Happy Birthday Daniel Day-Lewis!
As one of my favorite and most admired male actors, I am afraid that I will not have this opportunity without writing for him, after all, it has been four years since he announced his temporary suspension, and many movies have emerged in the past four years, and many screen darlings have appeared, and I have found a lot of different interesting stories about his life.
But whenever I see his film clips, I will feel that his departure is like a brilliant star disappearing on the other side of the Milky Way, and a timeless poem has passed through the long night.
What a shame if the younger generation of fans didn't know Daniel Day-Lewis!
But in fact, he himself does not feel pity, people use many adjectives to describe an actor, but when it comes to him, any adjective will fail, as if he becomes the word itself, with a strong gravitational attraction to absorb people's gaze and obsession.
I wanted to investigate, but I found that he only existed in light and shadow, and I did not find that he was no different from the universal people. He has the most paranoid and research spirit of an artist, and also has the lowest tone and simple character of ordinary people.
The first time I met Lewis, it may be in "The Room with the View", he wears a top hat, a suit and leather shoes, a tall figure, a pair of cunning eyes and a stereotypical style, and he looks like an English squire who came out of the original book, elegant but extremely playful.
This was my first impression of Lewis, who at the time only thought the character was more interesting, not to mention that the classical beauty of the film was enough to immerse me for a moment, and for Daniel Day-Lewis, it was only a short and hasty memory.
△ Movie "Room with a View"
It is interesting that as an actor with strong characteristics, he has a highly recognizable face, deep eyes, and a tall nose bridge, which is particularly eye-catching no matter where he stands.
But he's an actor! Actors do not have their own faces, and the role is the mask of the actor, but most actors cannot do such a realm, and their adaptability will always be less accurate in a certain type of movie, making the role rigid and one-sided.
Therefore, fans often worship Daniel Day-Lewis, and even quentin, Spielberg, Scorsese and other big directors also admire him, and it is rumored that as long as Daniel Day-Lewis enters the set, he becomes a character and never has a second to leave.
And I really fell in love with him, but in "Love in Prague", he played The Merry Doctor Thomas in Milan Kundera's writing affectionately and hesitantly, and the freedom and bondage, pain and joy he faced were throbbing, as if he experienced Kundera's state of mind, and even more experienced Thomas's struggle.
Since then, I have been deeply attracted to him, there is no barrier between the character and him, who is the character, who is he; and who is he? It doesn't matter.
△ Movie "Prague Love"
If you haven't seen his films, it's like you haven't seen the greatest performance in film history.
Lang "talent" is unique, the world is unique, from the film for most of his life, three Oscars crowned, but only starred in a few dozen works, and each one, are in dialogue with the times, symbiosis with the role, and coexistence with the movie.
But in the world, he is calm, stable, humble, and even has the "thin feelings" that people spurn. But this is still him, he is not a perfect embodiment, he is just Daniel Day-Lewis, an actor who loves carpentry.
△ Won the Oscar three times, becoming the highest in history
01 Craftsman actor
Become A Craftsman
In today's era when "actors" are entertained, it is difficult to hone a really good actor. In the film industry in the era of fast selling, even independent films are difficult to operate and survive, so the definition of "actor" is gradually being marginalized, when we lament that the money in the "actor" industry is really easy to earn, in fact, we ignore an essential problem, perhaps it is not "actors" who will make so much money, but "commercial stars" and "paper tools".
So what is an actor? What is a good actor? Literally, actors are purposeful tools that provide a variety of materials for the creation itself. Cognitively, actors are pure and serve the characters.
△ Daniel Day-Lewis on set
It is true that the threshold for actors is really not low, it needs talent, it needs polishing, it needs patience, and it needs sincerity.
Does Lewis belong to the natural cast? In fact, there is no so-called genius, but what we have experienced in the process of growing up has created our sensory systems and ways of thinking, so what is the most important point of the actor? In fact, it is to remain pure, and the actor has the responsibility to protect this sincere heart.
△ Movie "My Beautiful Laundry"
At the age of 20, he aspired to be a good actor by watching Martin Scorsese's Taxi Driver six times. Anyone who has seen "Taxi Driver" knows that De Niro's performance is profoundly classic, and together with this film, has influenced many actors in later generations.
△ Movie "Taxi Driver"
Until the age of 20, he had been studying drama and carpentry in boarding school, and because of the film, he became acquainted with acting, and because the carpentry developed a kind of honed willpower, but also because of the performance to achieve his "craftsman spirit". There are only a few such actors in the world film industry.
What is the "craftsman spirit"?
There will always be rumors such as this in the jianghu: he refuses to play when playing roles, so he has developed a skill. It turned out that it wasn't a rumor at all, but a real performance state.
△ Movie "The Age of Innocence"
For example, when filming "Lincoln", in order to maintain the integrity of the character, he wanted everyone on the set to honor him as "Mr. President"; when filming "My Left Foot", in order not to leave the role, he had to eat like a disabled person to be fed; when filming "Blood Is Coming", in order to express the fullness of the character, he trained himself to be a paranoid who knocked on his dentures without blinking. What's more, after filming The Last of the Möhicans, he learned to hunt and build his own ships. He is fully engaged in the experience required by any role, never perfunctory, and will not deceive himself with the so-called "feeling".
