Hugo, A Brief Review

Hugo (2011)
Directed by Martin Scorcese

Like almost any other well versed moviegoer in America, when I heard Martin Scorcese was making a film adaptation of a children's novel, I nearly fell out of my chair. The simple idea of imagining a film for kids from the guy who brought you Taxi Driver, Bill The Butcher and Goodfellas seemed hilariously wrong. Even beyond that though, the sensibilities of a man who crafts harsh and often stark cinema seemed completely at odds with a story of magic and surrealism in post World War One Paris as seen by tweens. If it takes a humble man to admit he was wrong, I stand before you a very humble critic with his hands pulled from his pockets only to applaud this film.

Hugo works very well because of how it looks, how it's played and how it's told, but mostly it works because it is a love story about the history of early movie making from a man who has had a lifelong love of the movies. Scorcese's ease with the camera and his gentle touch here completely belie the style we have come to associate so closely with him. The tough and gritty streets of the criminal underbelly are forsaken for a child's enthusiasm and search for his purpose while Scorcese beautifully captures the magic of childhood discovery.

This story is an adventure of a young man in many of the most conventional senses. It combines a detective story, a tragic family past and a mysterious man with a haunted past. Somehow though, all of these tropes never seem trite or contrived or obvious; they simply are the facts of our tale and they are utterly compelling. Complex films that combine history and a specific time and place made with children in mind and from a child's view are a rare thing. Films like Hugo and Finding Neverland trust their audience enough to allow for the story to be languid when it suits the narrative, but they also plant their allure in the history of its characters and the glory of their quest without impatiently hinting at the inevitable payoff. In other words they are more patient than most films, evn films made ostensibly for adults. Yes, Transformers, I am looking in your direction.

If you don't know what this film is about, don't find out. The payoff and the twists the story takes will be so much more worth it than if I lay them out brick by brick for you now. Go to this film and be surprised at what a love story can be in the hands of Mr. Scorcese. Go to learn about the beginnings of the art form you are watching at that moment and go because this is a lovely and genuine movie. Really, just go.

Hugo Trailer