HUGO

US, 2011, 126 minutes, Colour.
Asa Butterfield, Chloe Grace Moretz, Ben Kingsley, Sacha Baron Cohen, Ray Winstone, Emily Mortimer, Christopher Lee, Helen Mc Crory, Frances de la Tour, Richard Griffiths, Jude Law.
Directed by Martin Scorsese.

Fans wondered when they heard that Martin Scorsese was to direct a children’s film and in 3D. It didn’t seem like the material for the director of Taxi Driver, Mean Streets and The Departed. There is no need to be apprehensive, Scorsese has made one of his best films (and the vivid and sharp 3D photography works very well indeed).

So, the question is, who is Hugo? He is a boy, Hugo Cabret, from the novel, The Invention of Hugo Cabret, by Brian Selznick. And he is played by Asa Butterfield (from The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas). He is surrounded by a fine British cast led by Ben Kingsley. And he teams up with the vivacious Chloe Grace Moretz (Kick Ass, Let Me In).

That is the who of the title. But, the interesting question is the where and when of the film.

The where is Paris and most of the action takes place in the railway station, Gare Montparnasse. Not only do we feel we have lived in the station, we know the regulars well, the vendors, the police, but we spend a great deal of time in the cavernous spaces behind the clocks of the station where Hugo lives. The film opens with a lengthy running sequence where we experience Hugo in the long corridors and vast rooms in an exciting 3D tour.

The when is the late 1920s, so the period is re-created with costumes and decor, quite sumptuous to look at – and to a stirring score as well.

The time is important because the film is also about the history of cinema, particularly French cinema and the early silent era. Scorsese is a cinema buff par excellence and he takes the opportunity to immerse his audience in the wonders of cinema and animation. Film buffs will really appreciate it. And, because, the central protagonists are children, it offers a wonderful opportunity to learn about cinema in the olden days.

There is a brief cameo by Jude Law as Hugo’s father, a man who loved tinkering with machines and novelties. He has rescued a complicated robotic machine and has been attempting to make it work, but a key is missing. After his father’s death, he is taken by his uncle (Ray Winstone) to work on the clocks in the station. One of the shops is owned by a crusty old man who accuses Hugo of stealing, setting the war veteran commissioner at the station (who interprets all rules rigidly) in pursuit of Hugo who can always escape behind the clocks and hide. Ben Kingsley is the shop owner and Sacha Baron Cohen the commissioner. There is a fine cameo from the elderly Christopher Lee as a bookseller.

This leads us to the films of Georges Melies, the French pioneer of animation, whose rocket to the moon short is well known (and was recently restored to its full colour (each frame hand painted at the time) which is featured at the end of Hugo). It is assumed that Melies died in World War I, but he did not. His many fantasy films went out of fashion with the hard edge of film reporting from the war, and Melies lost his money and studio and withdrew, rather embittered, to the shop at the station.

There is a warmth in the storytelling as Hugo becomes less defensive, where Melies re-discovers and visualises the story of his past and the wonderful experiences of studio filming with his wife, where the key to the robot is found and it begins to work and offers a message to Hugo from his father.

Because Scorsese has always made films for mature older audiences, he knows how to gear his children’s film to entertain and interest adults. Obviously, he hopes that children will identify with Hugo and share the wonder of the technical developments of the period and better appreciate where the films they take for granted came from and the genius of those pioneers like Melies.

1. The popularity of the film? Critical acclaim?

2. The work of Martin Scorsese, his career, his realism in films, melodrama, his interest in the history of cinema?

3. An adaptation from the book, graphic with illustrations? The visualising of the book? Sets, characters, film and fantasy?

4. The technical bravura of the film, the colour photography, the 3D? The elaborate sets: the station, the clocks, the rooms behind the clocks, apartments, the streets of Paris, glimpses of Paris? Machines, magic, the movies, silent images, colour? The tracking shots and the chases? The audience immersed in the Paris of the late 1920s? The musical score?

5. The variety of audiences: a children’s story, children identifying with the characters? Audiences with technical interest, with the history of cinema? Knowledge of George Melies? Film buffs?

6. Hugo as the focus of the film, his perspective on characters and action? His watching life at the station, the details of station life, his job, the various shops, his memory and the puzzle of the automaton?

7. George Melies as the focus, an old gruff man, harsh, his change, his rehabilitation and his reputation?

8. The introduction to Hugo, the station and its vitality, the clocks, his work, the intricacy of the clocks? The world behind the clocks, vast? His watching Melies, the mechanical mouse? His going to the store, stealing, his being caught, emptying his pockets, losing his notebook, the station inspector and his observations? The escape and the chase?

9. Hugo’s story, the flashbacks, his love for his father, the bond, working with him, the automaton, its story from the museum, trying to fix it, the need for the key? The notebook and the designs? His father’s death? His uncle, drinking, working on the clocks, installing Hugo behind the clocks? The later information about his death? The puzzle for all as to who was looking after the clocks? The automaton in his room? Getting the key from Isabelle? The automaton working, the message, the drawing, the link with his father, going to Melies?

10. The notebook and its detail, Melies refusing to give it back? Hugo and his contact with Isabelle? Their meeting, liking each other, going home, Isabelle’s mother, George and his place in the house, the shop, his refusal to give back the notebook, demanding that Hugo fix the mouse? The various tasks?

11. The station inspector, his background in the war, his artificial leg? His attraction towards Lisette, her shop and the flowers? The other shopkeepers, Monsieur Frick, Madame Emilie? The inspector and his attraction to Lisette and his shyness, her response? The importance of rounding up orphans, the inspector chasing Hugo, the puzzle about his disappearance? His office, the phone call, the news about Hugo’s uncle? The confrontation?

12. The books, Monsieur Labisse and his kindness, his advice, finding the books? Researching the early films, going to find the author, explaining the situation to him, his having the films, the plans, going to see the Melies family?

13. Hugo, his ordinary life, at work, at the station? The various types?

14. The importance of the film, bringing the projector, the screen, George’s wife and her delight in looking at the film, Melies coming and being surprised?

15. The flashbacks, the early silent films in Paris, the studio, the cast, the special effects, the fantasy world and creations? The tricks and the editing? George and his wife? Her appearing? The film Voyage to the Moon – famous, seeing it in full colour?

16. The recognition of Melies, the assembly, the acclaim, his explanation about the war and being out of favour with war realism, working in the shop? The honour to him, his reputation restored?

17. Hugo, his mission in life, from his father, the skills, the automaton, the message, cinema, joy?

18. The happy ending, the satisfying ending for children? A satisfying end for adults and their exploration of film history?

19. Scorsese’s tribute to cinema and the cinema geniuses?