Feeney
What's Eating Gilbert Grape?
What's Eating Gilbert Grape?
Leonardo DiCaprio's performance, as "Arnie Grape", in this 1993 film won him rave reviews and an Oscar nomination. One look at this movie, and viewers know why.
THE PLOT: In the desolate town of Endora, Gilbert Grape (Johnny Depp) is losing his ability to enjoy life and feel any emotion. He works at a small supermarket to which no one in town goes anymore, is having a passionless affair with the wife of the town's insurance salesman, has a mother who hasn't left the house since her husband committed suicide and now weighs over 500 pounds, two sisters who often irritate him, and an almost-eighteen-year-old brother, Arnie (DiCaprio), who has the mental capacity of a five-year-old and needs continual, strict supervision.
Gilbert tries to give his family everything's he's able to, and in so doing reaches a point in his life where he's drained, emotionally detatched from what's going on around him, and often listless. When asked what he wants out of life he mutters, "I want... a thing..."
Between working at the supermarket and trying to keep the family house up and running, Gilbert is responsible for keeping an eye on Arnie, a squealing bundle of tick-filled energy who has a penchant for fearlessly climbing the town's huge water-tower, and for repeating, over and over again, any phrase that sticks in his head, such as, "We're going nowhere!" and "Dad's dead, dad's dead!" Although Arnie is undeniably loveable, one can see how having to live with such a person, day in and day out, might begin to wear on the nerves (as it did with Gilbert).
Into Gilbert's life comes a young woman (Juliette Lewis, who also co-starred with DiCaprio in The Basketball Diaries) and her mother. When their camper trailer breaks down, the young woman remains in Endora while repairs are made on the vehicle, and she entwines her life with Gilbert's and his family.
She ignites in Gilbert emotions he thought had long since withered away, and when he realizes she's going to be leaving again soon to continue her cross-country trek with her mother, he goes into a depression and a rage... eventually attacking his younger brother Arnie when Arnie refuses to be given a much-needed bath.
Confused and embarrassed by his actions, Gilbert starts to run away, then realizes he has no place else to go. He returns to Endora, where he's comforted and made love to by Lewis, and where he's forgiven and embraced by Arnie.
When Lewis's character finally does leave with her mother, Gilbert tells he that he doesn't know what to say to her. His brother Arnie gleefully suggests, "Say 'thank you', Gilbert. Say 'thank you." And Gilbert does.
Sadly, on the night of Arnie's eighteenth birthday, the Grapes' mother dies, so the siblings band together to preserve her dignity. Rather than allowing the authorities to drag her 500-pound corpse out of her bedroom with a crane and tackle, Gilbert, Arnie and their sisters empty the house of all its furnishings, and burn it to the ground with their mother's body inside.
A year later, Lewis's character returns on another cross-country journey, and this time when she leaves Endora, Gilbert and Arnie go with her.
OUR REVIEW: For all of its quirky and seemingly odd-ball characters, this movie is thoroughly entertaining, and one finds oneself easily connecting with the characters' humanity and love for one another.
DiCaprio's Arnie is especially endearing. His performance (which won him an Oscar nomation for Best Supporting Actor and open praise from other performers, such as Tom Hanks) is so fluid, so natural, and so convincing that one can't see "Leonardo" in Arnie at all; just "Arnie" himself. As a tribute to DiCaprio's ability, Arnie also instills concern in viewers. In one scene during which Gilbert leaves Arnie alone to bathe himself, viewers can't help but be concerned that something awful might befall Arnie, alone in a tub filled with water. And when, the next morning, Gilbert returns home to find Arnie still in the bathtub, one's heart goes out to DiCaprio's man-child who didn't know enough to get himself out of the tub, dried, and dressed.
Leonardo DiCaprio once said that he didn't over-analyze Arnie, he just played him on an entirely "instinctive" level. How ever he managed the performance, it was (and is) one of DiCaprio's best. And there are moments in the film when you realize that DiCaprio is so convincing and so charming, that he even surprises his co-stars. In one scene where Arnie is cheerfully demanding that Lewis's character play with him, Lewis breaks out in what is obviously spontaneous laughter. In another scene, during which Arnie is asking Gilbert to find his toy in the bathtub and Gilbert ignores him, DiCaprio says firmly, "Find him!" Depp looks up DiCaprio and smiles with genuine surprise and good-humor.
This is a peculiar, but astoundingly beautiful little film that's certainly a must-see for fans of DiCaprio ...and even for those who aren't.
OTHERS REVIEWS:
From Mr. Showbiz on the web: "...Director Lasse Hallstrom's lyricism and Johnny Depp's grace infuse a rare dignity into this tale of an unusual small-town family. Depp's father is long dead, his obese mother (Darlene Cates, in an exceptional debut) hasn't left the house in seven years, and his younger brother (Leonardo DiCaprio, in an Oscar-nominated performance) is mentally challenged, requiring constant supervision. Depp's claustrophobia is lessened somewhat when he falls in love with a footloose young woman (Juliette Lewis) who gets stuck in town when her family's trailer-truck breaks down. Depp is at his understated best, DiCaprio throws himself so far into his role he's almost unrecognizable, and, for a change, Lewis actually avoids being annoying." --Naomi Ryerson
Leonardo DiCaprio's performance, as "Arnie Grape", in this 1993 film won him rave reviews and an Oscar nomination. One look at this movie, and viewers know why.
THE PLOT: In the desolate town of Endora, Gilbert Grape (Johnny Depp) is losing his ability to enjoy life and feel any emotion. He works at a small supermarket to which no one in town goes anymore, is having a passionless affair with the wife of the town's insurance salesman, has a mother who hasn't left the house since her husband committed suicide and now weighs over 500 pounds, two sisters who often irritate him, and an almost-eighteen-year-old brother, Arnie (DiCaprio), who has the mental capacity of a five-year-old and needs continual, strict supervision.
Gilbert tries to give his family everything's he's able to, and in so doing reaches a point in his life where he's drained, emotionally detatched from what's going on around him, and often listless. When asked what he wants out of life he mutters, "I want... a thing..."
Between working at the supermarket and trying to keep the family house up and running, Gilbert is responsible for keeping an eye on Arnie, a squealing bundle of tick-filled energy who has a penchant for fearlessly climbing the town's huge water-tower, and for repeating, over and over again, any phrase that sticks in his head, such as, "We're going nowhere!" and "Dad's dead, dad's dead!" Although Arnie is undeniably loveable, one can see how having to live with such a person, day in and day out, might begin to wear on the nerves (as it did with Gilbert).
Into Gilbert's life comes a young woman (Juliette Lewis, who also co-starred with DiCaprio in The Basketball Diaries) and her mother. When their camper trailer breaks down, the young woman remains in Endora while repairs are made on the vehicle, and she entwines her life with Gilbert's and his family.
She ignites in Gilbert emotions he thought had long since withered away, and when he realizes she's going to be leaving again soon to continue her cross-country trek with her mother, he goes into a depression and a rage... eventually attacking his younger brother Arnie when Arnie refuses to be given a much-needed bath.
Confused and embarrassed by his actions, Gilbert starts to run away, then realizes he has no place else to go. He returns to Endora, where he's comforted and made love to by Lewis, and where he's forgiven and embraced by Arnie.
When Lewis's character finally does leave with her mother, Gilbert tells he that he doesn't know what to say to her. His brother Arnie gleefully suggests, "Say 'thank you', Gilbert. Say 'thank you." And Gilbert does.
Sadly, on the night of Arnie's eighteenth birthday, the Grapes' mother dies, so the siblings band together to preserve her dignity. Rather than allowing the authorities to drag her 500-pound corpse out of her bedroom with a crane and tackle, Gilbert, Arnie and their sisters empty the house of all its furnishings, and burn it to the ground with their mother's body inside.
A year later, Lewis's character returns on another cross-country journey, and this time when she leaves Endora, Gilbert and Arnie go with her.
OUR REVIEW: For all of its quirky and seemingly odd-ball characters, this movie is thoroughly entertaining, and one finds oneself easily connecting with the characters' humanity and love for one another.
