In 1920s Paris, Hugo (Asa Butterfield) lives in the train station and maintains the clocks in an effort to avoid the orphanage.  In his spare time he works on an automaton that his father left him in the hopes that it will reconnect him with his deceased father and give him a sense for his place in the world.  His efforts to fix the automaton lead him to meet a toy shop keeper (Ben Kingsley) and his adopted daughter (Chole Grace Moretz) and enter into the world of early film.  The shop keeper is revealed to be Georges Melies, the forgotten (at the time) cinema pioneer.  Hugo’s efforts to try and find his place in the world as a parentless child lead to changes for each of the major characters.

Hugo, on the surface, is an adventure movie for children set in a romantic place and steeped in literary references.  In reality, though, Scorsese’s film is about the importance of film preservation.  Hugo’s emotional upheavals are soothed by cinema but it is hard to see what other connections Scorsese is able to make to his tragic circumstances.  In spite of this significant shortcoming, the film has many incredible strengths.  Scorsese’s first use of 3-D is filled with digital details that make it an impressive visual experience.  The intensity of feeling that Scorsese brings to the Melies-related material is palpable and creates interest in a somewhat obscure topic.  Scorsese may fear the potential loss of his work in the future or a slide into irrelevance and, while that is unlikely for him, his empathy for Melies and appreciation of the importance of cinematic innovation carry far more emotional weight than the children’s adventure presented here.  It is an odd achievement and may not be what he had in mind but Hugo is definitely strongly recommended for cinephiles.  ✰ ✰ ✰ ½.

MJM  04-07-2012