Film Analysis - Week 15
The Aviator (2004) - Directed by Martin Scorsese
Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Cate Blanchett & Kate Beckinsale
The Aviator (2004) - Directed by Martin Scorsese
Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Cate Blanchett & Kate Beckinsale
This film is a Biographical Drama about the life of millionaire philanthropist, aviation expert and filmmaker Howard Hughes (Leonardo DiCaprio). Hughes was a driven and often successful aeronautics engineer, filmmaker, and lady’s man in Hollywood of the 1920s-1940s. Among other issues, Hughes appears to have been affected by OCD (obsessive-compulsive-disorder) symptoms that at times were severe and incapacitating, although for much of the period of his life depicted in the film he functions relatively well. The director, Martin Scorsese, was at pains to depict Hughes’ life realistically, so that even when his behaviour in the film seems odd or atypical, it was based on Hughes’ real-life symptoms. The portrayal of Hughes is much more in-depth and crippling than most audiences might expect, however the film was less about his achievement and more about the struggle of getting people to recognise those achievements. The film explores themes of success, achievement, stress, power, control and innovation.
One of the most important aspects of the film is Hughes’ OCD, it builds upon his character and is the biggest moment for characterisation shown in the film. Hughes’ fear of contamination and germs is quite natural and expected although many other symptoms are shown that the audience may not directly relate with or assume are a part of OCD. The audience are shown a possible source of these fears: when Hughes is a child, his mother warns him about an epidemic and tells him he’s not safe. His symptoms stretch from things such as requesting unopened bottles of milk, ordering the same meal in restaurants, carrying his own bar of soap into public bathrooms and wrapping the wheel of an airplane to form a barrier against germs. In times of stress his compulsions appear to get worse. As the movie progresses, the severity and complexity of his symptoms increase. He repeats words and phrases compulsively and develops complicated and elaborate routines that must be followed exactly. Any deviation from the strict routine compels him to start over from the beginning. At times Hughes will “get stuck” in a repetitive and uncontrollable bout of compulsions. We see him begin to avoid appearing in public, washing his hands until they bleed, and temporarily holing up in a screening room taken over with piles of refuse, with no one allowed to come in, in his obsessive effort to establish a “germ free zone” in which to live. In terms of performance, this may have been a very large struggle for DiCaprio, to be able to portray a character with a mental disorder can be very difficult, especially with one that is so minute and subtle.
Hughes’ is also shown to be incredibly driven and perfectionistic. One of the opening scenes in 1927 show the first year of production on Hughes’ film, ‘Hell’s Angels’ a war drama with innovative dog fight sequences. The passion and drive he shows for the scene helps the audience better establish him as the protagonist, not caring about the cost and ‘going for the gold’ make him a very strong and viable character in the audience’s mind. They see him as legendary hero, waiting to emerge from the depths. Since the film is biographic, most people will go into the film with knowledge of Hughes’, therefore have a predisposition about who he is as a person.
One of the most important aspects of the film is Hughes’ OCD, it builds upon his character and is the biggest moment for characterisation shown in the film. Hughes’ fear of contamination and germs is quite natural and expected although many other symptoms are shown that the audience may not directly relate with or assume are a part of OCD. The audience are shown a possible source of these fears: when Hughes is a child, his mother warns him about an epidemic and tells him he’s not safe. His symptoms stretch from things such as requesting unopened bottles of milk, ordering the same meal in restaurants, carrying his own bar of soap into public bathrooms and wrapping the wheel of an airplane to form a barrier against germs. In times of stress his compulsions appear to get worse. As the movie progresses, the severity and complexity of his symptoms increase. He repeats words and phrases compulsively and develops complicated and elaborate routines that must be followed exactly. Any deviation from the strict routine compels him to start over from the beginning. At times Hughes will “get stuck” in a repetitive and uncontrollable bout of compulsions. We see him begin to avoid appearing in public, washing his hands until they bleed, and temporarily holing up in a screening room taken over with piles of refuse, with no one allowed to come in, in his obsessive effort to establish a “germ free zone” in which to live. In terms of performance, this may have been a very large struggle for DiCaprio, to be able to portray a character with a mental disorder can be very difficult, especially with one that is so minute and subtle.
Hughes’ is also shown to be incredibly driven and perfectionistic. One of the opening scenes in 1927 show the first year of production on Hughes’ film, ‘Hell’s Angels’ a war drama with innovative dog fight sequences. The passion and drive he shows for the scene helps the audience better establish him as the protagonist, not caring about the cost and ‘going for the gold’ make him a very strong and viable character in the audience’s mind. They see him as legendary hero, waiting to emerge from the depths. Since the film is biographic, most people will go into the film with knowledge of Hughes’, therefore have a predisposition about who he is as a person.
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