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The Aviator: (Howard Shore) Living up to the great
anticipation it generated in the months prior to its release, Martin
Scorsese's
The Aviator tells of the best years in the life of
aviation genius and Hollywood producer Howard Hughes. Covering the
cross-over era of 1927-1947, the film follows the exploits of Hughes in a
movie industry during its transition from silence to talkies, as well as the
aircraft industry's launch towards commercial airliners and WWII fighter
planes. Deeply wrapped in the culture of the times, the lengthy film
provides a fine balance between the glamour of the period, the fancy of the
technology and its flights, and Hughes' personal psyche during both his rise
and fall. The film does not dwell much on the final years of Hughes' life,
during which his phobia of germs, among other psychological breakdowns,
caused the icon to waste away penniless and alone. But many of the high
points in the depiction are heavily weighed by an ominous and worrisome
temperament, a characteristic that would carry over from Scorsese's story to
Howard Shore's orchestral score for the film. Equally anticipated by film
score fans,
The Aviator is Shore's first major scoring project since
his award-winning trilogy of compositions for
The Lord of the Rings.
Continuing his collaboration with Scorsese, Shore draws on much of the same
orchestral foundations as he did in his most famous works, but the attitude
and direction cannot be any more different.
A listener or casual movie-goer might assume that the
flying sequences, if not simply the elegance of the period, would merit a
reprise of heroic brass themes with romantic string interludes from Shore,
but his overall approach to
The Aviator is far more restrained.
Despite its occasional volume on a grand scale, Shore's work for this film
is largely restrained, teasing the audience with repeatedly initiated
crescendos that suddenly cease or disappointingly fade away with a whimper.
If you think about it, that style largely resembles Hughes' life. No doubt,
The Aviator is not the most satisfying of scores. It is not the
romantic sugar-coated flying music of the 40's like you heard in
The
Rocketeer. Shore does conjure a heroic theme for Hughes' moments of
great achievements in aviation, but he is careful to present the theme with
staccato notes and short bursts, even when at its loftiest. Very few --if
any-- whole notes from the brass are to be heard, and this choppy effect
teases the listener more than anything else... It promises an outburst of
fully victorious, romantic flying themes that never come at any point in the
score. Due to this anticipatory nature, the theme isn't readily memorable
after the score is over, with heroic cues such as "H-1 Racer Plane" and "The
Way of the Future" successfully diluted by the plethora of mumbling,
brooding string meanderings constantly pulling at Hughes from his darker
half. You want the music to break through, especially during the lengthy
performances of a six-note rhythm by the bass strings that exist throughout
the score (and especially in the entire "7000 Romaine" cue).
But several of the defeated cues of despair truly define
this score. Very well rendered, the twisted elegance in "The Germ Free Zone"
and "Quarantine" is distancing and at times irritating, but Shore's
methodology of using the woodwinds --literally lost in the wind--
specifically during these moments of defeat is commendable. Deep bass
woodwinds seem to be Shore's primary choice for the most demented
characterizations. Some of the more interesting aspects of the album include
the Spanish influence upon the score (representing Californian culture at
the time), including castanets throughout and a traditional guitar in "7000
Romaine." The use of the theme from
Hell's Angels in "Hollywood 1927"
and the overlay of a reporter's live account of the "Spruce Goose" test
'flight' over a snippet of Tchaikovsky are welcome diversions. A grand solo
piano performance of the theme is restrained to only "America's Aviation
Hero." Overall, the lack of a fluid theme and a more surprising lack of
1930's/40's romantic underscore cause the score's more troubled aspects to
leave the most lasting impression. A sense of urgency during much of the
score never resolves itself, which is likely what Shore and Scorsese wanted,
but that lack of thematic breakthrough leaves the listener of the somewhat
short album potentially unsatisfied. The more classically inclined opening
cue, "Icarus" is ironically the only track to sway the listener's heart,
with the solitary remainder of the score leaving you wanting more, or
perhaps something different... very similar to Hughes' ultimate lifestyle. A
difficult score by choice and necessity.
***
| Bias Check: | For Howard Shore reviews at Filmtracks, the average editorial rating
is 3.54 (in 13 reviews)
and the average viewer rating is 3.42
(in 85,874 votes). The maximum rating is 5 stars.
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The insert includes a note about the score and film by Howard Shore.
