SYNOPSIS
Leonardo
DiCaprio plays Howard
Hughes, who went from wealthy Texas heir
— he inherited his father's tool company — to billionaire
tycoon. The film follows his career through the late 1920s and
into the 1940s, when Hughes directed and produced films and
developed innovative airplanes, all while romancing Hollywood
starlets.
Leonardo
Di Caprio - Golden Globe Awards
MPAA Rating
PG-13 - for thematic elements, sexual content, nudity,
language and crash sequence
Genre(s)
Drama, Biography, Historical
Running Time
166 minutes
Starring
Leonardo DiCaprio, Cate Blanchett, Kate Beckinsale, John C.
Reilly, Alec Baldwin
Director(s)
Martin Scorsese
Writer(s)
John Logan
Release
Wide Release
Leonardo
Di Caprio as Howard Hughes
However
conventional Martin Scorsese might be in directing the biopic
about Mr. Hughes, he wisely chooses key incidents (set down by
scripter John Logan) in the man's life to give us new insight
into what makes one of the most interesting figures of the
20th Century tick. A Renaissance man who. having early on
inherited a dominant position in his deceased father's
prospering tool business, he refuses to spend his life making
mundane implements but instead takes great risks that threaten
to bankrupt him should his grandiose ideas not pan out–as
they often do not. Fascinated by Hollywood particularly at a
time that sound features are coming out for the first time,
Hughes directs a World War I epic in 1930 called "Hell's
Angels," a slow-moving corny story that introduces the
world to Jean Harlow, a movie until then unmatched for visual
spectacle. His "Scarface" introduced Pul Muni to the
screen while "The Outlaw" in 1941 featured Jane
Russell in a role that has Hughes face a panel of motion
picture censors concerned about the extensive "mammaries"
of the celebrated actress.
His activities in buying the RKO Pictures Corporation are
skipped over by Scorcese to give the film audience time to
watch the man in action as the founder of the Hughes Aircraft
Company, personally flying to set a landplane speed record of
352 miles per hour, then lowering the transcontinental flight
time record to 7 hours 28 minutes. Ultimately he would work on
an eight-engine, wooden flying boat intended to carry 750
passengers, piloting the machine personally in 1947 for one
mile.
Key scenes in Scorsese's film at times glorify this
larger-than-life figure, making us in the audience root for
him when he lands in conflict with those out to crush his
company (by now he had purchased TWA) and his spirit. The film
is dominated by two major aspects of his adult life: 1) his
affairs with Hollywood actresses Katherine Hepburn and Ava
Gardner; 2) his fanatical energy both in coming up with ideas
and trying to put them into operation.
In the role of Howard Hughes, Leonardo Di Caprio presumably
hopes to pick up an Oscar trophy but which, though more than
competently performed falls short of the kind of imaginative
leap and sympathetic pull on the audience that can be
attributed to, say, Don Cheadle as the hotel manager who saves
1,200 members of the Tutsi tribe from Hutu massacre in
"Hotel Rwanda." Occasionally shown in extreme
close-up, Di Caprio's Hughes comes off as a man whose eyes
flash the fire of one possessed, an impatient businessman
given to shake his legs impatiently when seated and, strangely
enough in two instances to repeat the same words over and over
at least a dozen times when he appears not to be under any
particular stress. In fact the man comes off best when
questioned by the chairman of U.S. Senate committee led by the
senator from Maine (played winningly by the always excellent
Alan Alda), speaking clearly and strongly without the aid of a
lawyer in getting the spectators on his side when accused by
the senator of war profiteering.
Scorsese also shows Hughes' fascination with liberated women
who come off just short of being attainable. Cate Blanchett in
the role of Katherine Hepburn speaks boldly to Hughes as she
beats him at golf: close your eyes and listen to her voice and
you'd swear that Blanchett is merely lip-synching the words of
Hepburn herself. The film's best comic scene takes place in
Hepburn's home where each member of her eccentric, extended
family blathers on at dinner about a subject of his or her own
choosing without focus. When one diner expresses the view that
"we don't care about money," Hughes replies,
"That's because you have it," an obvious retort but
one which does not go over too well with these Connecticut
aristocrats.
After Hepburn dumps Hughes because she is in love
with the already married Spencer Tracy, he meets his match in
an even stronger-willed Ava Gardner (Kate Beckinsale)
who, insisting that she is "not for sale" refuses
his offer of one of the most exotic sapphire necklaces ever
made. "You can buy me dinner," sums her up, but
despite her penchant for putting Hughes off, she turns up when
the man needs support the most–when holed up in his home,
adhesive tape setting the boundaries of almost every square
inch to delineate a "germ-free zone."
