The Aviator: The Defiance of Gravity

The Aviator: The Defiance of Gravity
by Dileep Rao

The Aviator is the latest picture from Martin Scorsese, who was last seen hawking that ham-fisted film, Gangs of New York. That film was a train wreck of epic proportions, poorly plotted and miscast. Only Daniel Day Lewis, in one of the most iconic performances in the history of film, kept the piece afloat. With The Aviator, Scorsese tries out the big leagues again, a large budget period film starring DiCaprio. This time the subject of the film is Howard Hughes—larger than life industrialist, film dabbler, spendthrift, and yes, aviator.

Scorsese’s film is a deep study of the era. It looks so much like the 1930’s and 40’s that one is reminded that these decades really weren’t so far away, that the people of that era were driven by many of the same desires, quests and insanities as modern people. Hughes himself passes in and out of this film. DiCaprio is at once truly amazing as Hughes and terribly miscast. His is a heroic work to humanize Hughes, a man who wasn’t necessarily likable or really admirable, pushing himself to the limits of his skill to capture the man and his essence. He is betrayed by his face, though; his nearly perfect beauty undermining the man that Hughes always was, no matter how young he started.


	*Leonardo DiCaprio and Cate Blanchett as Howard Hughes and Katherine Hepburn in The Aviator.*

The story is neat and well sequenced. The absolute home run sequences are those involving Cate Blanchett as Katherine Hepburn. She is utterly alive and beguiling, a cocktail of quirkiness and intellectual fervor that had Hughes swooning, and we believe it. Blanchett does more than some imitation of Hepburn’s fluttering accent—it’s a tour de force performance in which she inhabits Hepburn and the film finds its center.

Don't get me wrong, the film is far from flawless. There is an underdeveloped sequence involving a young actress with whom Hughes flirts, nor is his relationship with Ava Gardner (flimsily played by Kate Beckinsale) centered or even given the proper ignition. (On a side note, Beckinsale must be asked to stop acting, or at least trying to act, as she is dreadful here as usual.) The flying, though, is beautiful, and the effects are terrific. Hughes crash of his spy plane is so well realized it is harrowing, and it flashes the mind’s eye back to 9/11. Hughes flying with Hepburn is both romantic and transporting.

One issue I have with the storyline is that the portrait of Hughes mental illness is sketchy and unfounded. Why does Hughes develop this OCD? How does he hide it? There is a masterful performance of will over the disease, as DiCaprio overcomes his disorder to defeat a smarmy Senator (played with guileless glee by Alan Alda) in a test of his sanity. Hughes later wilts, retiring to his screening room and falling off the deep end. Until, in the most Hollywood of sequences, he cleans himself up to go to the Senate committee hearing room for the final showdown with Alda. This comes off forced, but it is still highly entertaining.

Much of the film is fatty, over thick in some places, underdeveloped in others (stunning that this could happen in a film of nearly three hours), but it is delightful. Scorsese has hit the perfect tone for popular entertainment that is still serious filmmaking. His talents for moving cameras and composing shots are to this day unsurpassed. His designs in sets, props, and costuming are perfect. The film is well shot, the color and use of transitions absolutely first rate. DiCaprio is truly terrific, if a bit undermined by his physical beauty and more so his man-child appearance. At thirty, he still hasn’t outrun that pretty mug. Blanchett is amazing as always, Alda is precise and crafty, Alec Baldwin as Juan Trippe, head of Pan Am is oily and honest, growing as an actor the older he becomes, finally taking advantage of his genuine talent.

In the end, this movie is about Scorsese and the welcome return of a master to the local Cineplex. It is well worth seeing, one of the few good films of 2004.

And on that note, seeing as how Steve did his Top Ten Films for 2004, here are mine:

The Incredibles
Sideways
A Very Long Engagement
Collateral
The Aviator
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
House of Flying Daggers
Spider-Man 2
Vera Drake
Million Dollar Baby

Dileep can be reached at dileep@babblog.com.