I was watching a promo for the Gangs of New York, during which the narrator mentioned that one of the stars, Daniel Day-Lewis I think it was, was “retired from acting and working as a cobbler in Italy” or words to that effect. Is this some inside joke that I have missed?
It’s not an joke. He did exactly that, at least for a while.
DDL is known for taking ‘method acting’ to freakish lengths.
My understanding was that DDL took some persuading by Scorsese before he accepted the role (it helped that they’d worked together before). He hasn’t made a movie in quite a few years and had effectively “retired”, or at least taken an extended leave of absence from the business.
I have some doubts about this movie. I mean, just how many times can Scorsese do a movie about gangsters. (Strike One.)And I don’t buy the premise that America was made solely due to Irish immigration. (Strike Two.)
And then there’s Leonardo DiCrapio…
(Strike Three.)
Global Citizen
I’ll probably see this, since it is Scorsese, but with trepidation. There’s something less than menacing about those period costumes. Sort of like the Bloods and Crips on a very short budget.
I can’t get past the fact that Leonardo DiCaprio is in it. I will never understand how someone could find him attractive.
Scorsese has scored monster hits with his last couple of gangster films. He knows the craft and I will probably enjoy it for that.
It is not so much to say America was made entirely of Irish but you have to understand the times. About the same time that the Civil War was in deep, there was a huge potato famine in Ireland. A huge influx of Irish came in simply to survive as well as other reason and quickly overcrowded the Five Points district.
And actually the premise is part of a larger story. The true story was of the Infamous Civil War Riots where gangs clashed with militia and cops because a lot of people were being thrown into fighting for the Union straight from getting off the boat. The riot itself lasted a week and nearly burned most of New York to the ground.
As far Leo, no contesting that. But I am going for DDL than anything. The man is a real boon to his art
TigoleBitties,
thanks for the response. You may be correct that DDL will “offset” Leo. I’m going to be off for one week during Christmas, so now I am wondering if I should allocate 3 hours of that time to see this.
The book is a darn good read. Written in the 20s or 30s (I put my copy ‘somewhere safe’, as a clear pandering to the popularity of the stories of the Chicago Mob. There is some wwwwwweird stuff in it. Pirates, to start with. And the repeated volleys of cannon fire down 28th street. My father told me, after I showed this section to him, “You know, when I got back from Vietnam, I always wondered why some buildings in Manhattan looked like they had shell pocks on them.” Answer is, because they did.
You will never. EVER. Look at the city the same way again.
Oh, and it’s all true.
Even the bit about Mose.