Blu-Ray Review: HUGO
★★★★★
Hugo (2011) is the most recent film by legendary director Martin Scorsese. It’s come at an interesting period in Scorsese’s career after the extremely successful “The Departed,” for which he won his long-delayed Oscar. He has since made the fascinating and under appreciated noir homage “Shutter Island” which of the two Leonardo DiCaprio “mindfuck” films of 2010, I prefer over “Inception.”
“Hugo” is Scorsese’s first film specifically for children, although he has made films that kids could technically see: including “The King of Comedy” (which I find more disturbing than “Taxi Driver”), “The Age of Innocence” and “Kundun.” This time, however, it’s very much a film made by Scorsese so that his youngest child could actually see a film of his.
It’s the story of Hugo Cabret, a young orphaned child who lives and works in the walls of a Paris train station. He changes the clocksevery day. His father has died in a fire, and all he left him was a automaton. Hugo desperately wants to find out what the message hidden in this is. He meets a old toy shop owner who takes his father’s notebook after thinking it was one of his own. This man turns out to be legendary film director George Méliès , who made films at the time that, bar one, are now considered lost.Hugo meets another young orphan, Isabelle, who is Méliès’ god daughter, and they forge a friendship.
I saw it when it came out in the cinema in 3D. I’ve been a critic of 3D, like many people recently. However, “Hugo” is a real example of why all the industry people say 3D is the future and all that nonsense. Used as it is here, it actually is “immersive,” and the 3D effects are quite subtle, as in the cameo appearance of Django Reinhardt in which his guitar just pops out of the screen. I don’t have a 3D Blu-Ray player or tv so when I watched it again, I watched it in 2D and it does loose something.
The reconstruction scenes that flash back to when Méliès was young are wonderfully done: beautifully shot and a fantastic look at the continuing magic of filmmaking.
The only aspect of the film I could have lived without was Sacha Baron-Cohen’s broad comedic performance. Scorsese/Cohen were clearly trying to do a homage to Keaton and Chaplin, but there are plenty of references to them throughout the film, especially when Hugo and Isabelle go to the cinema for Isabelle’s first film and it turns out to be a Harold Lloyd film, which is referenced later as well.
The film mixes live action with a huge amount of cleverly designed CGI mixed in—and it may be the most expensive film Scorsese has ever made as a result. Chloë Grace Moretz (Isabelle), who already made a big splash in her last controversial role in “Kick-Ass” is clearly going to have a huge career and has recently been cast as the title role in the remake of “Carrie”. It is also one of the best things Ben Kingsley has done in years, after a string of so-so roles.
Its unreliable parental figures, touches of fantasy, and high angle shots, along with the subject matter, make “Hugo” very Gilliam-esque, which hasn’t been picked up on by many critics. Out of last year’s serious Oscar candidates, I consider it by far the best, standing alongside “Drive” and better than “The Artist”. It’s also not a film just for children, or even primarily for children.
Reviewer:Ian Schultz
Release Date: 02 April 2012
Director: Martin Scorsese
Cast: Asa Butterfield, Chloë Grace Moretz , Christopher Lee, Sacha Baron Cohen, Ben Kingsley
Buy HugoOn DVD
or On Blu-ray 3D + Blu-ray
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