Directed by Martin Scorsese
163 minutes
Floor 3 Pink zone 791.4372 AVI
Don’t adjust your TV sets the grass really is blue. Well, for the first 50 minutes anyway. The Aviator is a biographical film following the life of John Logan played by, a very young looking, Leonardo DiCaprio. Logan’s name may not be too familiar with all our readers but that won’t stop you from being drawn in by his fascinating personality and life.
In 1925 Hughes inherited a vast family fortune in his teenage years and turned his hand at various business adventures, including the production of films and the production of airplanes. These two passions merged for his first film Hell’s Angels (1930) and extravagant war film, which featured large scale dogfighting scenes. The production of the film was beyond lengthy, Hughes was never satisfied, wanting to incorporate colour and, eventually sound (even though the film was mostly filmed before sound pictures were widely available). John C. Reilly does an amazing job as Noah Dietrich, Hughes’ overly worked accounted who is exasperated by his demands (though there is a subtle friendship between the two); Professor Fitz (Ian Holm) a meteorologist is also brought in by Hughes, who demands rainclouds, Holm makes a small role a comic highlight.
Inspired by Hughes’ passion for film, the cinematography of The Aviator matches the filming technology of the period; in the first third of the film the all the colour is in projected as various shades of red or blue emulating bipack colour films. This is surprisingly effective and isn’t too distracting until Hughes and his partner, Katherine Hepburn (Cate Blanchett), play golf and the grass is coloured a vivid blue. I really enjoy Scorsese’s nod to early cinema. As the film progresses and Hughes grows the colour of the film improves mirroring the use of three-strip technicolour in the films of the 1930s.
This feels like a long film, but it a good way – it plays like an epic. You don’t need to know about the history of the man to follow the plot, which is crucial oftentimes historical films lose viewers this way. I don’t want to reveal much about the plot, in fact I would say not to look up Hughes before watching so that his endeavours play out as a surprise. Cleverly filmed, well-acted, and well-told – what more do you want?
Why it’s Significant?
The film was nominated for eleven academy awards, winning Best Cinematography, Best Film Editing, Best Costume Design, Best Art Direction, and Best Actress in a Supporting Role. It is a film that sheds light on to an interesting and important figure for Hollywood and aviation, and demonstrates brilliant filming techniques that show how colour footage evolved in cinema.
If You Like This, You May Also Like From the Library:
The Revenant, dir. by Alejandro G. Iñárritu (20th Century Fox, 2015) – If you are a fan of Leonardo DiCaprio (or any actor or director for that manner) you can search his name on our catalogue and a list of DVD’s starring him will appear. When not check out the film for which Leo finally won an Oscar. (791.4372).
Scarface, dir. by Howard Hawks (United Artists, 1932) – Howard Hughes produced this film that caused a big stir among censors in America for its violent content. The film’s impact help to trigger the strict American Production Code and, eventually, a remake in 1983 staring Al Pacino. (791.4372 SCA).
Written by Phil Wintle
