Martin Scorsese pays tribute to Leonardo DiCaprio: “He’s a genius, he has the face of cinema”

The filmmaker gave a laudatory speech at the National Board of Review Gala.

Nominated at the National Board of Review Gala in New York, Martin Scorsese won the Best Director and Best Film awards for Killers of the Flower Moonwhile Lily Gladstone won Best Actress for her now acclaimed role as Mollie Burkhart. During his awards speech, Martin Scorsese paid tribute to Leonardo DiCaprioone of his two favorite actors with Robert DeNiro.

At the start of his speech he recalls his meeting with DiCaprio and how De Niro was the one who recommended this talented young boy to him after their collaboration on Secret wounds. He adds that this had caught his attention since at that time “De Niro didn’t recommend anyone to me.”

After 23 years and six films together, the director describes the star in these terms: “I trust Leo. I know I can count on him. His immersion in the game process and in the story is total. His fearlessness is something that brings me to life when I make a film”, he declares.

Indeed, the star has, from a very young age, proven her extraordinary capacity for transformation, in every sense of the term, to get as close as possible to “the truth of all the characters he plays”. The filmmaker adds: “He’s truly a genius in terms of cinema, and it shows on his face. You can see it not only through his eyes, but he has the face of cinema.”

Lily Gladstone delivered a poignant speech in a Native American language at the Golden Globes

Martin Scorsese also announced that Leonardo DiCaprio could not be present at the ceremony because he was in full preparation for the next film of Paul Thomas Anderson.

The actor’s thoughtful choices throughout his career also contribute to the refinement of his talent, according to him. “He doesn’t need to say a word. Everything is here. You can see him in all his films, from Secret wounds to the movie Gilbert Grapewhich was wonderful, passing through the extraordinary The Revenant”, analysis Scorsese.

He ends by describing their latest collaboration on Killers of the Flower Moon as the climax, the culmination of all their previous films together.

“I knew I could just hold the camera on him and not cut because I knew he would convey everything that was happening in that decisive moment. We did one take (…) and that was it. One take, so I see him digging deeper into the recesses of a human experience that many of us can’t even bear to acknowledge this guy’s weakness and delusions in the film. You hate him but you tend to love him too…all the contradictions of what it means to be human. I truly know that he is one of the greatest actors in the history of cinema. I thank him for everything.”

Martin Scorsese will make his film about Jesus this year… and it will be short!