DiCaprio's Arnie is especially endearing. His performance (which won him an Oscar nomation for Best Supporting Actor and open praise from other performers, such as Tom Hanks) is so fluid, so natural, and so convincing that one can't see "Leonardo" in Arnie at all; just "Arnie" himself. As a tribute to DiCaprio's ability, Arnie also instills concern in viewers. In one scene during which Gilbert leaves Arnie alone to bathe himself, viewers can't help but be concerned that something awful might befall Arnie, alone in a tub filled with water. And when, the next morning, Gilbert returns home to find Arnie still in the bathtub, one's heart goes out to DiCaprio's man-child who didn't know enough to get himself out of the tub, dried, and dressed.
Leonardo DiCaprio once said that he didn't over-analyze Arnie, he just played him on an entirely "instinctive" level. How ever he managed the performance, it was (and is) one of DiCaprio's best. And there are moments in the film when you realize that DiCaprio is so convincing and so charming, that he even surprises his co-stars. In one scene where Arnie is cheerfully demanding that Lewis's character play with him, Lewis breaks out in what is obviously spontaneous laughter. In another scene, during which Arnie is asking Gilbert to find his toy in the bathtub and Gilbert ignores him, DiCaprio says firmly, "Find him!" Depp looks up DiCaprio and smiles with genuine surprise and good-humor.
This is a peculiar, but astoundingly beautiful little film that's certainly a must-see for fans of DiCaprio ...and even for those who aren't.
OTHERS REVIEWS:
From Mr. Showbiz on the web: "...Director Lasse Hallstrom's lyricism and Johnny Depp's grace infuse a rare dignity into this tale of an unusual small-town family. Depp's father is long dead, his obese mother (Darlene Cates, in an exceptional debut) hasn't left the house in seven years, and his younger brother (Leonardo DiCaprio, in an Oscar-nominated performance) is mentally challenged, requiring constant supervision. Depp's claustrophobia is lessened somewhat when he falls in love with a footloose young woman (Juliette Lewis) who gets stuck in town when her family's trailer-truck breaks down. Depp is at his understated best, DiCaprio throws himself so far into his role he's almost unrecognizable, and, for a change, Lewis actually avoids being annoying." --Naomi Ryerson
William Shakespeare's ROMEO + JULIET
William Shakespeare's ROMEO + JULIET
This 1996 rendition of the Shakespeare classic is a frantic, beautiful, modern-dress masterpiece. Leonardo DiCaprio is Romeo, a Montague, and Claire Daines is Juliet, a Capulet, "star-crossed lovers" whose families hate one another, and who strive for joy in the face of tragedy and violence.
THE PLOT: You know the costume drama of the two lovers whose love can never be, but here's a breif recap anyway...
Romeo is just getting over the fact that the woman who's affections he's been courting -- Rosaline -- has rebuffedhim and decided to "live chaste". Against his better judgement, he is dragged off to a costume party by his friends. The party is being held at the mansion of the Capulets, the family against whom Romeo's own family (the Montagues) has a long-lived bitter rivalry. Nevertheless, while he's there, Romeo meets and falls instantly in love with Juliet Capulet, the daughter of his own father's hated enemy.
Their families' discord, however, cannot keep the young lovers from quickly courting and secretly marrying one another. But the couple's bliss is short-lived.
Juliet's cousin, Tibalt (played effectively by John Leguizamo) challenges Romeo and his friends to a fight in a public place. Without telling Tibalt that he's married Juliet, Romeo attempts to dissuade Tibalt from attacking, but Tibalt hates all Montagues, and will not listen. He beats Romeo into the ground and tries to kill him. Coming to Romeo's aid, Romeo's best friend, Mercutio steps in and is mortally wounded. When Mercutio dies, cursing both the houses of Montague and Capulet for the fued that has made "worm's meat" of him, Romeo goes mad with grief and rage, and hunts Tibalt down through the city. The two clash in front of a church, and after warning Tibalt that one or both of them is going to die that night, Romeo shoots Tibalt to death.
As punishment for the murder, Romeo is banished from Verona Beach.
Before sequestering himself away in Manchua, a desolate trailer park outside Verona Beach's city limits, Romeo seeks out Juliet and the two of them spend one night of joy together as husband and wife. In the morning, Romeo flees... and Juliet learns that her father has promised her in marriage to a young prince named Paris.
Without revealing her secret marriage to Romeo, Juliet rushes to the church where her friend and mentor, Friar Lawrence, lives. Grieving for her lost Romeo, and refusing to be married to Paris, she threatens to kill herself. Friar Lawrence, however, has a different plan in mind.
He will give Juliet a potion that will make her appear dead, and he will send a note to Romeo telling him about the counterfeit. When Juliet's family gives her up, believing she is dead, she and Romeo can meet and run away together. Juliet agrees to the plan, and drinks the potion. On the morning she is to be married to Paris, she is found "dead" in her bed. Her family transports her to the church, where they grieve over her in an elaborately decorated funeral. Romeo's friend, Balthazar, unaware that Juliet's death is a fake, sees her in her coffin and, believing that she's dead, rushes to inform Romeo.
In Manchua, Romeo has not received the note from Friar Lawrence, so when Balthazar arrives and tells him that he's seen Juliet dead, Romeo races back to Verona Beach to see it for himself. Because he has been banished, when he's spotted in Verona Beach, the police chase him and try to capture him. He runs to the church where Juliet still lies, and bolts the doors so no one can enter. When he sees her in her coffin, he is overcome with emotion. Speaking over her softly, and kissing her, Romeo produces a vial of poison from his pocket.
Romeo drinks the poison... just as Juliet revives from her drug-induced sleep. He is startled to see her alive, and tries to speak to her, but the poison he's drunk is too powerful, and he dies in her arms. Overwrought, Juliet finds Romeo's gun and shoots herself in the head. She collapses next to him, dead.
When their families find them, they join in sadness over the young lovers' gross misfortune.
OUR REVIEW: This rendition is nothing short of amazing. The modern-day situations, clothing, sets, and camera work lend themselves perfectly to Shakespeare's play. And although Shakespeare's classic language is used throughout, it enhances, rather than distracts from the film.
The little touches -- of making the Capulets and Montagues "gang" members, of replacing guns for swords and daggers, and of modernizing some of the inuendoes hidden under Shakespeare's words (*) -- combine with superb acting from everyone involved to make this movie a "classic" in its own right.
DiCaprio and Danes are perfection in the lead roles of Romeo and Juliet. Youthful in appearance, but well-seasoned in their acting ability, both carry off their performances with astute aplomb. Romeo's rage over the death of Mercutio, especially, is well played and thoroughly believable... as is Romeo's astonishment and despair when he realizes that he's killed his new wife's favorite cousin, Tibalt. Had these extreme emotions been "under played" or portrayed by a lesser performer, the downward spiral of the rest of the story would not have been believable. DiCaprio performance is enhanced by a supporting cast that are also wonderful in their respective roles.
If you buy no other video this year, buy this one. It's a splendorous visual and emotional marvel.
(*) When Tibalt accuses Mercutio of "consorting" with Romeo, it comes off sounding more like he's accusing them of being homosexual lovers. And when Mercutio talks about their fight coming to "blows", he says the word as though he's telling the other's "blow me".
OTHER'S REVIEWS:
From Mr.Showbiz on the web: "...The place is a mythic, turn-of-the-millennium nowhere called Verona Beach. Two corporate skyscrapers--one labeled "Montague," the other "Capulet"--rival one another for predominance over the smoggy big-city horizon. Street gangs fight, riot, and spout poetry in the name of the two warring families. At a glitzy masquerade ball presided over by drag queens, Romeo (Leonardo DiCaprio)--young heir to the Montague fortune--sets his eyes on the Capulet heiress, Juliet (Claire Danes). For both, it's love at first sight, and their passion spins the bloodthirsty world of corporate loyalties off its orbit.
