The Aviator

The Aviator Tushar k Shukla

Scorsese scores in the post-prime of his prolific cinematic journey. I was a little wary to see this since a long time. But this film, along with Gangs of New York, was a little repulsive because of my reservations against Leonardo Di Caprio. I finally saw The Aviator, but still have to complete Gangs.

The Aviator is the master stroke of a genius that moves effortlessly from one frame to the other, and what a revelation Di Caprio is! He is simply riveting and surprises with his dignified portrayal of Howard Hughes. And where you have Scorsese, can good music be far behind? Here is ample music from the jazz era with all its JAZZ n RAZZMATAZZ!

There are plenty of memorable sequences- the psycho trips of Howard, the aerial sequences, the trial sessions, and Howard's obsession and no-compromise love for cinema and grandeur. Cate Blanchett walks the tight rope between imitation and personal effort with a surprising alacrity, and provides a solid counterpart to Di Caprio's hallucinated Hughes. Some people say that Scorsese delved too much into the details of aviation. I would suggest these people that they go and watch Raging Bull or The Color of Money to see what detailing is. Hollywood has been always mercilessly neglecting Scorsese till date for all his distinguished works. It is rather a blot on an honest and rewarding industry that it has managed to do such a unforgivable mistake repeatedly over all these years. The Aviator was way ahead of its contemporary films in its year of release and it's a shame that we could not acknowledge the great resource and a film school in itself in the form of Sir Scorsese, who might never win the illusive trophy, for all we know.