"The Aviator," which also features Alec
Baldwin as the dapper owner of Pan Am seeking to buy Hughes's
TWA and John C. Reilly taking care of the business end, is a
must-see for students and holders of Master's degrees in
Business Administration and by extension for major executives
everywhere. Whether it can be sold in the youth market given
how young people seem to make heroes out of Michael Jackson
and Michael Jordan, is an arguable point, but surely "The
Aviator," which, if ever shown on airlines will surely
cut a segment that finds Hughes severely injured in a
graphically shown crash of his Hercules plane, is a mature,
professionally made film, well cast and showing off John
Logan's often crackling dialogue–an epic adventure and
a solid entry into the film world for the year 2004.
Now
He's The King of the Skies!'
His
name allegedly derives from his German mother Irmalin's having
experienced a sudden kick from her unborn boy while enjoying a
DaVinci painting at the Uffizi! In the year following his
birth, she and his Italian father George were divorced. He
grew up in Echo Park, then a particularly seedy,
drug-dominated area of Los Angeles. At five he appeared on his
favorite TV show, 'Romper Room,' and was nearly thrown off for
misbehaving!
The
Aviator - Leonardo Di Caprio takes to the skies
After
a string of commercials, educational films ('Mickey's Safety
Club'), occasional parts in TV series, a debut film role as
Josh in 'Critters 3' (1991), a continuing role as the homeless
boy Luke in the TV series 'Growing Pains,' he got his
break-through part as Toby in 'This Boy's Life' (1993),
co-starring with Robert De Niro and Ellen Barkin. The part led
the New York Film Critics and the National Society of Film
Critics to name him runner-up for Best Supporting Actor.
His
first Academy Award and Golden Globe nominations came for the
difficult role of Arnie in 'What's Eating Gilbert Grape'
(1993). Equally challenging parts were a drug-troubled Jim
Carroll in 'The Basketball Diaries' (1995), the tormented
homosexual poet Rimbaud in 'Total Eclipse' (1995) and the male
lead in a very updated 'Romeo + Juliet' (1996). True
superstardom came to DiCaprio playing Jack Dawson in 'Titanic'
in 1997.
Chatting
with the young man this afternoon, he is noticably tired due
to the premiere last night of his new film, 'The Aviator' - in
which the actor assumes the role of the young and complex
Howard Hughes. Wearing a black t-shirt, black casual jacket,
with his hair slicked back, the perennially youthful 30-year
old star, has remained intensely passionate about bringing
Hughes' life to the screen for several years. "As an
actor, you're constantly searching for that great
character," DiCaprio explains, when asked why the
fascination for Hughes.
"Also, being a history buff and
learning about people in our past and amazing things that
they've done, I came across a book about Howard Hughes and he
was set up as basically, the most multi-dimensional character
I could ever come across. Often, people have tried to define
him in biographies, but no one seems to be able to categorize
him. He was one of the most complicated men of the last
century and so I got this book, brought it to Michael Mann and
John Logan came onboard and really came up with the concept,
saying, 'you can do ten different movies about Howard Hughes.
Let's focus on his younger years.
Let's
watch his initial descent into madness but meanwhile, have the
backdrop of early Hollywood, these daring pioneers in the
world of aviation that were like astronauts that went out and
went out and risked their lives to further the cause of
aviation. [He was] the first American billionaire who had all
the resources in the world but was somehow unable to find any
sense of peace of happiness'. It's that great see-saw act in
the movie that goes on. On one side, he's having all the
successes in the world and on the other side the tiny microbes
and germs are the things that are taking him downwards."
What
level of admiration do you have for this great man?
"I
think he certainly took things farther than I could ever
imagine," the actor insists. "He was such an
obsessed human being and remained so obsessive about
everything he'd gotten involved with, whether it be planes,
women or films, he made."
While
DiCaprio has remained as ferociously guarded about his private
life as Hughes was intensely shy, the actor says those two
apparent parallels are miles apart from each other. "I
have to say, that for the most part, I am a pretty private
person while his came from a genuine mental disorder and I'm
just fundamentally not like that. My reasons for being a
private person are different from Mr. Hughes, in that because
I'm an actor and want people to believe me in different roles
and not necessarily know way too much about me. I want to be
around in the business for a long time, while he had an
intense fear of being around people and germs."
