Hugo
2011
****
Director: Martin Scorsese
Cast: Asa Butterfield, Ben Kingsley, Chloë Grace Moretz, Sacha Baron Cohen, Helen McCrory, Richard Griffiths, Frances de la Tour, Ray Winstone, Emily Mortimer, Jude Law, Christopher Lee
Hugo is a 12-year-old orphan boy who in 1931 lives inside a Paris railway station, where he attends to the clocks and tries to remain unseen by the ruthless Station Inspector. What he really wants is to fix his late father's broken automaton, and the secretive grandfather of his new friend may hold the key to the mystery. This adaptation of Brian Selznick's novel The Invention of Hugo Cabret is simultaneously the most commercial and most personal work in Martin Scorsese's illustrious career. It tells a classic tale of an outcast who just wants to fit in, but Hugo's personal journey gradually builds into a beautiful and moving tribute to film preservation and the birth of cinema, both of which are very close to the director's heart. The dreamy, saturated visuals do not look real for one moment, but they serve the fantastical story perfectly. The film won five technical Oscars, which include awards for best cinematography, art direction and visual effects.
