Hugo

Martin Scorsese's HUGO is a film that arrived with much fret among his loyal followers. For Scorsese to make a children's film, especially a very mainstream one, was seen as a betrayal, a trifle, a bore. And yet, HUGO is one of his most personal films and one of his cleanest. Basically told in two halves, HUGO is about a young orphan named Hugo (Asa Butterfield) who literally lives within the clockwork of a Paris train station. Taught by his drunk and absent uncle how to mind the clocks, the authorities below just assume Hugo's uncle continues to care for the clocks, rather than Hugo. His father dead in a tragic fire, Hugo clings to an automaton his father and he were attempting to repair. Chased around in comical relieves by Sacha Baron Cohen, and stealing from a host of colorful train regulars, Hugo begins lightly, with fun and gorgeous 3D from Scorsese. This first half concerns itself with Hugo and his life in the train station, how he loses his father's notes on the automaton, and is chased around. Then however, there is a big reveal. Along with Isabelle (Chloe Grace-Moretz), the daughter of the ornery toy shop owner (Ben Kingsley), Hugo deciphers clues about the automaton, and connects with Isabelle over the enchantments of the cinema. Very present here is a sense of old vs. new, and in finality: the union of the two to create what is modern. Scorsese's camerawork, and the look of the film: its embrace of animation and CGI, serves to accentuate this simplistic but joyful message. Cleanly balanced, and cleanly told, HUGO looks safe on the surface, but is really a step into foreign territory for Scorsese. It's a joy, though, that the film is so good despite this, and that, in fact, it's one of Scorsese's best in a while.
Hugo: ★★★★