by Brian Kesler
Martin Scorsese is known for tense character studies with strong, lasting images of violence. It seems curious, then, that his latest is a family adventure in 3-D. Once the movie comes to fruition, however, it is clear that it is probably the closest to Scorsese's heart.
The plot revolves around the true story of French pioneer filmmaker Georges Melies, whose work includes 'A Trip to the Moon,' in which we are treated to the famous shot of a rocket plunging into the eye of the man on the moon. This true story is flourished with the fantasy of a boy who lives in a clock tower in a train station with his automaton. A broken automaton, that is, and he's been trying relentlessly to fix it. He believes the automaton has a message for him from his dead father.
The plot relies on voyeurism through the eyes of the boy, and in many ways he plays the part of Oliver Twist: a central character whose only purpose is to guide us through a labyrinth of peculiar and over-the-top characters. The only difference is that Hugo Cabret has dimension and Oliver Twist does not. Asa Butterfield is delightful as Hugo, with just enough underplaying to make him empathetic rather than sympathetic. He befriends Isabelle, played by breakout child actress Chloe Grace Moretz ('Kick Ass' anyone?). Isabelle loves reading and using large words without necessarily knowing what they mean. Her Godfather, Melies, played extraordinarily by Ben Kingsley, doesn't allow her to see movies. At one point, Hugo asks her, "Do you want to go on an adventure?" Her eyes light up, and he takes her to a movie, and she is absolutely entranced.
That's what the film is really about, you see ... movies. A love of early cinema. It's based on the novel, "The Invention of Hugo Cabret," the illustrations of which are almost like storyboards. The book was designed with the purpose of teaching children about early film and the importance of film preservation, and the movie follows suit, an issue that is of utmost importance for Scorsese, whose been at the forefront of film preservation for many years. There are two scenes in the film that are haunting. One is a heartbreaking shot of all Melies's films being melted down and made into high-heeled shoes. The other is a line of dialogue spoken by Hugo, in which he talks about a person losing their purpose, as Melies feels he has with the loss of his pictures. In real life, Melies really did work as a toy-store owner during his later years, broke and forgotten by everyone. Thanks to film preservation, many of Melies's movies have been found and pieced back together, allowing his unique imagination to be shared by any Netflix subscriber alive.
What makes 'Hugo' entrancing is that it is a magical film about the magic of film. Shots of people watching Melies's films with wide eyes and enormous grins brings tears. It is so lovingly crafted by a man who wonders at the magic of filmmaking. There's never been anything like the movies before, and there never will be. I have always been skeptical of 3-D, but this film does it absolutely right. What intrigued Melies about the movies was the special effects, after all, and a 3-D film about his life actually feels kind of right.
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