Originally published on metropolis.co.jp on April 2010

Photo by Jun Sato

Leonardo DiCaprio will be very happy if you don’t read this story. In fact, he doesn’t want you to find out anything about this new movie, Shutter Island, before you see it. “Go in with an open mind and let the story take you along for a ride,” said the 35-year-old star recently during his sixth visit to Japan, his first since January 2007.

Still reading? OK. Directed by Martin Scorsese, Shutter Island is the filmmaker’s fourth movie with DiCaprio. Set in the 1950s, it deals with a US Marshal (DiCaprio) who goes to the title island to investigate the disappearance of a prisoner from an institution for the criminally insane. As the mystery deepens, a hurricane hits the island, and things get very strange indeed.
“It’s got elements of psychological thriller and gothic horror and is told in an almost Hitchcockian style,” said DiCaprio. “At its heart—and what fascinated me—is that it is about one man’s journey to find out the truth about who he is and come to terms with his past.”

DiCaprio had plenty of praise for Scorsese. “I think that in 1,000 years’ time, when historians look back on cinema as an art form, Scorsese will be remembered as one of the defining artists of the period,” he said. “He’s a master at storytelling, he’s a master with the camera and he is such a film historian. He is at his best in films like this—portraying the darkest side of humans.”

The actor also said that creating his character was the most intense work he has ever done. “Sometimes, when you read a screenplay, you don’t understand the impact until you do it. You come on set and realize that one scene, which might only have been a paragraph in the script, could be the most important part of the film. Shutter Island is full of scenes like that.”

The film was also physically grueling. In order to create the hurricane, Scorsese had two gigantic wind fans blowing while firehoses drenched the actors. “It was chaos at times,” said DiCaprio. Even worse, in another scene, he is attacked by rats. “I was dreading it,” he said. “They were real rats. You know, they have people who actually train rats like you wouldn’t believe.”

DiCaprio said he likes to spend about three months in preparation for a role. “I think that is the most important part of making a movie. First, I read up on the postwar period in the 1950s, the conspiracy paranoia, what went on in mental institutions and so on. Then Scorsese had us watch lots of movies, such as Laura, Vertigo and Out of the Past. He’s like that. I remember when we made The Aviator, he asked me to watch His Girl Friday just to study one dinner scene.”

DiCaprio has been a megastar in Japan since the blockbuster Titanic in 1997. Such is his popularity that, in a rare move, his press conference was streamed live on the internet. So how did he feel about Titanic finally being surpassed by Avatar as the highest-grossing film of all time? “Good for them,” he said. “I thought Avatar was an incredible experience. James [Cameron] knows how to tap into what audiences want to see on a worldwide level.”

DiCaprio stayed a bit longer in Japan this time than stars usually do. After Tokyo, he and some family and friends spent a few days in Kyoto, where they managed to wander around unnoticed. And fans won’t have to wait three years until his next visit, either—in just a couple of months, he’ll be back to promote his thriller Inception with co-star Ken Watanabe.

Chris Betros is the editor of Japan Today (www.japantoday.com).