Director Baz Luhrmann (Strictly Ballroom) brings such a radical, brilliant, hands-off-the-handlebars bravado to this adaptation of Shakespeare's most romantic masterpiece that one could be dazzled and delighted from end to end by its wit... DiCaprio and Danes each have tremendous magnetism in their respective spheres, but they never connect with one another.
Luhrmann's hyperkinetic visual imagination hides this well. When we first meet Juliet, she is submerged in her morning bath, smiling out at us through the bottom of the tub as if it were the wall of an aquarium, her red hair coiling about her face like the watersnakes of a mermaid Medusa. The famous balcony scene is lit from below by the blue rectangle of an immense swimming pool, and eventually the lovers fall in. Whatever spark they lack on dry land, DiCaprio and Danes are transfigured underwater, and Luhrmann dunks them at every opportunity.
He and co-adaptor Craig Pearce work hard to protect the text, but sacrifice a noticeable number of great lines to the lightning pace. Even the ingenious DiCaprio is at sea with Shakespeare. He visibly finds the emotional core of every scene, in his face and body language but the lines themselves mostly ring false, as if he were reciting intense nursery rhymes. The more experienced players--Pete Postlethwaite, Diane Venora, Myriam Margolies, Paul Sorvino, Brian Dennehy, and John Leguizamo--do justice to the words and have real fun with their parts. Tellingly, DiCaprio is at his best when he's playing off one of these adults--especially Postlethwaite, who plays his priest. Instinct and a mature power to listen with energy guide DiCaprio in such moments, and then his Romeo glows..." --F.X. Feeney
DISCLAIMER: All of the written text and animated GIFs associated with this site are the sole property of TheOldWoman, unless noted otherwise, and may not be reproduced in whole or in part without Mare's permission. All of the images associated with this site are the sole property of the original filmmakers and/or photographers, unless noted otherwise, and are reproduced here under the auspices of "fair use" of copyrighted materials to accent reviews, promote the projects of Leonardo DiCaprio, and entertain his fans. No, I cannot reproduce hard copies of the images for you, so please do not ask. FYI: For those of you who have asked, most of the images created for this site were done so with the help of the SNAPPY Video Snapshot program and the GIF Construction Set program available on the net.
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MORE IMAGES FROM "ROMEO + JULIET"
This 1996 rendition of the Shakespeare classic is a frantic, beautiful, modern-dress masterpiece. Leonardo DiCaprio is Romeo, a Montague, and Claire Daines is Juliet, a Capulet, "star-crossed lovers" whose families hate one another, and who strive for joy in the face of tragedy and violence.
THE PLOT: You know the costume drama of the two lovers whose love can never be, but here's a breif recap anyway...
Romeo is just getting over the fact that the woman who's affections he's been courting -- Rosaline -- has rebuffedhim and decided to "live chaste". Against his better judgement, he is dragged off to a costume party by his friends. The party is being held at the mansion of the Capulets, the family against whom Romeo's own family (the Montagues) has a long-lived bitter rivalry. Nevertheless, while he's there, Romeo meets and falls instantly in love with Juliet Capulet, the daughter of his own father's hated enemy.
Their families' discord, however, cannot keep the young lovers from quickly courting and secretly marrying one another. But the couple's bliss is short-lived.
Juliet's cousin, Tibalt (played effectively by John Leguizamo) challenges Romeo and his friends to a fight in a public place. Without telling Tibalt that he's married Juliet, Romeo attempts to dissuade Tibalt from attacking, but Tibalt hates all Montagues, and will not listen. He beats Romeo into the ground and tries to kill him. Coming to Romeo's aid, Romeo's best friend, Mercutio steps in and is mortally wounded. When Mercutio dies, cursing both the houses of Montague and Capulet for the fued that has made "worm's meat" of him, Romeo goes mad with grief and rage, and hunts Tibalt down through the city. The two clash in front of a church, and after warning Tibalt that one or both of them is going to die that night, Romeo shoots Tibalt to death.
As punishment for the murder, Romeo is banished from Verona Beach.
Before sequestering himself away in Manchua, a desolate trailer park outside Verona Beach's city limits, Romeo seeks out Juliet and the two of them spend one night of joy together as husband and wife. In the morning, Romeo flees... and Juliet learns that her father has promised her in marriage to a young prince named Paris.
Without revealing her secret marriage to Romeo, Juliet rushes to the church where her friend and mentor, Friar Lawrence, lives. Grieving for her lost Romeo, and refusing to be married to Paris, she threatens to kill herself. Friar Lawrence, however, has a different plan in mind.
He will give Juliet a potion that will make her appear dead, and he will send a note to Romeo telling him about the counterfeit. When Juliet's family gives her up, believing she is dead, she and Romeo can meet and run away together. Juliet agrees to the plan, and drinks the potion. On the morning she is to be married to Paris, she is found "dead" in her bed. Her family transports her to the church, where they grieve over her in an elaborately decorated funeral. Romeo's friend, Balthazar, unaware that Juliet's death is a fake, sees her in her coffin and, believing that she's dead, rushes to inform Romeo.
In Manchua, Romeo has not received the note from Friar Lawrence, so when Balthazar arrives and tells him that he's seen Juliet dead, Romeo races back to Verona Beach to see it for himself. Because he has been banished, when he's spotted in Verona Beach, the police chase him and try to capture him. He runs to the church where Juliet still lies, and bolts the doors so no one can enter. When he sees her in her coffin, he is overcome with emotion. Speaking over her softly, and kissing her, Romeo produces a vial of poison from his pocket.
Romeo drinks the poison... just as Juliet revives from her drug-induced sleep. He is startled to see her alive, and tries to speak to her, but the poison he's drunk is too powerful, and he dies in her arms. Overwrought, Juliet finds Romeo's gun and shoots herself in the head. She collapses next to him, dead.
When their families find them, they join in sadness over the young lovers' gross misfortune.
OUR REVIEW: This rendition is nothing short of amazing. The modern-day situations, clothing, sets, and camera work lend themselves perfectly to Shakespeare's play. And although Shakespeare's classic language is used throughout, it enhances, rather than distracts from the film.
The little touches -- of making the Capulets and Montagues "gang" members, of replacing guns for swords and daggers, and of modernizing some of the inuendoes hidden under Shakespeare's words (*) -- combine with superb acting from everyone involved to make this movie a "classic" in its own right.
DiCaprio and Danes are perfection in the lead roles of Romeo and Juliet. Youthful in appearance, but well-seasoned in their acting ability, both carry off their performances with astute aplomb. Romeo's rage over the death of Mercutio, especially, is well played and thoroughly believable... as is Romeo's astonishment and despair when he realizes that he's killed his new wife's favorite cousin, Tibalt. Had these extreme emotions been "under played" or portrayed by a lesser performer, the downward spiral of the rest of the story would not have been believable. DiCaprio performance is enhanced by a supporting cast that are also wonderful in their respective roles.
If you buy no other video this year, buy this one. It's a splendorous visual and emotional marvel.
(*) When Tibalt accuses Mercutio of "consorting" with Romeo, it comes off sounding more like he's accusing them of being homosexual lovers. And when Mercutio talks about their fight coming to "blows", he says the word as though he's telling the other's "blow me".
OTHER'S REVIEWS:
From Mr.Showbiz on the web: "...The place is a mythic, turn-of-the-millennium nowhere called Verona Beach. Two corporate skyscrapers--one labeled "Montague," the other "Capulet"--rival one another for predominance over the smoggy big-city horizon. Street gangs fight, riot, and spout poetry in the name of the two warring families. At a glitzy masquerade ball presided over by drag queens, Romeo (Leonardo DiCaprio)--young heir to the Montague fortune--sets his eyes on the Capulet heiress, Juliet (Claire Danes). For both, it's love at first sight, and their passion spins the bloodthirsty world of corporate loyalties off its orbit.
Director Baz Luhrmann (Strictly Ballroom) brings such a radical, brilliant, hands-off-the-handlebars bravado to this adaptation of Shakespeare's most romantic masterpiece that one could be dazzled and delighted from end to end by its wit... DiCaprio and Danes each have tremendous magnetism in their respective spheres, but they never connect with one another.
