One of my favorite Martin Scorsese movies is The Aviator. Honestly, it hovers in my top three, and I love how unabashed it is, embracing both the time period and the psychosis that took over the man.The reason I like it so much is that I am always learning new things about the movie or noticing new details.In fact, just today, I was scrolling Reddit and saw this post about the skeleton shot that happens in the Congress hearings scene.But what the heck does it mean?Let's dive in.The Skeleton in 'The Aviator' Okay, so what is this shot I am talking about? Well, the "Skeleton Shot" occurs as Hughes testifies before the Senate hearing. We see flashes of cameras and Hughes being sworn in, and then an X-ray of his skeleton. In this scene, we're unpacking who Hughes is and seeing how uncomfortable he is under the microscope, so when this is cut into Robert Richardson's excellent cinematography, we're getting Scorsese pulling the essence out of them. We're late in the story. The Senate subpoena arrives when Hughes is at his absolute lowest point, crippled by his OCD. The very idea of leaving his germ-free "safe zone" and entering the public, unhygienic chaos of a courtroom is a fate worse than bankruptcy.And it weighs on him significantly. The hearing room itself is a pressure cooker. It is loud, crowded, hot, and full of flashing camera bulbs—the antithesis of Hughes's controlled environment.But it's one where we're rooting for him to overcome his...
Published By: NoFilmSchool - Yesterday