A Tale Of An Orphan, As Told By Scorsese

We are first introduced to Hugo as he travels through the nooks and crannies of a Parisian train station to operate the different clocks throughout. While doing so, we are given the gift to view a long take of him running through the labyrinthine tunnels, going from one level to another, from one clock to another. There isn't any dialogue. There's just a young boy as he goes through his day-to-day routine. Traveling with him through the inner workings of the train station provides a childlike feeling of exploration. That, however, is just the start to the magic of adventure and discovery that enchants every frame.

In Hugo, based on Brian Selznick's 2007 novel The Inventions of Hugo Cabret, director Martin Scorsese steps out of his more gritty storytelling, and takes a bold dive into a dramatic piece of children's cinema. Despite the source material, the film's serious tone dictates that Scorsese wasn't going to make this just for a younger audience, most of whom are probably going to be newly introduced to this prolific filmmaker by experiencing Hugo. He has shown that he can reach another demographic, while still retaining his already-dedicated fans.

It's 1931 in Paris, and young Hugo Cabret (Asa Butterfield) lives with his clockmaking father (Jude Law), and his mother has been dead for several years. After his father perishes in a museum fire, Hugo is taken in by his alcoholic uncle Claude (Ray Winstone), who has the job of working the clocks in a train station, where they both now live. After his uncle walks out on him, Hugo is officially an orphan, and is left to fend for himself. His main goal is to fix an automaton, a mechanical man, that he and his father had been trying to restore, believing that the repaired machine will reveal a message left by his father. After he meets a gruff toyshop owner (Ben Kingsley), and his goddaughter Isabelle (Chloe Grace Moretz), Hugo feels that the two can help him unlock the secret behind the automaton; and therefore, lead to a life-changing adventure.

Seeing Butterfield and Moretz trek through the train station and walk the streets of Paris reminds the viewer of the pleasure in exploring as a child, always keen on finding curious places. With the powerful friendship these two characters have, the connection the actors share feels so genuine.

You could sense the magnitude of their importance for each other when Hugo finds that Isabelle possesses a key that could activate the renewed automaton. But it goes beyond the key and the automaton. These two need each other to help discover their purposes in life. There's a scene where Hugo and Isabelle look out at a bustling City of Lights from a clock in the upper levels of the station, something he has done many times before. He tells her, "I'd imagine the whole world as one big machine. Machines never come with any extra parts, you know. They always come with the exact amount they need. So I figured, if the entire world is one big machine, I couldn't be an extra part. I had to be here for some reason." They are here to help each other, and others, achieve their dreams. Their intertwined destinies in the story is a perfect reinforcement for how well Butterfield and Moretz work together.

Every scene with Ben Kingsley is permeated by an air of mystery. As the reserved and irritable toy store owner Papa Georges, his first encounter with Hugo hints at some significant, and maybe painful, secrets that have been on his mind for a good deal of time. I regretfully can't reveal more of his interesting character, since doing so would result in some spoilers. Sacha Baron Cohen is amusingly eccentric as a bumbling station inspector who always manages to make a fool of himself. Christopher Lee makes a warm appearance as a generous bookstore owner.

Hugo taps into the art, history and magic of early moviemaking. In a flashback sequence, we get transported to a time where movies were just beginning to take flight. We see a group of people watching a short film, by the Lumiere brothers, of a train arriving in a station. Having never seen a movie before, the audience recoils in fright for a second, thinking the train is going to come out of the screen. This scene is an ideal fit for this film, since the 3D technology heightens the sense of the trains coming at you in several shots of the train station scenes. Hugo is one of those rare films since 2009's Avatar where 3D benefits the story and enhances the viewing experience. I could go into greater detail of how the process of moviemaking is pivotal in the story; but alas, it would cause some spoilers.

Screenwriter John Logan seamlessly places important life lessons and some enthralling history into the film's character development and plot. What the characters ask and learn about concerning their places in the world is reflected back to the audience, with the question of our own significance in the world having, without a doubt, crossed our minds several times. The times gone by of early films that are presented to us brim with a rich sensation of wonderment as you can't help but think of how far movies have evolved since then. John Logan also peppers the film with some charming little vignettes of Parisian life inside the train station. There is Sacha Baron Cohen's character trying to get the attention of a florist (Emily Mortimer); and a random man and woman who try to strike up a conversation with each other on numerous occasions, only to have the man barked away by the woman's dog.

With the fine art of early moviemaking playing an important role in the film, it's easier said than done to picture a more appropriate director to be paired with Hugo than Martin Scorsese. Having him take charge of this film shows the audience how passionate he is about what he does, and that a love for cinema forever flourishes within him. This passion is shown in a scene where Hugo and Isabelle sneak into a movie theater to watch a silent film. As they are viewing it, pure captivation takes hold of them, and this is exactly what the director had me feel while watching this miraculous tale unfold. With a film like Hugo, Mr. Scorsese shares his deep adoration for movies, and attests that there is never a shortage of joy when watching them. That is the finest gift a filmmaker can give to the viewer.

Final grade: A