Hugo Review- By Michael Carlisle

Title: Hugo

Year: 2011

Director: Martin Scorsese

Country: US
Language: English

Martin Scorsese is usually known for making either gangster epics like Goodfellas and The Departed or dark brooding films like Taxi Driver and Mean Streets. Though he has been known to stray from them once in a while, as in the Christ bio-pic Last Temptation of Christ and  Rolling Stones’ documentary Shine a Light, he has never ventured into an epic, bug budget, 3D, family film. Indeed it is the family film to top all family films, Scoreless once again proves that he is a master at his craft with Hugo. This is 2011’s second film, the first is The Artist, to be a celebration of silent film.

The film’s plot is about Hugo Cabaret, a boy in the 30’s who self learns the workings of mechanics.  His father’s dream is to complete an automaton but unfortunately he dies before this automaton is completed. Instead of being treated like an  orphan, which in the 30’s is usually subject to being treated like crap, he hides in a large clock tower in the Paris Train Station. The train station is complicated by a grumpy old man who seems incredibly bitter. This man, played by the great Sir Ben Kingsley, happens to be George Melies. The inventor of the automaton and an extremely  important  figure in film history.

George Melies? You ask. Who is George Meiles? George Meiles is the grandfather of special effects. He is most famous for 1902’s A Trip To the Moon, a wonderfully odd film about a group of people who travel to the moon and encounter various aliens. Through flashback we see how he had made these wonderful films and his inspirations for them. Meiles is often a forgotten director in the history of the film, and this is a shame. For without Meiles we would probably not have any of the films we see in theatres today. Film would not have rose above a near novelty, it would not have penetrated the imaginations of people like Scorsese or Chaplin. I feel film history should not be taken for granted, we should not merely watch films out of enjoyment but we should study them and write about them. We should analyze them and appreciate them. Film is an art that goes all the way back to the 19^th Century and we should not be stuck merely watching films as they come out.

Scorsese himself is a great appreciator of the art of Cinema, constantly watching films at his local theatre, learning from great directors on how to make his own great films and, in a few cases, resurrecting the careers of forgotten or underappreciated film makers.  His own personal cause is to preserve old films so that generations upon generations can learn from these films. Scorsese has made many documentaries about great films and great directors, he uses his vast cinematic knowledge to resurrect the appreciation of George Meiles. Indeed Hugo is a celebration of the birth of film and how far it has gone from the time of the Lumiere Brothers, George Meiles & Charlie Chaplin. From silence to sound, from b/w to colour, film has always been a great spiritual art form.

In conclusion, Hugo is a wonderful film about the history of film. It has helped me renew a great love for the art form. Films for me are not merely “entertainment” but a great spiritual experience where much knowledge about life and death is to be gained. Films like Black Swan  can teach you the price of perfection, films like Throne of Blood can teach you about the nature of power. Film can fill you with great hope and great despair, they can make you feel emotions that you’ve never felt before. They can give you a whole new outlook on life. Film is beyond art, it is beyond imagination, it is beyond life. Hugo is an incredible masterpiece. Hugo has restored my faith in film. Praise it! 5/5

Next 5 Reviews:
1. Moneyball- 2011
2. Ides of March- 2011
3. Midnight in Paris- 2011
4. The Hunger Games- 2012
5. 50/50- 2011