REVIEW: 'Hugo'
4 stars
Martin Scorsese directs this family adventure following Hugo, an orphan boy who lives in the walls of a train station in 1930s Paris. Based on the book The Invention of Hugo Cabaret. Stars Sacha Baron Cohen, Jude Law and Ben Kingsley. Now playing nationwide, in 3D and in 2D.
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When he’s not making quality films, Martin Scorsese has spent an admirable amount of time restoring them. His latest effort, a 1930s-set fantasy taking a Philip Pullman-ish approach to cinema history, combines both passions with aplomb.
In a pop-up book Paris beautifully rendered in shimmering CG, Hugo (Asa Butterfield) is a lonely orphan who lives in the walls of a train station, keeping the clocks wound while concealing his presence from gammy-legged inspector (Sacha Baron Cohen). We first meet our hero speeding through the Potter-esque platforms in order to steal parts from an embittered toymaker (Ben Kingsley) and repair the mysterious automaton his inventor father (Jude Law) left him. But could there be a connection between the two?
Well, yes… but it’s not Hugo’s underwhelming plight that Scorsese’s concerned with. Instead, he takes the opportunity to celebrate the pioneers of his beloved medium, revisiting long-forgotten films (1902’s A Trip To The Moon) in glorious 3D and remembering long-forsaken film-makers (Georges Méliès, the Lumière Brothers) along the way. At one point Hugo dangles precariously from a clock face like silent comedian Harold Lloyd (and Doc Brown!) before him, but don’t be fooled into thinking this is kids’ stuff.
Besides a seam of darkness that includes a show-stopping clockwork nightmare and Cohen’s ashamed admission: “I was injured in the war – it will never heal…” Hugo is aimed at Scorseses-in-the-making rather than the mass market. It’s not an adventure, but a loving tribute to all the broken things, and those who would fix them.
Comments:
Comment by
This was a must see on my list following review of the shorts. I was a little disappointed. I saw it in 3D - not a big fan of 3D. It was ok, a few blurred images. The story was reasonable but a bit long winded. The hope of a message from his father never eventuated. A few loose ends. I would have liked the film to have been spoken in French with English Subtitles - would have given it the wow factor for me.
Comment by MattG
I'm genuinely glad to hear it. I saw it with lots of confused, birthdaying 10-year-olds and I felt a little sorry for them, like they'd been sold a totally different movie...
Comment by David
Not aimed at the mass market? Why, because it lacks talking penguins and car chases? Dude. Please. I went round after our screening and asked about two dozen kids aged 5 to 15 if they'd liked it. Every single one said yes. I agree it'll defeat the expectations of a few, but most people are still capable of enjoying a good story well told. "Most people" is what the mass market's made of.