While
'The Aviator' is a film about the early youthful ambitions of
Howard Hughes, when it comes to DiCaprio's own childhood
dreams and obsessions, the actor says there was really only
one, "... ever since I got into this business at around
13 years old and that was to be in this business forever. Once
I did my first television commercial, I caught that itch, that
bug, and said, it is possible to make a living doing this for
the rest of my life, that is the only thing I really want to
do. He had multiple dreams. I look at film and cinema as
legitimate an art form as sculpture, painting or anything
else. We're in the first hundred years of cinema, which is
still in its infancy and I'm very curious to see what types of
films last into the next thousand years, just like what
paintings people still look at. I want to be a part of pieces
of art as far as cinema is concerned, that people will want to
see for generations to come."
Who
was one of your greatest influences during your formative
years?
"I
remember the casting session that I had where I was a break
dancer, having this punk hair cut. They rejected me and I
became really disillusioned with the business and said well
this is what it's all about, and I haven't even got in to read
a line. My father said don't worry, some day we're going to
get you back into this and it's going to happen for you, which
I kind of took to heart," DiCaprio recalls. "It was
one of those situations where I was lucky and fortunate enough
to be at the right places at the right time", he adds,
referring to his early television breaks that included the
likes of 'Parenthood' and 'Growing Pains.' "All of a
sudden I was on the set of 'Growing Pains' and got this
audition for 'This Boy's Life' and was able to jump into the
feature film world. It's really been just simply the fact that
I'd been able to work, you know what I mean? I would probably
still be trying to be an actor even if I was out of work, but
I would probably become a little disillusioned at some point
and move on to other things. But it's the one thing that I
know that I love."
As
for future projects, DiCaprio says they do not include
'Alexander the Great,' which at one time was going to be a
Scorsese project. "Alexander The Great was one of those
things where Scorsese and I just share the same taste in
similar things. We were both fascinated with Alexander The
Great as well as Howard Hughes. They're completely different
time periods and different men, but similar dynamics, men that
keep on reaching for their ultimate goal and stop at nothing
until they achieve that. It just happened to be that this
script and project was way further advanced in the development
stage than the script that landed in our lap from 'Alexander'
and we wanted to go forth - we had an intention at one time of
doing them both, but you don't get everything you want all the
time."
Director
Martin Scorsese puts the disappointment of Gangs Of New York
behind him to breathe life into complex American playboy
Howard Hughes.
A
legend in American history, the range and depth of his
character needed a resourceful actor to capture his essence -
Leonardo DiCaprio. Only lingering on Hughes' childhood to cast
light on his cleanliness obsession (his mother terrified him
with tales of cholera), Scorsese skilfully sketches in the
character of the man courtesy of his sideline as movie
producer.
So
we see the young movie mogul blowing millions on the World War
I flying feature Hell's Angels, badgering a rival studio for
cameras and ordering Ian Holm's meteorologist to "find
clouds". The movie had to be re-shot to accommodate the
new-fangled soundtrack and also cost the lives of three stunt
pilotsbut proved a box office smash. Unencumbered by doubt and
driven by an uncompromising quest for perfection, the
obsessive maverick would go on to apply his obsessive
standards to the Hughes Aircraft Company, and subsequently TWA.
The
aircraft-obsessed mogul also enjoyed a high-flying personal
life, squiring the likes of Joan Crawford, Jean Harlow and
Bette Davis. The spikily intelligent Katharine Hepburn (Blanchett,
superb) is the irascible love of his life, while Kate
Beckinsale gives good hair-toss as Ava Gardner. Focused and
beautifully paced, this doesn't disappoint visually, with some
stunningly shot aerial shots, particularly Hughes' roof-tile
shattering crash-landing in the Hollywood Hills. Hughes was
such a larger-than-life character that he needed a director
with larger-than-life skills to capture his spirit. Scorsese
is well up to the task.
(Cinematografo.it/Adnkronos)
- The
Aviator è il miglior film del 2004. A incoronare il
kolossal di Martin
Scorsese sulla vita del miliardario produttore Howard
Hughes è stata la Conferenza Episcopale degli Stati
Uniti (Usccb) che ha premiato, oltre al valore dell'opera,
l'impegno del regista nel diffondere un messaggio allo stesso
tempo didattico e ludico. Nella top ten stilata dalla Usccb
compare, all'ottavo posto, anche il discusso film di Mel
Gibson sulle ultime 12 ore di vita di Gesù, La
Passione di Cristo.
Drame biographique réalisé par Martin Scorsese. Avec
Leonardo DiCaprio, Cate Blanchett, John C. Reilley, Kate
Beckinsale.
ÇA RACONTE : Les 20 premières années de la carrière
professionnelle du milliardaire Howard Hughes, passionné de
cinéma, d'aviation, et de femmes.