Luhrmann's hyperkinetic visual imagination hides this well. When we first meet Juliet, she is submerged in her morning bath, smiling out at us through the bottom of the tub as if it were the wall of an aquarium, her red hair coiling about her face like the watersnakes of a mermaid Medusa. The famous balcony scene is lit from below by the blue rectangle of an immense swimming pool, and eventually the lovers fall in. Whatever spark they lack on dry land, DiCaprio and Danes are transfigured underwater, and Luhrmann dunks them at every opportunity.
He and co-adaptor Craig Pearce work hard to protect the text, but sacrifice a noticeable number of great lines to the lightning pace. Even the ingenious DiCaprio is at sea with Shakespeare. He visibly finds the emotional core of every scene, in his face and body language but the lines themselves mostly ring false, as if he were reciting intense nursery rhymes. The more experienced players--Pete Postlethwaite, Diane Venora, Myriam Margolies, Paul Sorvino, Brian Dennehy, and John Leguizamo--do justice to the words and have real fun with their parts. Tellingly, DiCaprio is at his best when he's playing off one of these adults--especially Postlethwaite, who plays his priest. Instinct and a mature power to listen with energy guide DiCaprio in such moments, and then his Romeo glows..." --F.X. Feeney
DISCLAIMER: All of the written text and animated GIFs associated with this site are the sole property of TheOldWoman, unless noted otherwise, and may not be reproduced in whole or in part without Mare's permission. All of the images associated with this site are the sole property of the original filmmakers and/or photographers, unless noted otherwise, and are reproduced here under the auspices of "fair use" of copyrighted materials to accent reviews, promote the projects of Leonardo DiCaprio, and entertain his fans. No, I cannot reproduce hard copies of the images for you, so please do not ask. FYI: For those of you who have asked, most of the images created for this site were done so with the help of the SNAPPY Video Snapshot program and the GIF Construction Set program available on the net.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
MORE IMAGES FROM "ROMEO + JULIET"
The Man in the Iron Mask
The Man in
the Iron Mask
Leonard DiCaprio played dual roles in this 1998 remake of the Dumas classic: Louis XIV the King of France and his "younger" twin brother, Phillipe. The film also starred: Jeremy Irons (as Aramis), Gabriel Byrne (as d'Artagnan), John Malkovich (as Athos), and Gerard Depardieu (as Porthos).
The Plot: King Louis' wars are causing strife, poverty and starvation among his subjects but he's too focused on his own concerns to pay much attention to such "triflings". When he sees to it that a young man is killed in action, just so Louis is free to court the young man's fiance himself, an aging Three Musakteers (Athos, Porthos and Aramis) plot to replace the king with his twin brother, Phillipe. The problem: Louis has imprisoned Phillipe and confined him to an iron mask so no one can see his face (and thus identify him as the king's twin).
The Three Muskateers free Phillipe from his prison, and then convince him to betray his brother and take over the thrown. The plan seems to be going well until the captain of the king's bodyguards, d'Artagnan, a Muskateer himself, discovers the imposter, Phillipe, and sees to it that Louis is restored to his throne... if only temporarily.
d'Artagnan begs Louis to have mercy on Phillipe -- siting that they are twins, brothers, blood -- but Louis is unmoved. He demands that d'Artagnan locate the Muskateers and kill them, and casts Phillipe back into the prison and the iron mask. Seeing his king "fail" him, d'Artagnan decides to join with The Muskateers to free Phillipe.
In a against-the-odds battle in the prison, during which Louis pits the whole of the copse of Muskateers against d'Artagnan, his freinds and Phillipe, d'Artagnan is killed... When their captain falls, the younger soldiers refuse to obey any more of Louis orders, and instead turn against him, seeing to it that Phillipe is ensconced as king.
Our Review: This remake is an excellent one, and through the twins, DiCaprio again displayed the range of acting ability that has made him so popular. His Louis is cold, arrogant, hedonistic and egocentric. His Phillipe is tender, respectful, and affectionate. Even in scenes when the brothers are shown together, DiCaprio is able to keep their personalities separate, thus supplying viewers with the illusion that Louis and Phillipe are two entirely different people.
The added plot's quirks -- such as the fact that the brothers are the illegitimate sons of d'Artagnan, that Aramis is the secret general of the Jesuit order, and that Phillipe assumesthe role of "son" to Athos (who's own son was killed by Louis) -- make the film all that more interesting. And the "charge of the Muskateers" against Louis' army of soldiers at the end of the film is exhillerating. "Magnificent valor", indeed!
Supported by an anstounding cast which includes Irons, Byrne and Malkovich, we believe this motion picture is destined to be a long-lived "costume drama" classic.
[[The montage of images above/left includes the following: (top to bottom) Phillipe gazes at the moon; Louis is held captive by Athos; d'Artagnan attempts to restrain King Louis; Phillipe meets his mother for the first time; Louis pits his army against the Three Muskateers; Phillipe shows pity to Christine; Phillipe is returned to prison; Phillipe as the new King.]]
INTERVIEWS ABOUT THE FILM:
Tuesday, March 10, 1998 1:49 PM
Lovin' Leo
Judith Godreche recalls bedding the Great DiCaprio in The Man in the Iron Mask
By Stephen Schaefer
Judith Godreche is not in love with Leonardo DiCaprio, and she has never seen Titanic. But though she lags behind millions of teenage girls on both counts, the French actress has been somewhere they've all dreamt about—Leo's bed.
A rising star in European films—she won raves in last year's Oscar-nominated costume drama Ridicule—Godreche co-stars in The Man in the Iron Mask as a voluptuous peasant who becomes the lust object of DiCaprio's King Louis XIV. So, for all of her credentials as a serious thesp, she is now bracing to become the Woman Who Made Love to Leo, a bosomy addition to the global Leo-mania that has erupted in Titanic's wake.
A word of warning to DiCaprio skin-seekers: the steamy encounters between Christine and her king are not actually seen in the PG-13 film, which opens Friday. The bedroom scene is largely devoted to postcoital depression stemming from the fact that Christine's true love has recently been killed in battle. "That's kind of funny—there's no sex," says Godreche by cell phone from Paris. "There's not nudity or anything. We were not supposed to simulate making love—it's not that obvious. Things like making love or simulating love, I think I'd feel insecure."
The lack of on-screen passion doesn't indicate an absence of chemistry between the actors. "I was excited and really scared," she recalls of her first meeting with the American star. "I was scared about the language, scared the English words would come out of my mouth in a weird way." DiCaprio soon calmed her down. "He was a rock," she recalls, in charmingly accented English. "We were rehearsing a lot, talking about our characters, sharing our thoughts. It was nice that he was so young and so romantic in a weird way."
The actors spent a lot of time trying to get the intimate details of their nuit d'amour just right. "We were talking about very emotional things, [like] the fact that Christine was not in love with the king. We talked so much about why she's making love with him if she doesn't love him. I was stuck on that," Godreche admits. "Why you could make love if you don't love. Christine is very pure and innocent. I'm wondering how she could do this."
DiCaprio, she recalls, provided a simple answer: "She didn't have the choice—he is the king."
DiCaprio has two roles in Iron Mask, playing the cruel young king and his good-natured twin brother, imprisoned in the Bastille in an iron mask for years. He arrived in Paris to make the movie immediately after he finished filming Titanic—which looked, at the time, like it might be a disaster of Waterworld proportions. "We didn't talk about [Titanic]," says Godreche. "I knew it was a huge movie and he had a lot of things to do in it. Everyone was telling him that it was going to be good. But I didn't know it was going to be that successful."
