Robert De Nero’s film acting career seems to come a full circle when he was recently awarded Cannes Lifetime Achievement Award. His screen performance was the cynosure of all eyes in 1976 at this film festival when Martin Scorsese’s “Taxi Driver”.
The dark unsettling film won the top prize that year. Set in gritty and morally bankrupt New York City post Vietnam war, it tells the story of a lonely taxi driver who descends into insanity.
To be Travis Bickle on screen, De Nero spent time with members of a US army base to learn their midwestern accent and mannerism. Moreover he lost weight, took firearm training and studied the behaviour of taxi drivers.
The film was nominated for four Academy Awards including best actor for De Nero. His “You talking to me?” which he improvised selected as the 10th most memorable quote in American Film Institute ‘s 100 Years…….100 Movie Quotes and Taxi Driver was chosen by the Time magazine as one of the 100 best films of all time.
When De Nero performed in Bernardo Bertolucci’s 1900, a five hour historical about Italy in the first half of the 20th century, his histrionic talent was proved beyond doubt. He had behind him the weight of great roles.
For a lesser actor, this would have been a career peak. But not De Nero. This was certainly not the point of his career to lie back and enjoy. His earlier performance in Scorsese’s ” Meian Streets” was a pointer to his talent and the steep elliptical path through which his career would be propelled.
Francis Ford Coppolla’s Godfather II in which De Nero essayed the role of Vito Corleone saw him in a magnetic role. He spoke mainly several Sicilian dialects and delivered a few lines in English.
There was a chameleon-like quality in his performance of this role. Over the next half-century he came to be recognised as one of the undeniable greats.
His performances in subsequent films like The Last Tycoon based on a novel by F. Fitzgerald Scott, a musical titled New York New York, The Deer Hunter, Raging Bull to name a few cemented his claim to be a great actor. There is no denying the fact that De Nero has arrived and come to stay.
There are no repetitive performances. Travis Bickle’s role apart, there was Jake La Motta, the self destructive boxer of the 1980 film Raging Bull.De Nero portrayed La Motta the Italian-American middle-weight boxer whose violent behaviour destroyed his relation with his wife and family.
De Nero looks amazingly like La Motta was inarguably the best compliment to his performance. He gained weight and had to learn to box. The film received eight nominations at the 53rd Academy Awards. De Nero was nominated for the best actor award which he won. His performances balance an understanding of the character. And of course, there is the captivating screen presence
He managed to make each character unique. King of Comedy, Goodfellas, Killers of the Flower Moon the characters bear the authenticity of a wannabe comedian, cold vicious monster; both characters which are at opposite poles. De Nero has had the fruits of his labour when he was awarded with an honorary Palne D’Or for Lifetime Achievement. He richly deserves it
