Imagine that you're a nine-year-old boy and you live in the walls of a gigantic Paris train station during the time between World Wars I and II. Why do you live there? You're an orphan. Your father died a while back, and for a while your uncle took you in. But now your uncle is dead and you're all alone; you've taken over his job of winding the clocks in the station. You have no money, so you have to steal bread and fruit and whatever else you can get to survive.
If this were you, you'd be the main character in Hugo, Martin Scorsese's new picture. Scorsese is known as a director who usually produces violent movies inhabited by gangsters and other lowlifes. In Hugo, Scorsese moves 180 degrees away. In many ways it's a gentle picture seen from the viewpoint of a child. It stresses the importance of friendship and personal relationships. It's also an impressive tribute to movies and movie-making.
Here's how the action goes after we are introduced to Hugo: Before he died, Hugo's father gave him a robot automaton which is broken and which Hugo is trying to fix. This is important because the automaton holds a secret message about Hugo's past and future. The boy has fallen into the habit of pilfering objects from vendors around the station, and one day he tries to steal some toys from Papa Georges' shop because he needs gears to repair the machine. This time, however, he gets caught. Papa Georges is a gruff-on-the-outside man, but he's kindhearted on the inside, so instead of reporting him to Gustav, the stationmaster and Hugo's nemesis, he allows Hugo to work off his debt. Through an interesting series of ensuing events, Hugo meets Papa Georges' granddaughter Isabelle, and they become fast friends. I won't say anything further about the action, but suffice it to say that the story is compelling. The exploits of Hugo and Isabelle work for the benefit not only of themselves but of Papa Georges and his wife and even the stationmaster.
Hugo is strong not only visually and emotionally but also thematically. As Hugo says to his newfound friend, he can't believe that life is without purpose. He works at fixing the automaton because he feels it has a purpose; similarly, he believes that he himself has a purpose in life and must find it. The picture isn't explicitly Christian, but it certainly espouses values consistent with Christian values. The acting is excellent, with Ben Kingsley as Papa Georges, Asa Butterfield as Hugo, Sacha Baron Cohen as the stationmaster Gustav, and Jude Law as Hugo's father.
Hugo received eleven Academy Award nominations, more than any other picture. We'll see how many Oscars it actually wins, but it should delight all kinds of audiences. See it in 3-D if you can.
Highly recommended.
Film Rating: PG
My Rating: 3 ½ stars.
No comments:
Post a Comment