The Aviator (2004)
Obsessive Compulsive Flying Disorder.
Presentation:
Scorsese is undoubtedly a master, but his epics don’t always hit the mark. This is a long biographic film about Howard Hughes, the secluded American aviator. If you aren’t familiar with him like me, be prepared for turbulence because Scorsese assumes that you are already interested in this man and doesn’t provide effort to make you care about him. For the first half of the film it’s a pretty hardcore biography detailing his life and environment. I would almost say the setting and production is beautiful except I dislike the desaturated color grade. Halfway through the film it appears as though Scorsese had an epiphany, watched Jean-Luc Godard’s Contempt, and decided to turn the film into a colorful art film. Leonardo DiCaprio is okay, I liked his performance and the story once he gets older but for most of the film I didn’t really care for Howard Hughes.
Conclusion:
Definitely epic, definitely a Scorsese period piece, and definitely Leonardo DiCaprio acting. To be honest, DiCaprio’s performances have never impressed me as I always see the same personality behind his characters. But I really like how Scorsese presents OCD, especially since I’ve suffered from it extensively. The main criticism of the film isn’t that it’s too long, it’s that the film isn’t focused and meanders everywhere, searching for truth and magic in Hughes’s life. But the film is too deliberate and masterfully composed to allow such freedom and I found the compulsive editing, while suitable for drug dealing gangster movies like Casino, to be at odds with the personal material here.
Recommendations
Obsessive Compulsive Flying Disorder.