Hugo: An ode to film-making

When I first saw Hugo’s trailer, I remember I thought: how come, Martin Scorsese making a 3D Christmas film? I mean, the images anticipated the typical story of two adventurous kids. I guess I wasn't exactly right. Only during the opening act did Hugo really look to me like a children’s tale, as it contains the anecdotes that enthrall the younger audience, with the classic yet effective touches that kids love, and an engaging relationship between the characters typical of many Christmas films. But to me, there’s a lot more to Hugo than meets the eye …

The protagonist is a young orphan, Hugo Cabret, who lives in the hidden walls of 1930s Paris’ railway station, running around the secret corridors of the clocks used by their clockmaker, Hugo's drunk uncle. The child's only wish in life seems to be fixing a strange automaton his dead father came across years ago, lost and forgotten in a museum. Well, the movie uses Hugo and his newly-made friend Isabelle to narrate a more intimate story, something deeper indeed than the plot of seemingly yet another classic Christmas movie. Hugo may be Scorsese’s first family film but to me it's more than that: a love story, what's more, a story about his love for old silent movies.

Hugo and Isabelle

I wouldn’t like to give away many details regarding the plot (the fewer the better) so let me just highlight a couple of aspects of the film I’ve really enjoyed. Firstly, the great visuals, the atmosphere in Paris’ railway station, deftly captured by Scorsese’s crew, which will transport you back to the place in those days. 

Secondly, within its walls (built almost entirely in London’s famous Pinewood studios), a bunch of secondary characters go about their day-to-day business, thus enriching the “universe” in which the central story unfolds. In particular, the relationship between the ruthless Inspector (played by Sacha Baron Cohen) and his seemingly unrequited love, the shy florist (Emily Mortimer). This and some other subplots I won't tell you here perfectly complement the sort of magical world that wraps up our hero.

Hugo stares at Paris's most famous landmark

Finally, the use of digital tricks helps Scorsese move to and fro, with seemingly impossible camera angles which let us travel across a snowy, Christmassy Paris, from its unmistakable skyline into a small crack of the station’s big clock. Even if the film never abandons a somewhat realistic tone, all the technical work gives the film an aura of magic. I guess it’s an atmosphere that Scorsese exploits to the full for the 3D release – obviously I had to make do with the ordinary 2D viewing. 

Based on the best-selling novel by Brian Selznick, The Invention of Hugo, the movie is, to my mind, a heartfelt ode to classic film-making, inspired by the Italian-American director 's love for the dawn of the so-called (and deservingly so) “seventh art” and, I daresay, a timely reminder to modern audiences that we should go to the cinema to simply be told good stories, that classic movies are probably much better than today’s action-packed Hollywood blockbusters (Haywire, which I've just watched too, to cite only one example), even though it seems the former have, rather sadly, gradually faded into oblivion and are not enjoyed by most cinema-goers any longer. 

Moreover, Hugo is also living proof of how a talented director may be good at any genre. Some will say this is not Scorsese's finest work (who has always been renowned for his violent depiction of the underworld) but he does show what a brilliant, sensitive film-maker he is by shooting a delightfully poignant movie, aimed at whoever wishes to still be stirred by “simple, good old stories”, as it were. I can only assure you that both my wife and myself were deeply moved by Hugo, which of course I earnestly recommend to you all.

Here's the film's official trailer to whet your appetite:

Now, if you feel curious enough about Hugo, this is Martin Scorsese's being interviewed by Jake Hamilton. Martin discusses the reasons that led him to direct (and produce, alongside someone called Johnny Depp), this lovely film:

So hey folks, would you like to also recommend any interesting movies you've seen recently? Well, this is the place to do so!