Hugo Review

Hugo and Isabelle investigate an automiton in Martin Scorsese's Hugo

Hugo

A+

A Review by Frederick Cholowski

Martin Scorsese directing a family film, those are two things you don’t hear in a sentence very often. Yet here we stand in 2011 and the director of masterpieces such as Taxi Driver, Raging Bull and Goodfellas is doing just that with his latest film Hugo; a visual treasure that takes its place among Martin Scorsese’s growing list of masterpieces.

Hugo follows title character Hugo Cabret (Asa Butterfield), a young orphan who secretly tends to the clocks of a train station in 1920’s Paris. His father (played in flashbacks by Jude Law) died in a fire and the last connection Hugo with his father is a broken automaton that they found at a museum. All the while Hugo must constantly escape the clutches of the station inspector (Sacha Baron Choen). Hugo soon bumps ways with the mean old man who runs the toy booth (Ben Kingsley) and meets his charming young god daughter Isabelle (Chloë Grace Mortz) whose heart shaped key may be the key to finding the message hidden inside the automaton.

There is not all that much plot to be had here, but what is works extraordinarily well. The story is the personal Martin Scorsese has directed yet as he injects some of himself into the protagonist. There is also a throwback to the silent film era, one that is near and dear to Scorsese’s heart. It is also interesting that the goings on at the train station are almost a little silent film in themselves and they create a colorful, sometime hysterical backdrop for the events that transpire. These create a sense of wonder while never taking away from the overall plot.

The overall plot in itself is quite slowly paced for a family film. The pacing feels more a kin to the traditional Scorsese drama than to the fast paced family films of today. This is welcome as the film takes its time to set up the atmosphere and the characters that are vital to the overall experience.

Martin Scorsese has had many great performances in his films. Robert De Niro in Taxi Driver and Raging Bull, Joe Pesci in Goodfellas and Jack Nicholson in the Departed just to name a few. In Hugo he gets spectacular performances out of Asa Butterfield and Ben Kingsley. Both performances are spot on and magical. The relationship both their character’s share is full of tension at the beginning but slowly eases off as the film moves along. As for the supporting cast Mortz is charming as Isabelle a wondrous child whose head is constantly in adventure books and Sacha Baron Choen often is great comic relief.

The true winner here though is the visuals. This is the best use of 3D in a major motion picture I have seen; even better than the 3D in Avatar. The attention to detail here is fantastic as the 3D is not used as a gimmick instead as an extension to Scorsese’s creative vision. Everything from the sweeping shots of Paris to the Goodfellas like tracking shot through the train station is jaw dropping. I could go on and on about different scenes in this film and how gorgeous they are. Evan the restored silent films peppered throughout look fantastic. Visually, this is Scorsese’s greatest achievement to date.

After so many years of being proclaimed a master of film it is refreshing to see Martin Scorsese continue to try new things. Hugo is a film that well pulls from Scorsese’s roots, is something radically different. Hugo is also a magical piece of visual art and storytelling. One that deserves to be held at the same level as Scorsese’s many great films.