Good Morning America
Leonardo DiCaprio
By Joel Siegel:
DiCAPRIO: "...I did a film over the summer called The Man in the Iron Mask with John Malkovich and Jeremy Irons and Gerard Depardieu and Gabriel Byrne and that was unbelievable, working with those guys. I mean it's so cool with working people in that caliber because they're so relaxed about everything. They're almost like children in a sense; it's fun for them at this point. And it was totally cool working on that. But for now, after that movie, I'm taking a long time off."
the Iron Mask
Leonard DiCaprio played dual roles in this 1998 remake of the Dumas classic: Louis XIV the King of France and his "younger" twin brother, Phillipe. The film also starred: Jeremy Irons (as Aramis), Gabriel Byrne (as d'Artagnan), John Malkovich (as Athos), and Gerard Depardieu (as Porthos).
The Plot: King Louis' wars are causing strife, poverty and starvation among his subjects but he's too focused on his own concerns to pay much attention to such "triflings". When he sees to it that a young man is killed in action, just so Louis is free to court the young man's fiance himself, an aging Three Musakteers (Athos, Porthos and Aramis) plot to replace the king with his twin brother, Phillipe. The problem: Louis has imprisoned Phillipe and confined him to an iron mask so no one can see his face (and thus identify him as the king's twin).
The Three Muskateers free Phillipe from his prison, and then convince him to betray his brother and take over the thrown. The plan seems to be going well until the captain of the king's bodyguards, d'Artagnan, a Muskateer himself, discovers the imposter, Phillipe, and sees to it that Louis is restored to his throne... if only temporarily.
d'Artagnan begs Louis to have mercy on Phillipe -- siting that they are twins, brothers, blood -- but Louis is unmoved. He demands that d'Artagnan locate the Muskateers and kill them, and casts Phillipe back into the prison and the iron mask. Seeing his king "fail" him, d'Artagnan decides to join with The Muskateers to free Phillipe.
In a against-the-odds battle in the prison, during which Louis pits the whole of the copse of Muskateers against d'Artagnan, his freinds and Phillipe, d'Artagnan is killed... When their captain falls, the younger soldiers refuse to obey any more of Louis orders, and instead turn against him, seeing to it that Phillipe is ensconced as king.
Our Review: This remake is an excellent one, and through the twins, DiCaprio again displayed the range of acting ability that has made him so popular. His Louis is cold, arrogant, hedonistic and egocentric. His Phillipe is tender, respectful, and affectionate. Even in scenes when the brothers are shown together, DiCaprio is able to keep their personalities separate, thus supplying viewers with the illusion that Louis and Phillipe are two entirely different people.
The added plot's quirks -- such as the fact that the brothers are the illegitimate sons of d'Artagnan, that Aramis is the secret general of the Jesuit order, and that Phillipe assumesthe role of "son" to Athos (who's own son was killed by Louis) -- make the film all that more interesting. And the "charge of the Muskateers" against Louis' army of soldiers at the end of the film is exhillerating. "Magnificent valor", indeed!
Supported by an anstounding cast which includes Irons, Byrne and Malkovich, we believe this motion picture is destined to be a long-lived "costume drama" classic.
[[The montage of images above/left includes the following: (top to bottom) Phillipe gazes at the moon; Louis is held captive by Athos; d'Artagnan attempts to restrain King Louis; Phillipe meets his mother for the first time; Louis pits his army against the Three Muskateers; Phillipe shows pity to Christine; Phillipe is returned to prison; Phillipe as the new King.]]
INTERVIEWS ABOUT THE FILM:
Tuesday, March 10, 1998 1:49 PM
Lovin' Leo
Judith Godreche recalls bedding the Great DiCaprio in The Man in the Iron Mask
By Stephen Schaefer
Judith Godreche is not in love with Leonardo DiCaprio, and she has never seen Titanic. But though she lags behind millions of teenage girls on both counts, the French actress has been somewhere they've all dreamt about—Leo's bed.
A rising star in European films—she won raves in last year's Oscar-nominated costume drama Ridicule—Godreche co-stars in The Man in the Iron Mask as a voluptuous peasant who becomes the lust object of DiCaprio's King Louis XIV. So, for all of her credentials as a serious thesp, she is now bracing to become the Woman Who Made Love to Leo, a bosomy addition to the global Leo-mania that has erupted in Titanic's wake.
A word of warning to DiCaprio skin-seekers: the steamy encounters between Christine and her king are not actually seen in the PG-13 film, which opens Friday. The bedroom scene is largely devoted to postcoital depression stemming from the fact that Christine's true love has recently been killed in battle. "That's kind of funny—there's no sex," says Godreche by cell phone from Paris. "There's not nudity or anything. We were not supposed to simulate making love—it's not that obvious. Things like making love or simulating love, I think I'd feel insecure."
The lack of on-screen passion doesn't indicate an absence of chemistry between the actors. "I was excited and really scared," she recalls of her first meeting with the American star. "I was scared about the language, scared the English words would come out of my mouth in a weird way." DiCaprio soon calmed her down. "He was a rock," she recalls, in charmingly accented English. "We were rehearsing a lot, talking about our characters, sharing our thoughts. It was nice that he was so young and so romantic in a weird way."
The actors spent a lot of time trying to get the intimate details of their nuit d'amour just right. "We were talking about very emotional things, [like] the fact that Christine was not in love with the king. We talked so much about why she's making love with him if she doesn't love him. I was stuck on that," Godreche admits. "Why you could make love if you don't love. Christine is very pure and innocent. I'm wondering how she could do this."
DiCaprio, she recalls, provided a simple answer: "She didn't have the choice—he is the king."
DiCaprio has two roles in Iron Mask, playing the cruel young king and his good-natured twin brother, imprisoned in the Bastille in an iron mask for years. He arrived in Paris to make the movie immediately after he finished filming Titanic—which looked, at the time, like it might be a disaster of Waterworld proportions. "We didn't talk about [Titanic]," says Godreche. "I knew it was a huge movie and he had a lot of things to do in it. Everyone was telling him that it was going to be good. But I didn't know it was going to be that successful."
Good Morning America
Leonardo DiCaprio
By Joel Siegel:
DiCAPRIO: "...I did a film over the summer called The Man in the Iron Mask with John Malkovich and Jeremy Irons and Gerard Depardieu and Gabriel Byrne and that was unbelievable, working with those guys. I mean it's so cool with working people in that caliber because they're so relaxed about everything. They're almost like children in a sense; it's fun for them at this point. And it was totally cool working on that. But for now, after that movie, I'm taking a long time off."
Total Eclipse
Total Eclipse
In this 1995 film directed by Agniezka Holland is a dark portrayal of the 19th century French poet, Arthur Rimbaud, a prodigy who, between the ages of 16 and 19, turned the poetic world on its ear with his raw, non-lyric work and forever changed the face of French poetry. His work, a century later, inspired the likes of Jim Morrison and "the rock generation". Rimbaud is portrayed effectively by Leonardo DiCaprio, who is joined in the film by David Thewlis as Paul Verlaine.
The Plot: Paul Verlaine, a somewhat successful poet married to a wealthy woman, invites to his home a young poet named Arthur Rimbaud. Verlaine states that Rimbaud's work is remarkable for a man of 21 years of age, and is astounded when he discovers that Rimbaud is actually only 16 years old. Rimbaud, however, doesn't fit well in Verlaine's artistocratic home. He is uncultured, crude, flea-ridden and decidedly assertive and self-assured. Luring Verlaine to him with his writing ability and his blatant sensuality, Rimbaud eventually convinces Verlaine to leave his wife and newborn child. The two travel and work together over a period of three years, during which the two of them produce their finest artistic achievements. Their time together isn't entirely blissful, however.
Rimbaud seems to be plagued with a bipolar personality: sometimes childlike, playful and sensual; sometimes arrogant, aggressive and violent. In a test of Verlaine's passion for him, Rimbaud stabs Verlaine in the hand with a knife. Rimbaud also has premonitions of a trek across the desert and his own death. The young genius both frightens and intrigues Verlaine.
