Movie Review – Hugo (2011) (PG)

The mystery of the mechanical man

The genius of Martin Scorsese Hugo It’s not just that it employs the latest in film technology, but that it employs them in a story about how cinema itself came to be. This is a subject close and dear to Scorsese, who, in addition to directing and producing, is recognized for his work as a film historian (he is a co-founder of The Film Foundation and the World Cinema Foundation, both non-profit organizations dedicated to the preservation of movie). He doesn’t present the story so much as he immerses us in it, and not in a detached or clinical way, but rather in a warm and welcoming way. He draws us in with the art of illusion, interests us in mechanics, and allows us to study them up close. In that process of revelation, the magic never escapes us.

Hugoadapted from the novel by Brian Selznick The invention of Hugo Cabret, is an absolute triumph, not only of the plot, but also of the cast, acting, character development, art direction, set design, special effects, and theme. It’s also one of the best looking 3D movies I’ve ever seen, and if you’ve read my reviews you’ll know how I feel about 3D in general. Rather than assault our field of vision with crude jokes, Scorsese allows the process to wrap around us like a blanket, making us one with the world he has created. We are not watching the story unfold; we are actually part of it. There are moments where I wanted to reach out and try to touch the images, because they were so well integrated into the shots that they had an amazing tactile quality. For the first time, I recommend spending the extra money on a 3D movie, especially if his local theater uses digital projectors that allow for bright, clear images.

Set in Paris in the early 1930s, it tells the story of Hugo (Asa Butterfield), an orphan boy who lives within the walls of a train station. As the son of a watchmaker (Jude Law in a flashback sequence), he has an affinity for clockwork and mechanical creations, which is why he keeps himself busy winding all the clocks in the station. The secret air of it is a world of iron, gears, pendulums, springs, and steam. He watches the daily hustle and bustle through various openings, usually clock faces. He sees Monsieur Frick, the newsboy (Richard Griffiths), trying to woo the cafe’s owner, Madame Emile (Francis de la Tour), while also trying to avoid his cantankerous dog. He sees a florist named Lisette (Emily Mortimer), who cheerfully sets up shop every morning. She desperately tries to avoid the evil and invalid Station Inspector (Sacha Baron Cohen), who, along with his Rottweiler, rounds up the neglected children and sends them to the orphanage.

Before dying in a fire, Hugo’s father was trying to repair a metal automaton that he found rusting in a museum. Hugo, determined to finish the job his father started, is up against a secretive and embittered man known as Papa Georges (Ben Kingsley), whose assortment of wind-up figures has the gears Hugo needs. Georges, who knows that Hugo has been stealing from him, is shocked when he discovers a notebook in which Hugo’s father drew. He then takes it and refuses to give it back. He even threatens to burn it down. Hugo must get it back. Enter Georges’ goddaughter, Isabelle (Chloë Grace Moretz), who quickly becomes friends with Hugo. Cultured and adventurous, Isabelle wears a heart-shaped key around her neck, the same key that fits a special lock on Hugo’s automaton. Why does she have it? And what will happen once the automaton has been wound up?

Unfortunately, I can’t describe the rest of the movie without becoming annoyingly vague. Too bad I can’t reveal how all of this connects to the art of cinema. All I can say is that Scorsese does a masterful job of depicting what it must have been like in those early days of movies, when it was clear that even the limits of technology couldn’t slow down the imagination. We see boundless creativity in striking costumes, plywood and celluloid sets that have been hand-tinted frame by frame. We studied first-generation cameras and projectors and marveled at their manual mechanisms. Best of all, we see the audience watching in amazement as the images, projected on a white screen, actually move.

All the characters are so engaging and richly developed that I couldn’t praise them all highly enough. This would not have been possible if it weren’t for the casting. Like Hugo, Butterfield is likeable but not manipulative: a Dickensian character capable of real emotion. Moretz is simply charming as the spunky young Isabelle, and Kingsley shows great range as Georges. The biggest surprise is Cohen as a station inspector, who we hope is little more than a traditional cross between terrifying menace and comic relief. We would be wrong; as he makes nervous advances on Lisette, we begin to see a real person, a man who has yet to process his misfortunes in life in a healthy and constructive way. As a historical fable and as a celebration of the cinematic arts, Hugo it’s a treasure