ON NOTE : Tournée en grande partie à Montréal, cette
imposante production est née grâce à l'entêtement de
Leonardo DiCaprio qui, après avoir travaillé un temps avec
le cinéaste Michael Mann, a ensuite fait appel à Martin
Scorsese (celui-là même qui l'a dirigé dans Gangs of New
York) pour assurer la réalisation de ce drame
biographique. Un parfum de l'Hollywood des années de gloire.
FR : * * * *
Howard Hughes
and the Spruce Goose
Leonardo
DiCaprio/The Aviator Interview by Paul Fischer in Los Angeles.
Leonardo
Di Caprio apologised for appearing so tired. "It was the
premiere last night", he says, with a sheepish grin,
referring to the screening of The Aviator, in which the actor
assumes the role of the young and complex Howard Hughes
Wearing a black t-shirt, black casual jacket, with his hair
slicked back, the perennially youthful 30-year old star, has
remained intensely passionate about bringing Hughes' life to
the screen for several years. "As an actor, you're
constantly searching for that great character,"Di Caprio
explains, when asked why the fascination for Hughes.
"Also, being a history buff and learning about people in
our past and amazing things that they've done, I came across a
book about Howard Hughes and he was set up as basically, the
most multi-dimensional character I could ever come across.
Often, people have tried to define him in biographies, but no
one seems to be able to categorize him.
He
was one of the most complicated men of the last century and so
I got this book, brought it to Michael Mann and John Logan
came onboard and really came up with the concept, saying, 'you
can do ten different movies about Howard Hughes. Let's focus
on his younger years. Let's watch his initial descent into
madness but meanwhile, have the backdrop of early Hollywood,
these daring pioneers in the world of aviation that were like
astronauts that went out and went out and risked their lives
to further the cause of aviation. [He was] the first American
billionaire who had all the resources in the world but was
somehow unable to find any sense of peace of happiness'. It's
that great see-saw act in the movie that goes on. On one side,
he's having all the successes in the world and on the other
side the tiny microbes and germs are the things that are
taking him downwards."
Di
Caprio says that while there are parallels between himself and
Hughes, "I think he certainly took things farther than I
could ever imagine," the actor insists. He was such an
obsessed human being and remained so obsessive about
everything he'd gotten involved with, whether it be planes,
women or films, he made." While Di Caprio has remained as
ferociously guarded about his private life ass Hughes was
intensely shy, the actor says those two apparent parallels are
miles apart from each other. "I have to say, that for the
most part, I am a pretty private person while his came from a
genuine mental disorder and I'm just fundamentally not like
that. My reasons for being a private person are different from
Mr. Hughes, in that because I'm an actor and want people to
believe me in different roles and not necessarily know way too
much about me. I want to be around in the business for a long
time, while he had an intense fear of being around people and
germs."
But
is Hughes' celebrity that still offers a certain degree of
parallel in the young life of Di Caprio, but while Hughes'
female conquests remain fascinating as an almost historical
legacy for Hughes, Di Caprio laughs when asked about his own
place in history when he dates someone. "No, those aren't
my intentions going into a relationship," and unlike
Howard, Di Capriois not a collector of women. "I honestly
feel that as much as he had love and adoration for these women
and genuinely cared for them, he kind of looked at them like
airplanes. He was a technical genius and obsessed with finding
the new, faster, bigger airplane," he adds, laughingly,
"and that was simultaneous with women. He was constantly
finding the new hotter female to go out with, which all
related back to him being orphaned at a very young age and
having this empty hole in his soul, which I think he was
always trying to fill with new, more exciting things in his
life. He ended up, obviously, not a very happy person. I don't
know if he was think about whether, historically, he was going
to become a legend. I'm sure he had that sort of cat and mouse
things going on in his mind where he wanted to be famous but
it was more like 'look at me! Look at me! No, don't look at
me'."
Dreams
do not come true to all who have such lofty ambitions, and in
an industry riddled with rejection, the actor says that his
father was a great influences during his formative years.
"I remember the casting session that I had where I was a
break dancer, having this punk hair cut. They rejected me and
I became really disillusioned with the business and said well
this is what it's all about, and I haven't even got in to read
a line.
Leonardo
Di Caprio and Cate Blanchett
26
January 2005
Scorsese's 'The Aviator' takes off with 11
Oscar nominations
BEVERLY
HILLS, California : "The Aviator" soared high above
Tuesday's Oscar nominations, snatching 11 nods, including best
picture, best actor and best director for the epic story of US
billionaire Howard Hughes.