For his part, Verlaine is a weak man, who is often conflicted about wanting the "safety" of his life with his wife and family, and his appreciation of and physical desire for Rimbaud. Given the choice by Rimbaud between Rimbaud's body or his soul, Verlaine is embarrassed by his own admission that he wants Rimbaud's body... When, after two years together, Rimbaud threatens to leave him, Verlaine drinks himself into a dither and accidentally shoots Rimbaud in the hand. The assault puts Verlaine in prison for two years, and leaves Rimbaud to return to his home in the country (where he finishes his masterpiece)...
They meet again, only briefly, after Verlaine is released from prison, then go their separate ways: Rimbaud to Africa (where he is afflicted with fever and a tumor in his leg), and Verlaine to Paris. After Rimbaud's death, Verlaine is sought out by Rimbaud's sister who wants Verlaine to return to her the manuscripts her brother had left with Verlaine. Knowing that Rimbaud's family will destroy much of the work (deeming it too suggestive and lurid for public consumption), Verlaine refuses the sister's request and keeps Rimbaud's work intact for future readers and poets to appreciate.
The film ends with Verlaine in a bar, drinking a toast to his by-then-dead one-time companion, Rimbaud. Rimbaud appears to him as a youthful spirit, who asks Verlaine if he loves him, and then kisses his hand goodbye.
Our Review: This is a dark film, but strangely entrancing -- mostly because of DiCaprio's performance. His Rimbaud deftly waxes between the pure and the profound; the innocent and the provocative; the beautiful and the horrible. A tall order for a young actor, yet, he pulls it off expertly. His Rimbaud is an excellent match for David Thewlis's besotted Verlaine; if DiCaprio were a lesser actor, the scenes in which Rimbaud effectively controls Verlaine wouldn't have been believable.
The only thing we didn't like about this film was that it seemed to "end" about three times. The last sequence (of an older Rimbaud in Africa) could have been done without entirely. Rimbaud's trek through the desert and his death could have been summed up by either Verlaine (who was doing commentary throughout the whole film anyway) or Rimbaud's sister. The final vision of Rimbaud's spirit, as a teenager again, running down the beach with the "white wings" banner was also a nonessential element. We understand that the director was going for an "artistic" rendering of Rimbaud's death, but it was heavy-handed, anticlimactic, and distracting. It would have been far more interesting if we could have heard some of Rimbaud's poetry on the subject, or seen, perhaps, Verlaine's artistic response to his friend/lover's demise.
[[The montage above/left contains the following images from the film: (top to bottom) Rimbaud arrives with his fleas at Verlaine's home; Rimbaud tells Verlaine that "love" has to be redefined; Rimbaud seduces Verlaine; Verlaine watches Rimbaud sleep just before they take off on their summer jaunt; Rimbaud declares he's leaving Verlaine; Rimbaud is shot by Verlaine; Rimbaud is operated on without anesthesia; Rimbaud, half child/ half genius, seeing the world differently than others;Rimbaud's spirit kisses Verlaine's hand.]]
A WARNING TO VIEWERS: The openly homosexual themes and full frontal nudity in this film may offend some viewers.
OTHER'S REVIEWS:
From Mr. Showbiz on the web: "'I followed him--I had to,' says the bearded, ruined Paul Verlaine (David Thewlis), of his connection to the younger, more talented nineteenth-century poet Arthur Rimbaud (Leonardo DiCaprio). Total Eclipse is directed by Agnieszka Holland (Europa, Europa) and adapted by Christopher Hampton (Dangerous Liaisons) from one of his early plays. Like all of Holland's films, it is a thoughtful, layered narrative with powerful undercurrents. It is also a very difficult film to watch, unsparing in its documentation of the potent cruelty that binds the two men together in a curious sexual and emotional complicity.... Perhaps more damaging is the fact that neither protagonist inspires much sympathy. As Verlaine, Thewlis is a snaggle-toothed, spoiled, self-indulgent coward. He hurls his pregnant wife to the floor, sets her hair on fire, greedily bites the hand that feeds him (it belongs to his rich, perplexed father-in-law), all the while falling under the spell of the fierce Rimbaud. DiCaprio fares better as the feral, beautiful boy who has 'decided to be a genius.' Rimbaud retains a clarity of vision even when the two are fast in the grip of their fevered obsession. Miserable and penniless in a filthy London room, Rimbaud recognizes that he is 'the minion of a bald, ugly, aging lyric poet who clings to me because his wife won't take him back.'... Holland's story is not about art, nor about identity. It is about passion. When that black, ugly passion is spent, nothing much remains. DiCaprio and Thewlis both give courageous performances (though in different ways)..." --Mary Brennan
In this 1995 film directed by Agniezka Holland is a dark portrayal of the 19th century French poet, Arthur Rimbaud, a prodigy who, between the ages of 16 and 19, turned the poetic world on its ear with his raw, non-lyric work and forever changed the face of French poetry. His work, a century later, inspired the likes of Jim Morrison and "the rock generation". Rimbaud is portrayed effectively by Leonardo DiCaprio, who is joined in the film by David Thewlis as Paul Verlaine.
The Plot: Paul Verlaine, a somewhat successful poet married to a wealthy woman, invites to his home a young poet named Arthur Rimbaud. Verlaine states that Rimbaud's work is remarkable for a man of 21 years of age, and is astounded when he discovers that Rimbaud is actually only 16 years old. Rimbaud, however, doesn't fit well in Verlaine's artistocratic home. He is uncultured, crude, flea-ridden and decidedly assertive and self-assured. Luring Verlaine to him with his writing ability and his blatant sensuality, Rimbaud eventually convinces Verlaine to leave his wife and newborn child. The two travel and work together over a period of three years, during which the two of them produce their finest artistic achievements. Their time together isn't entirely blissful, however.
Rimbaud seems to be plagued with a bipolar personality: sometimes childlike, playful and sensual; sometimes arrogant, aggressive and violent. In a test of Verlaine's passion for him, Rimbaud stabs Verlaine in the hand with a knife. Rimbaud also has premonitions of a trek across the desert and his own death. The young genius both frightens and intrigues Verlaine.
For his part, Verlaine is a weak man, who is often conflicted about wanting the "safety" of his life with his wife and family, and his appreciation of and physical desire for Rimbaud. Given the choice by Rimbaud between Rimbaud's body or his soul, Verlaine is embarrassed by his own admission that he wants Rimbaud's body... When, after two years together, Rimbaud threatens to leave him, Verlaine drinks himself into a dither and accidentally shoots Rimbaud in the hand. The assault puts Verlaine in prison for two years, and leaves Rimbaud to return to his home in the country (where he finishes his masterpiece)...
They meet again, only briefly, after Verlaine is released from prison, then go their separate ways: Rimbaud to Africa (where he is afflicted with fever and a tumor in his leg), and Verlaine to Paris. After Rimbaud's death, Verlaine is sought out by Rimbaud's sister who wants Verlaine to return to her the manuscripts her brother had left with Verlaine. Knowing that Rimbaud's family will destroy much of the work (deeming it too suggestive and lurid for public consumption), Verlaine refuses the sister's request and keeps Rimbaud's work intact for future readers and poets to appreciate.
The film ends with Verlaine in a bar, drinking a toast to his by-then-dead one-time companion, Rimbaud. Rimbaud appears to him as a youthful spirit, who asks Verlaine if he loves him, and then kisses his hand goodbye.
Our Review: This is a dark film, but strangely entrancing -- mostly because of DiCaprio's performance. His Rimbaud deftly waxes between the pure and the profound; the innocent and the provocative; the beautiful and the horrible. A tall order for a young actor, yet, he pulls it off expertly. His Rimbaud is an excellent match for David Thewlis's besotted Verlaine; if DiCaprio were a lesser actor, the scenes in which Rimbaud effectively controls Verlaine wouldn't have been believable.
The only thing we didn't like about this film was that it seemed to "end" about three times. The last sequence (of an older Rimbaud in Africa) could have been done without entirely. Rimbaud's trek through the desert and his death could have been summed up by either Verlaine (who was doing commentary throughout the whole film anyway) or Rimbaud's sister. The final vision of Rimbaud's spirit, as a teenager again, running down the beach with the "white wings" banner was also a nonessential element. We understand that the director was going for an "artistic" rendering of Rimbaud's death, but it was heavy-handed, anticlimactic, and distracting. It would have been far more interesting if we could have heard some of Rimbaud's poetry on the subject, or seen, perhaps, Verlaine's artistic response to his friend/lover's demise.
