The Aviator
Reviewed by Jonathan Shearon
February 7, 2006

Despite all of the critical acclaim and fanfare attached to Martin Scorsese’s biopic of enigmatic millionaire Howard Hughes, Howard Shore’s score received a rather lukewarm reception. Obviously some had expected a bombastic, theme-heavy composition that would rival the spectacular aviation set pieces sprinkled throughout the film. But The Aviator is a character study at heart, and Shore’s subtle music is reflective of the incredible inner struggles of perhaps the 20th century’s most unusual figure, rather than a broad canvas of epic “flying” music.

Howard Hughes’ life was full of extraordinary contradictions – he was a genius introvert who managed to take on Congress and the movie industry; a germaphobe who nevertheless bedded dozens of Hollywood’s most famous starlets – so Shore’s choice of Baroque counterpoint (a musical device whereby 2 contrasting melodies weave around each other) as the score’s central element seems quite fitting. There are three main ideas in the score, all very closely tied to each other. The first, heard in “Icarus”, is a bouncy cue that relies on the kind of “spinning out” of musical material that Bach used to do. The second idea is a slower, slightly altered variation of the first motif. The final theme is what Shore uses for flying music: a simple but propulsive horn-dominated figure.

The main problem with these themes, especially highlighted by the last one mentioned, is that they never really go anywhere, and so there’s never a sense of “release” for the listener. Perhaps this was a result of the somewhat circular nature of the Baroque form, or perhaps this was a conscious musical reflection of Hughes tendency to get stuck on a phrase or idea. Whatever the case, it does tend to exhaust your ears over the course of a single listen.

The most bizarre element of the score is the use of the castanet, which gives some of the action cues a vaguely Spanish flavor. Shore says in the liner notes that this was inspired by the Californian architecture of the film’s period setting. To me that seems rather absurdly obscure – like if Scorsese had named the movie Wingtips because of the kind of shoes the characters wore.

Those gripes aside, Shore’s score works quite well in the film and his restraint really adds to the effectiveness of the music when it is finally featured. While Howard Hughes was one of America’s most legendary eccentrics and recluses, Leonardo DiCaprio’s prodigious performance and Shore’s subdued music give us some clues into what may have made him tick.

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