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The stalwarts of the 20th century had dominated the box offices for decades, so when cinema moved into the 2000s, it felt somewhat ready to hand the reins over to a new crop of exciting directors.
Francis Ford Coppola, Steven Spielberg and Martin Scorsese had guided the way as cinema had moved through its most crucial period, from the humble silent film to elaborate dramas, but now, with new technology and voices beckoning, would it be a time for a changing of the guard?
Well, despite the emergence of Quentin Tarantino, David Fincher and even Coppola’s own child, Sofia, it seemed like nothing had changed in terms of the elites. The aforementioned greats remained the contemporary greats, and in many ways, they were only getting started, particularly Scorsese, who had found something of a muse for his career renaissance, as the new century brought with it a new partnership.
His trusted companion, Robert De Niro, was traded for Leonardo DiCaprio, the man who would star in a string of Scorsese’s greatest films, including The Departed, The Aviator and Gangs of New York. The latter was a triumphant statement from Scorsese, proving that he was still very much the premier filmmaker in the new century. He graduated to a film that showcased staggering practical set designs, where a 15-acre recreation of the Five Points neighbourhood was built to challenge the modern culture of CGI-heavy epics.
Prior to the release, the film industry was simmering with excitement at the thought of what was to come. It was Scorsese at perhaps his most ambitious, and he had in tow a wild ensemble cast of Daniel Day-Lewis, Liam Neeson and Cameron Diaz alongside DiCaprio.
For Diaz, it was a career-defining role, working alongside a stellar group of actors and led by one of cinema’s most respected directors. The scope of what she was working on wasn’t lost on her, but even though she was right there in the heart of that five-acre set, she still couldn’t picture how Scorsese was going to bring this together in the edit and was waiting, excitedly like every other fan.
“It’s Marty’s masterpiece,” she proudly said, “I have seen parts of it, and I wanted to cry. It gave me chills because it was so beautiful. My heart just swelled. And that was literally after watching not even a minute of footage. So I can’t wait to see the whole thing.”
Whether Diaz’s statement is now true, over two decades on from the film, remains to be seen. He arguably got better as the decade progressed, with The Departed serving as one of his finest moments, but Gangs of New York proved that his ambition as a director was an endless well.
Not satisfied with all that he had achieved in the latter part of the 20th century, he was keen to move forward into the future, both in terms of set design and the actors he would work with, to create films that would continually define what great cinema meant.
