Few directors are as in love with the history of movies and filmmaking as Martin Scorsese. And few directors show such joy in the filmmaking process as Martin Scorsese. So it's really no surprise that when it came to adapting a stunningly
illustrated children's book that deals primarily with the very early days of movies, Scorsese would be a natural.
Hugo is one of the most beautifully, lovingly crafted movies to come down the pike in some time. Even though this extremely family-friendly movie comes from the man who made his bones with tough, gritty adult fare like Taxi Driver and Raging Bull, Scorsese's loving touch and fascination with the era he's recreating shine through in every frame.
The story is set in Paris in the 1930s. Hugo Cabret (Asa Butterfield) is an orphan living in a train station since his inventor father (Jude Law, Contagion) died and his drunk of an uncle (Ray Winstone, The Departed) disappeared. Hugo spends his time winding the many clocks in the station, trying to stay one step ahead of the humorless station master (Sasha Baron Cohen, Borat), and working to fix an automaton left behind by his dad. He steals spare parts for the machine from a toy
merchant in the station (Ben Kingsley, Sexy Beast) but one day the merchant catches him and takes Hugo's notebook containing drawings of the automaton.
Hugo meets and befriends the merchant's goddaughter, Isabelle (Chloe Grace Moretz, Kick-Ass) who agrees to help him get the notebook back. And as their adventure ensues, the two children eventually learn that the toy man is none other than early French filmmaker Georges Melies, who made some 500 films and was the toast of Gay Paree before World War I made people lose interest.
The plot, to be honest, is a little thin. But it's a perfect springboard for Scorsese's visual sense and it's really the look of this film that knocks you out. Working with
Oscar winning production designer Dante Ferretti (who really should be clearing another space on his mantle) and fellow Oscar winning DP Robert Richardson, Scorsese takes full advantage of his massive set, filling every nook and cranny of the station with character and incident. The camera swoops and spins, swings and
slides, up ladders and through clocks, tracking up, down and around to give us an almost 360 degree view. You can almost feel Scorsese in the background pushing to open up the frame, give us our money's worth.
Luckily, even though the story is on the weak side, the performances give Hugo its heart. Butterfield and Moretz are wonderful together, making Hugo and Isabelle feel like real kids, with real hopes and fears. There's never a false moment between them. Kingsley is a gem, as always, giving us a Georges Melies who may be a broken man but still has a backbone of steel when its needed. It's also nice to see
Christopher Lee pop up as a book store owner inside the station. His presence alone gives Hugo immeasurable gravitas.
Hugo is not a flawless film, however, and it tends to get bogged down with some of its secondary characters. Cohen is very funny as the station master, but his role is a bit too slapsticky and a romance between him and a flower girl (Emily Mortimer, Shutter Island) -- which was not in Brian Selznick's book -- seems
shoehorned in to just round out his character a bit. The whole business between them tends to grind things to a halt, especially when it has nothing to do with Hugo Cabret. And at 127 minutes the movie feels longish -- some judicious cutting of 15 minutes or so would help the pacing.
Despite these caveats, Hugo is a singular accomplishment by one of our premier filmmakers. After all these years of wallowing in the grit and muck of real life, Scorsese shows he has a genuine heart of wonder.
***1/2 (out of four)
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