Dreams come from cinema. Hugo is a family film that manages to celebrate theater while weaving an intriguing tale with a child lead. The film reminded me, in some ways, of Cinema Paradiso. The film has a warm story, while celebrating the history of film. In particular, Hugo celebrates the life and work of George Melies, an early pioneer in silent films.
Hugo Cabret (Asa Butterfield) lives inside Montparnasse train station in 1930s Paris. The orphan was taken in by his Uncle Claude (Ray Winstone) when his father (Jude Law) was killed in a fire. The Cabret family are clock makers. While Hugo's father worked in a museum, he also tinkered with clocks in his spare time. His pet project was the restoration of an automaton that he found rusting away in storage at his museum. Uncle Claude keeps the clocks running in the vast secret passageways of Montparnasse Station.
When Hugo is taken in by Uncle Claude, he carries his sole possession, the automaton, which he believes holds some final message from his father. When Uncle Claude disappears, the boy is left alone in the station with his automaton. He survives by stealing food and parts for his mechanical friend, hoping to unlock a cosmic secret. Meanwhile, he must steer clear of the heartless Station Inspector (Sasha Baron Cohen) and the grouchy toy shop owner, George Melies (Ben Kingsley) who he has been stealing parts from.
Hugo and Melies are naturally opposed, each capable of hurting the other deeply, without recognizing that their own desires are the source of pain to the other. Melies seems like a good man, but he has a secret past. When Hugo befriends Melies God-daughter, Isabelle (Chloe Grace Moretz), they set out on an adventure that ultimately uncovers Melies hidden body of films, much of it destroyed by war and "progress."
I was impressed that Brian Selznick (book) and John Logan (screenplay) were able to infuse the film with incredible details about a relatively unknown film pioneer without making the story about Melies. The story provides insight into the contributions Melies made to film, even highlighting clips of his actual footage, very little of which has survived the century. The majority of Melies 500 plus films were destroyed to make boot heels or to create new films. The writers, instead, give us a warm story about friendship, adventure and family that highlights Melies work within a broader story. The characters were intriguing to me, although a bit predictable. I would have liked a little bit more character development, but this film was packed with so much information as it is, the film would have had to exceed an already robust 127 minute run time.
The performances helped bring credibility as well as general enjoyment to this film. I thought Butterfield was amazing in The Boy in the Striped Pajamas several years ago. His performance in Hugo was compelling. He seemed to have a genuine chemistry with Moretz, who already had a veteran's body of work behind her before this film, to include an awesome performance in Kick-A$$. I thought that film succeeded, in large measure, due to her performance. She was less key in this role, but had a believable friendship with Butterfield. In this film, I think the key casting was Kingsley as Melies. I have long been a fan of Kingsley's work, and he continues to impress me. He was brilliant. I also enjoyed seeing Cohen in a role that was slightly broader than a cameo. He seemed to enjoy himself, bringing that Cohen brand of humor to a prickly character. I have to wonder how much of Cohen's performance was ad-lib.
Hugo is not quite a Christmas film, but it has that Christmas quality that generally sells well as a Christmas release. The high production quality of the film, interesting characters and film-roots made this film work for me. It did not exploit Melies work, but celebrated it within a larger context. It felt like Scorcese was paying homage to his own film influences through the work of a single pioneer. I can't think of a current director better qualified for a task of that magnitude. It did not seem self-serving, either. It was a simple heart-warming film. The pacing dragged a bit in the beginning, with a laborious prologue and set up, but it worked for me. 8/10.
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