△ Movie "Lincoln"
△ Movie "My Left Foot"
△ Movie "Blood Is Coming"
△ Movie "The Last of the Möhicans"
A good actor will form a feeling for everyone in the end, low-key and introverted, down-to-earth but full of personality.
Not every actor can be a good actor, because they always think too much, worry too much, and forget that they don't feel the temperature of the role at all, like Lewis, shooting for three months, and living with the role for three months, if not a good actor, it may be "neurosis". Obviously, he is the former, he emptys himself, and then fills it with roles, and presents only the role, no self.
Of course, there are many kinds of actors, but people who are dead with the role are easily addicted, live into another look, live in another world, and at the end of the day, it is still the Daniel Day-Lewis who is actually very humorous, very calm, and very free.
02 Wind Wanderer
Dissolute Man
"Talent" and "personality", "character" and "life", "emotion" and "affection", such a double choice everyone needs to be tested.
No one is perfect, not to mention a talented Oscar movie emperor, for fame and fortune, he never cares, nor does he deliberately hide his desires. This is what we often say, this person is very "real", will not be as dismissive of the Oscar Trophy as some personality actors, the third time on the podium, he is very excited, even tearful, generous and decent, and even humorously ridiculed the god-level actress Meryl Streep who was awarded to him at that time.
Good actors often feel sorry for each other, but seemingly beautiful love is always full of thorns.
A few years ago, when we learned that Daniel Day-Lewis and Isabelle Adjani were paired up, how grateful they were to become a talented woman and eventually become a family. Two great actors in film history breed the flame of love, they are like lovers in the movie, they meet romantic France, and give birth to a son. But unfortunately, that is the ideal we project, in reality, most of the vigorous love will wither like a flower, and the calm and long-flow of love will eventually rush to the ocean of time.
△ A love story with Isabelle Adjani
So when he left his child and Adjani in France, but married the daughter of the American playwright "Arthur Miller" alone, the media insulted him incessantly, scolding him for his thin feelings, calling him a father, and even more scolding him for being a wanderer.
As a result, all the directions pushed Daniel Day-Lewis to the cusp of the storm, and at the same time, he reduced the amount of film shooting, spending most of his time as a carpenter, spending ordinary days and making love with his new wife.
△ Wedding photo with his wife Rebecca Miller
But in fact, we do not know his private life, and when we do not know the truth, we should not speculate and evaluate a person.
His beautiful love affair with Adjani, although it has become a thing of the past, is enviable and even more fascinating. What could be better than memories? That reminds you to cherish every second you have now.
△ I have been with my wife ever since
He is a wanderer, who comes and goes without a trace, who lives authentically and loves as deeply as he does.
Such a man, seemingly floating, is actually fireworks into the world.
03 Ordinary men
Ordinary Man
Sometimes we exaggerate a successful person too much, and we deify a certain achievement.
Daniel Day-Lewis is undoubtedly one of the greatest actors, holding three Oscars, and there is no dispute, and few people will surpass him in the future, he has become the object of worship of actors, become the historical symbol of the film, become a passer-by of Vanity Fair, but always, he is an ordinary man.
△ Daniel Day-Lewis who was filmed in his life
Nowadays, he is immersed in the joy of life, often going out to play with his son, and often not catching any figures. We seem to believe that such a "genius actor" does exist, that he is like living around us, doing the same thing as us, saying something similar to us.
△ He had a good relationship with the son born to Adjani
He is very ordinary, the only thing unusual is that he has influenced many people with his own life trajectory, influencing them to do everything with full dedication, to remain pure, to uphold the spirit of craftsmanship from one end to the other, but at the same time, it also tells us that we do not need to be too high-profile, and life is not too vain.
After four years of filming, I recalled the Daniel Day-Lewis I had seen, and after the proof of time, I found a rare actor's spirit in him, that is, a sense of faith.
In "Blood Is Coming", the oil tycoon is separated from god by the rebellion and interrogation of God. When I used to look at it, I only felt shocked, but now when I look at it, I feel his sadness.
In "In the Name of the Father", he is imprisoned for being slandered and both his father, and he grows up to face the trial of family affection and law. When I used to watch it, I was touched, but now after watching it, I feel that life is too short.
In "New York Gangster", his mutual hatred with Leonardo gives this character the most violent and wild personality, but in fact, his loneliness is uncertain.
The singing and dancing phantom of "Nine" is just "Eight and a Half" concocted by Rob Marshall, and the director Guido played by him, under the entanglement of time and lust, finally has to find his own belonging.
In "The Phantom Seamstress", he is a master of costume design, but he also needs love to find inspiration, but time is like a ruthless pair of scissors, cutting off the last thought in his heart, causing a cold body.
Each character is a clone of Daniel Day-Lewis, who has formed a flash of light with his unconventional performance, and people call him "chameleon" and "idiot", but that is also an exaggeration;
For him, isn't that what an actor should be? There is all the responsibility and obligation to make the character look brand new, and when it is delivered to the film, his work is completed, and when he is no longer needed, he remains silent, continues to live, and feels with his heart. If he appears again in the future, he will still be like this, keep focused, continue to go crazy, and experience it with his heart.
This is the most real Daniel Day-Lewis, a craftsman actor, a wanderer, an ordinary man.
END