In a year dominated by real-life stories but filled with few
surprises, the film dominated the nominations for the 77th
annual Academy Awards when they were unveiled by Oscar-winner
Adrien Brody and Oscars chief Frank Pierson at a pre-dawn
ceremony.
Tying for second place in cinema's great race were "Finding
Neverland," the story of Peter Pan author J.M. Barrie, and
Clint Eastwood's drama "Million Dollar Baby," with
seven nods each, including best picture.
Red-hot star Jamie Foxx, 37, became the early leader in the best
actor competition after winning an expected nomination for his
acclaimed performance as blind soul legend Ray Charles in
"Ray."
"The Aviator" snagged a best actor nod for
"Titanic" heartthrob Leonardo DiCaprio in his role as
the eccentric Hughes, best director for long-overlooked Martin
Scorsese and best supporting actor nominations for Cate
Blanchett as Katharine Hepburn and for Alan Alda.
"'The Aviator' is flying high and is hoping to become the
first movie about Hollywood to win Hollywood's top award,"
awards pundit Tom O'Neil told AFP of the 110-million-dollar
picture.
The film also picked up nods for best cinematography, costume
design, art direction, film editing, sound mixing and original
screenplay.
"Bringing 'The Aviator' to the screen took years of effort
by an extraordinary group of individuals," Scorsese said in
a statement, adding that he wwas thrilled at the recognition.
Historically, the film that led the Oscar nominations has gone
on to win the best picture statuette in 18 of the last 20 years.
Following "Aviator," "Neverland" and
"Baby" in the nomination stakes were "Ray,"
with six nods, including best picture, best actor for Foxx and
best director for Taylor Hackford; the bittersweet California
road movie "Sideways," with five, including best
picture and best director for Alexander Payne; and Disney-Pixar's
animated "The Incredibles," with four.
Four out of the five best actor nominees played real-life
characters, including Foxx, DiCaprio, Johnny Depp as J.M. Barrie
and Don Cheadle as hotel manager Paul Rusesabagina in the
genocide drama "Hotel Rwanda."
The only one to play a fictional character was veteran screen
icon Eastwood, 74, who won a nod for his role as tough old
boxing coach Frankie Dunn in "Baby," for which he also
won a best director nomination.
But Liam Neeson missed out on a nod for his role as a famed
sexologist in "Kinsey," and "Sideways" star
Paul Giamatti was also notably snubbed.
The competition is stiff for best actress, as previous
Oscar-winner Hilary Swank, nominated this year for her role as a
tragic female boxer in "Baby," faces off against
Annette Bening for her portrayal of an aging actress in
"Being Julia."
They are pitted against Britons Imelda Staunton, for the 1950s
abortion saga "Vera Drake," and Kate Winslet, for
"Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind," as well as
Catalina Sandino Moreno, for the Spanish-language drug-running
story "Maria Full of Grace."
Swank, 30, won the best actress Oscar for playing a sexually
conflicted woman in 1999's "Boys Don't Cry."
A heavyweight lineup also dominates this year's directing race,
with Eastwood facing off against "Taxi Driver"
filmmaker Scorsese, 62, Hackford, Payne and "Vera
Drake" filmmaker Mike Leigh. "Neverland" director
Marc Forster was shut out.
Scorsese, who has been nominated for a total of six Oscars in
the past but has never won, is tipped as the favourite in the
category.
Foxx won a second nod as best supporting actor for the Tom
Cruise thriller "Collateral," becoming only the 10th
actor to be recognised in both categories in the same year.
He is now locked in a showdown for best supporting actor with
Thomas Haden Church for "Sideways," Alda for "The
Aviator," Morgan Freeman for "Million Dollar
Baby" and Briton Clive Owen for the sexual intrigue
"Closer."
Australia's Blanchett won a best supporting actress nod for
playing screen legend Katharine Hepburn in "The
Aviator," joining Britain's Sophie Okonedo for "Hotel
Rwanda," Laura Linney for "Kinsey," Virginia
Madsen for "Sideways" and Natalie Portman for
"Closer."
Human tragedy pervaded the best foreign-language film category,
with Spain's "The Sea Inside," a drama about a
paraplegic's fight to die, and South Africa's AIDS drama
"Yesterday" leading the nominations.
They face competition from France's "Les Choristes,"
Germany's "Downfall," a recreation of the last days of
Adolf Hitler, and "As It Is In Heaven," from Sweden's
Kay Pollak.
The Oscar nominations formally shift Tinseltown's annual awards
season into high gear as studios and stars jostle to win the
hearts of the 5,800 Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
voters.
The 2005 golden statuettes will be handed out at a glittering
ceremony in Hollywood on February 27
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