[[The montage above/left contains the following images from the film: (top to bottom) Rimbaud arrives with his fleas at Verlaine's home; Rimbaud tells Verlaine that "love" has to be redefined; Rimbaud seduces Verlaine; Verlaine watches Rimbaud sleep just before they take off on their summer jaunt; Rimbaud declares he's leaving Verlaine; Rimbaud is shot by Verlaine; Rimbaud is operated on without anesthesia; Rimbaud, half child/ half genius, seeing the world differently than others;Rimbaud's spirit kisses Verlaine's hand.]]
A WARNING TO VIEWERS: The openly homosexual themes and full frontal nudity in this film may offend some viewers.
OTHER'S REVIEWS:
From Mr. Showbiz on the web: "'I followed him--I had to,' says the bearded, ruined Paul Verlaine (David Thewlis), of his connection to the younger, more talented nineteenth-century poet Arthur Rimbaud (Leonardo DiCaprio). Total Eclipse is directed by Agnieszka Holland (Europa, Europa) and adapted by Christopher Hampton (Dangerous Liaisons) from one of his early plays. Like all of Holland's films, it is a thoughtful, layered narrative with powerful undercurrents. It is also a very difficult film to watch, unsparing in its documentation of the potent cruelty that binds the two men together in a curious sexual and emotional complicity.... Perhaps more damaging is the fact that neither protagonist inspires much sympathy. As Verlaine, Thewlis is a snaggle-toothed, spoiled, self-indulgent coward. He hurls his pregnant wife to the floor, sets her hair on fire, greedily bites the hand that feeds him (it belongs to his rich, perplexed father-in-law), all the while falling under the spell of the fierce Rimbaud. DiCaprio fares better as the feral, beautiful boy who has 'decided to be a genius.' Rimbaud retains a clarity of vision even when the two are fast in the grip of their fevered obsession. Miserable and penniless in a filthy London room, Rimbaud recognizes that he is 'the minion of a bald, ugly, aging lyric poet who clings to me because his wife won't take him back.'... Holland's story is not about art, nor about identity. It is about passion. When that black, ugly passion is spent, nothing much remains. DiCaprio and Thewlis both give courageous performances (though in different ways)..." --Mary Brennan
The Basketball Diaries
The Basketball Diaries
This 1995 film directed by Scott Kalvert isn't about basketball; it's about drug addiction and the autobiographical story of Jim Carroll who went from a promising basketball player, to a drug-laden street kid, to a professional writer, lyracist and poet.
The Plot: Leonardo DiCaprio portrays Jim, a young teenager in a Catholic school who's suffering from growing pains and an acute ignorance of the world of the "street", crime and narcotics. Jim is introduced to "glue" and "coke" by his school friends, who laugh off the drugs' debilitating effects and mock those around them whom they see as "dope heads".
When Jim's best friend dies of leukemia, however, Jim spirals into a maddening depression that brings him to attempt to soothe his shattered emotions and aching heart with a hypodermic needle filled with heroine. It's downhill from there.Jim is thrown out of his home by his mother, commits crimes to feed his ever-increasing drug habit, loses his chance to become a star basketball player, alienates his friends and neighbors, and takes regular beatings from street punks.
Following a particularly serious beating, after which Jim is left by his attacker to freeze to death in the snow, Jim is rescued by an older male friend, Reggie (played by Ernie Hudson). Still suffering the effects of his addiction, however, Jim is none too pleased with the rescue and attempts to leave (after unsuccessfully trying to wrestle a "popper" from Reggie before Reggie can flush it down the toilet). Caring about Jim, and furious with him, too, Reggie locks Jim in a room in his ramshackle apartment, and forces him to go through withdrawal. After a grueling few days during which Jim is periodically screaming, hallucinating, wracked with pain, and foaming at the mouth, most of the heroine is extracted from Jim's system, and he seems to be on the mend. When Reggie leaves Jim to go to work, however, Jim feels the panges of his addiction returning. He runs out onto the street looking for money and drugs.
When his old "haunts" and contacts bring him nothing, Jim sells his body for thirty-five dollars to a gay man in a public restroom. The drugs he buys with the money are worthless, however, and Jim rushes home to try to beg some money from his mother. When he arrives at the house, Jim is outraged to discover that his mother won't let him in. While he screams, swears, and cries outside her door, she calls the police. They arrest Jim and take him to jail where he's forced once again to go through withdrawal.
By the end of the film Jim is clean and sober, and working at a small theatre where he's turned his diaries into stage plays, and uses the plays to tell others his story and warn them about the downward spiral of drug addiction.
Our Review: A haunting film, this one provides fans of Leonardo DiCaprio with one of his best performances. He's thoroughly convincing as Jim -- at every stage: from teenage prankster, to backstreet drug addict. Two of the most compelling scenes are those when Jim goes through withdrawal at Reggie's house,and when he's back home begging money from his mother. During that particular scene we see DiCaprio's Jim shift seamlessly back and forth between violent rage, realistic pain, and childlike confusion. Anyone who might be in doubt of DiCaprio's acting ability has only to see this scene once to realize what a truly gifted actor he is.
The language in the film is crude and the violence is very realistic, but ringing clearly in the background throughout the film is its decidely ANTI-drug message. Anybody who thinks drugs are "fun" and "glamorous" should take a good long look at this movie.
TRIVIA: Leonard DiCaprio is an avid amateur basketball player.
A WARNING ABOUT THIS FILM: Although the movie screams with an anti-drug theme, some may find the foul language and brutal honesty of this film disturbing, even offensive. And the drug-induced "dream sequence" during which Jim goes on a hallucinagenic gun-toting rampage through his school is horrifically remeniscent of recent real-life school-yard shootings around the country. This may NOT be a film you'd want those impressionable, young "Leo" fans to see alone.
[[In the montage above/left are the following images from the film: Jim and his friend Neutron getting ready to dive into the river; Jim bleary-eyed after his first noseful of "coke"; Jim in the bathtub, his arms discolored by needle marks; Jim after a beating; Jim being helped by Reggie; Jim in the mens room selling hsi body for a handful of cash; Jim begging his mother for some money; Jim screaming to be let into his mother's apartment; Jim clean and sober again.]]
OTHER'S REVIEWS:
From Mr. Showbiz on the web: "... Based on poet-rocker Jim Carroll's autobiographical book about growing up white, gifted, and strung out on the mean streets of Manhattan, The Basketball Diaries gets a lean, forceful adaptation from screenwriter Bryan Goluboff and director Scott Kalvert. It helps that the film stars Leonardo DiCaprio, who is fast becoming America's finest underage actor, as the poetry-scribbling, hoop-shooting kid who falls in with the wrong crowd and spirals into the depths of addiction, despair, and crime.... DiCaprio's performance, though, is more than promising. This fine-boned young dreamboat, whose anti-sexual grace suggests James Dean crossed with Sal Mineo, is fast establishing himself as a true screen star with limitless potential. His performance as Carroll is full of self-conscious touches that never seem self-conscious; miracu-lously, they always seem to emerge organically from the scenes he's playing. DiCaprio combines a Method actor's fetish for physical and emotional detail with an old-time Hollywood icon's effortless charisma. Thinking back over his ferociously smart, funny, sometimes harrowing performance, you might be amazed when you realize how obsessively mapped-out it was--and even more amazed by how immediate and instinctive DiCaprio makes it look." --Matt Zoller Seitz
This 1995 film directed by Scott Kalvert isn't about basketball; it's about drug addiction and the autobiographical story of Jim Carroll who went from a promising basketball player, to a drug-laden street kid, to a professional writer, lyracist and poet.
