Di Caprio calls new film his 'most demanding' Scorsese role yet

Leonardo Di Caprio called the traumatised World War II veteran he plays in the latest Martin Scorsese film the most demanding role he has done for the director, ahead of its world premiere yesterday.

Oscar-winner Scorsese and his favourite actor teamed up again for the psychological thriller Shutter Island - the pair's fourth collaboration, which is appearing out of competition at the 60th Berlin Film Festival.

Asked at a press conference ahead of the gala launch of the film what was the most challenging role he had played for Scorsese, Di Caprio said "probably this one".

"It is a fascinating character study of how a human being deals with extreme trauma," he said.

Di Caprio said he had come into his own as an actor through his work over the last decade with the Hollywood legend behind Raging Bull and Taxi Driver, calling him "the definitive director of our time".

"Any actor would be a fool not to jump at the opportunity to work with Mr Martin Scorsese," said Di Caprio, 35, who first acted for the director in Gangs of New York. He said he would "only have his fingers crossed" to act for him again.

"He's got this infectious love of cinema and it rubs off on everyone on the set. We share the same tastes - we have the same kind of commitment to make the best possible film we can."

Scorsese, 67, had not released a feature film since 2006's The Departed, also starring Di Caprio, which won him the best directing Oscar - the first of his four-decade-long career.

Shutter Island is based on a 2003 mystery novel of the same name by Dennis Lehane, whose work has also been adapted by Clint Eastwood (Mystic River) and Ben Affleck (Gone, Baby, Gone).

The film, which drew lengthy applause at a press preview, follows two US marshals in 1950s Massachusetts pursuing a missing psychiatric patient on Boston Harbour's Shutter Island. One of the lawmen, played by Di Caprio, has returned from World War II where he participated in the liberation of the Nazi concentration camp of Dachau - an experience that left deep psychological scars.