Directed by:
Martin ScorseseScreenplay:
John LoganCinematography:
Robert RichardsonComposer:
Howard ShoreCast:
Leonardo DiCaprio, Cate Blanchett, Kate Beckinsale, John C. Reilly, Alec Baldwin, Alan Alda, Ian Holm, Danny Huston, Gwen Stefani, Jude Law, Adam Scott (more)VOD (3)
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Howard Hughes was a wily industrialist, glamorous movie producer and unstoppable American innovator – but thought of himself first and foremost as an aviator. In this spectacular epic, director Martin Scorsese focuses on the most prolific period in the life of Hughes: the mid-1920s through the 1940s. It was a time of brilliant aeronautical invention, turbulent love affairs and savage corporate battles. Prepare yourself for the ride of a visionary lifetime. (Miramax Films)
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Reviews (11)
If The Aviator is anything to go by, it's a perfect example of top Hollywood, the Hollywood that Hughes helped build in the 1920s with his bold visions. It's a precisely-fulfilled genre scheme that offers both a breathtaking spectacle and great dramatic filmmaking. You can't help but praise the famous camera, the well-incorporated tricks, and the perfect period music that gives everything style and atmosphere. The story of Howard Hughes is not only a personal drama, but also a spectacular and epic spectacle in which some scenes bolt you to your seat in a "Hollywood" manner and don't let you breathe (the superbly shot aerial sequences are really worth it). More importantly, each part serves a monumental whole, and the monumentality of the whole does not overshadow the personal and not-very-idealized personal plane. Hughes' personality is the centerpiece around which everything spectacularly turns, not the other way around. That's what I appreciate about Martin Scorsese. He didn't succumb to a big topic and tried to go under the surface. He did not idealize, but he tried to tell the story of one of the fascinating carriers of human imagination and the desire to fly (figuratively and literally) in all shades. From where I was sitting, it clearly seemed that he had succeeded. The Aviator is a truly wonderful specimen of a biographical major film in all its dazzling sheen. There's no room for misery this time... The few extra minutes the film has can be considered a hereditary disease. And Scorsese was able to richly balance Logan's weaker script with his precise direction.
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The Aviator is not bad at all, but after seeing it twice in one year, I can't imagine trying to go through it all again, even fifteen years after the fact. Leonardo DiCaprio is great, but surprisingly, Martin Scorsese can't maintain good momentum, he gets lost in Howard Hughes' psychoses, and the faltering story is only fixed in the thrilling courtroom finale.
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One of those films for which Leo should have gotten the Oscar instead. It's a great performance by him, but it's not the film's only strength. Scorsese's direction is so confident that he even allows himself an exorbitant runtime because he knows he won't be boring the audience. The last two hours mesmerized me so much that, for the second time, I couldn't tear myself away from the film.
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This film should be called Howard Hughes, and the subtitle could be "DiCaprio Flying to the Stars". It'd be easy to say that Scorsese has lost his grip for once, especially the in second part, when the story gets out of hand, but anyone who lets the whole film sink into their head and understands the concept should admit that it could hardly have been made better. For us here overseas, The Aviator will have a hard time, a viewer who has never heard of Hughes can expect anything from it based on the premise or even the poster, but in the end they will probably get something completely different. It's a spectacular narrative built entirely on the complex and idiosyncratic character of the aviation mogul, or rather, on the excellent performance of Leo DiCaprio, which in my opinion was the starting point of his tremendous acting form that continues uninterrupted to this day. Hughes's personality and fascinating life are explored so thoroughly and interestingly in the space of 160 minutes that you simply can't take your eyes off the screen in order to see how it all plays out. And it wouldn't be Scorsese if he didn't come up with a hugely impressive and academically appealing production design and invite a whole host of stars to play the supporting roles; they do an excellent job and complement Leo, who barely leaves the screen (besides the Oscar-winning Blancett, it's worth mentioning Senator Alda, the master of supporting roles Reilly and the beautiful Beckinsale). For the uninitiated, it's a more challenging spectacle and I can't say I outright enjoyed it, but it's still a film with capital F, the likes of which only a few top directors can make (and have made) :) 80%
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Paradoxically, the most interesting stages of Hughes’ life are merely mentioned in passing or completely ignored, while there is also a lot of needless filler (albeit excellently filmed). The actors are excellent, Scorsese’s still got it - it’s just that the screenplay isn’t one of the best ever written. Which is really a great shame and it knocks The Aviator out of the sky before it has the chance to take off.
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