The Plot: Leonardo DiCaprio portrays Jim, a young teenager in a Catholic school who's suffering from growing pains and an acute ignorance of the world of the "street", crime and narcotics. Jim is introduced to "glue" and "coke" by his school friends, who laugh off the drugs' debilitating effects and mock those around them whom they see as "dope heads".
When Jim's best friend dies of leukemia, however, Jim spirals into a maddening depression that brings him to attempt to soothe his shattered emotions and aching heart with a hypodermic needle filled with heroine. It's downhill from there.Jim is thrown out of his home by his mother, commits crimes to feed his ever-increasing drug habit, loses his chance to become a star basketball player, alienates his friends and neighbors, and takes regular beatings from street punks.
Following a particularly serious beating, after which Jim is left by his attacker to freeze to death in the snow, Jim is rescued by an older male friend, Reggie (played by Ernie Hudson). Still suffering the effects of his addiction, however, Jim is none too pleased with the rescue and attempts to leave (after unsuccessfully trying to wrestle a "popper" from Reggie before Reggie can flush it down the toilet). Caring about Jim, and furious with him, too, Reggie locks Jim in a room in his ramshackle apartment, and forces him to go through withdrawal. After a grueling few days during which Jim is periodically screaming, hallucinating, wracked with pain, and foaming at the mouth, most of the heroine is extracted from Jim's system, and he seems to be on the mend. When Reggie leaves Jim to go to work, however, Jim feels the panges of his addiction returning. He runs out onto the street looking for money and drugs.
When his old "haunts" and contacts bring him nothing, Jim sells his body for thirty-five dollars to a gay man in a public restroom. The drugs he buys with the money are worthless, however, and Jim rushes home to try to beg some money from his mother. When he arrives at the house, Jim is outraged to discover that his mother won't let him in. While he screams, swears, and cries outside her door, she calls the police. They arrest Jim and take him to jail where he's forced once again to go through withdrawal.
By the end of the film Jim is clean and sober, and working at a small theatre where he's turned his diaries into stage plays, and uses the plays to tell others his story and warn them about the downward spiral of drug addiction.
Our Review: A haunting film, this one provides fans of Leonardo DiCaprio with one of his best performances. He's thoroughly convincing as Jim -- at every stage: from teenage prankster, to backstreet drug addict. Two of the most compelling scenes are those when Jim goes through withdrawal at Reggie's house,and when he's back home begging money from his mother. During that particular scene we see DiCaprio's Jim shift seamlessly back and forth between violent rage, realistic pain, and childlike confusion. Anyone who might be in doubt of DiCaprio's acting ability has only to see this scene once to realize what a truly gifted actor he is.
The language in the film is crude and the violence is very realistic, but ringing clearly in the background throughout the film is its decidely ANTI-drug message. Anybody who thinks drugs are "fun" and "glamorous" should take a good long look at this movie.
TRIVIA: Leonard DiCaprio is an avid amateur basketball player.
A WARNING ABOUT THIS FILM: Although the movie screams with an anti-drug theme, some may find the foul language and brutal honesty of this film disturbing, even offensive. And the drug-induced "dream sequence" during which Jim goes on a hallucinagenic gun-toting rampage through his school is horrifically remeniscent of recent real-life school-yard shootings around the country. This may NOT be a film you'd want those impressionable, young "Leo" fans to see alone.
[[In the montage above/left are the following images from the film: Jim and his friend Neutron getting ready to dive into the river; Jim bleary-eyed after his first noseful of "coke"; Jim in the bathtub, his arms discolored by needle marks; Jim after a beating; Jim being helped by Reggie; Jim in the mens room selling hsi body for a handful of cash; Jim begging his mother for some money; Jim screaming to be let into his mother's apartment; Jim clean and sober again.]]
OTHER'S REVIEWS:
From Mr. Showbiz on the web: "... Based on poet-rocker Jim Carroll's autobiographical book about growing up white, gifted, and strung out on the mean streets of Manhattan, The Basketball Diaries gets a lean, forceful adaptation from screenwriter Bryan Goluboff and director Scott Kalvert. It helps that the film stars Leonardo DiCaprio, who is fast becoming America's finest underage actor, as the poetry-scribbling, hoop-shooting kid who falls in with the wrong crowd and spirals into the depths of addiction, despair, and crime.... DiCaprio's performance, though, is more than promising. This fine-boned young dreamboat, whose anti-sexual grace suggests James Dean crossed with Sal Mineo, is fast establishing himself as a true screen star with limitless potential. His performance as Carroll is full of self-conscious touches that never seem self-conscious; miracu-lously, they always seem to emerge organically from the scenes he's playing. DiCaprio combines a Method actor's fetish for physical and emotional detail with an old-time Hollywood icon's effortless charisma. Thinking back over his ferociously smart, funny, sometimes harrowing performance, you might be amazed when you realize how obsessively mapped-out it was--and even more amazed by how immediate and instinctive DiCaprio makes it look." --Matt Zoller Seitz
Leonardo DiCaprio Filmography
Filmography
Jump to filmography as: Actor, Producer, Writer, Thanks, Self, Archive Footage
Leonardo DiCaprio has 13 in-development credits available on IMDbPro.com. To view these credits click here.
Actor:
In Production
2000s
1990s
Freedom Within the Heart (2008) (in production) .... Brian Boru
The Chancellor Manuscript (2009) (announced) .... Peter Chancellor
Akira (2009) (announced) (rumored)
The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt (2009) (announced) .... Theodore Roosevelt
Shutter Island (2009) (filming) .... Teddy Daniels
Body of Lies (2008) (post-production) .... Roger Ferris
Revolutionary Road (2008) (completed) .... Frank Wheeler
Blood Diamond (2006) .... Danny Archer
... aka Blood Diamond (Germany)
The Departed (2006) .... Ofcr. William M. 'Billy' Costigan Jr.
The Aviator (2004) .... Howard Hughes
... aka Aviator (Germany)
Catch Me If You Can (2002) .... Frank Abagnale Jr.
Gangs of New York (2002) .... Amsterdam Vallon
... aka Gangs of New York (Germany)
Don's Plum (2001) .... Derek
The Beach (2000/I) .... Richard
Celebrity (1998) .... Brandon Darrow
The Man in the Iron Mask (1998/I) .... King Louis XIV / Philippe
Titanic (1997) .... Jack Dawson
Marvin's Room (1996) .... Hank
Romeo + Juliet (1996) .... Romeo
... aka Romeo and Juliet
... aka William Shakespeare's Romeo + Juliet (USA: complete title)
Total Eclipse (1995) .... Arthur Rimbaud
... aka Eclipse totale (France: DVD title)
... aka Poeti dall'inferno (Italy)
... aka Rimbaud Verlaine (France)
The Basketball Diaries (1995) .... Jim Carroll
The Quick and the Dead (1995) .... Fee Herod "The Kid"
The Foot Shooting Party (1994)
What's Eating Gilbert Grape (1993) .... Arnie Grape
This Boy's Life (1993) .... Tobias 'Toby' Wolff
Poison Ivy (1992) (as Leonardo Di Caprio) .... Guy
"Growing Pains" .... Luke Brower (22 episodes, 1991-1992)
- The Last Picture Show: Part 1 (1992) TV episode (credit only) .... Luke Brower
- The Wrath of Con Ed (1992) TV episode (credit only) .... Luke Brower
- Maggie's Brilliant Career (1992) TV episode .... Luke Brower
- The Truck Stops Here (1992) TV episode .... Luke Brower
- Don't Go Changin' (1992) TV episode .... Luke Brower
(17 more)
"Roseanne" .... Darlene's Classmate (1 episode, 1991)
- Home-Ec (1991) TV episode (uncredited) .... Darlene's Classmate
Critters 3 (1991) .... Josh
... aka Critters 3: You Are What They Eat (USA)
"Santa Barbara" (1984) TV series .... Young Mason Capwell (unknown episodes, 1990)
"The New Lassie" (1 episode, 1990)
- Livewire (1990) TV episode
"Parenthood" (1990) TV series .... Garry Buckman (unknown episodes)
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