I actually did end up loving Hugo, largely because it took place in a world I would like to inhabit and revolved around things that are dear to my heart, like old-timey robots and those kooky, inventive movies from the dawn of cinema. I've been to Paris exactly once -- as part of a family vacation when I was maybe 10 years old -- and for whatever reason, one of my most vivid memories of that trip is of a coin-operated machine which, when activated by feeding it however many coins it wanted, displayed a scene of mechanical creatures cavorting in a gear-operated landscape for about a minute. Hugo brought me right back to that feeling. To me, it tied in with Scorsese's other movies well because so much of it is predicated upon the idea of seeing, of looking, of being a witness to something extraordinary. Hugo's main job in the movie is to see. No wonder that the movie's entire color scheme is based around the color of Hugo's eyes. We spend a lot of time looking at Hugo's eyes, and that exact shade of blue is used as an accent color throughout the film. In a way, Hugo is a perfect stand-in for Scorsese himself. Strangely, in the relationship between the urchin Hugo and the well-spoken and well-mannered Isabelle, I saw a more innocent and more optimistic echo of the relationships at the heart of both Who's Knocking on My Door and Taxi Driver.
The film's pace is leisurely, I'll give you that, but I didn't mind that too terribly. I liken it to a bubble bath. Certainly, there are more efficient ways of getting clean, but somehow that's not quite the point. You know? The business with the characters keeping secrets is a bit more problematic, since both Hugo and Melies have the bad habit of being tight-lipped and secretive even when those tendencies IMPEDE their goals and prevent the story from progressing. Occasionally, I wanted to enter the film myself and tell these people just to be direct with one another, for god's sake! If there were some life-or-death reason for being secretive, this might have been more forgivable. But it mostly just seems to be unmotivated or barely motivated stubbornness on both their parts. But even here, I cannot fault Hugo too much, since eventually all IS revealed and, besides, who doesn't want to be let in on a secret... especially when the one with the secret is reluctant to talk about it?
And all this takes a backseat to what I feel is the film's main purpose: to create a sensual, stimulating, fully-realized environment which we explore along with the characters. Finally, I thought, here is a filmmaker who actually uses 3D for a purpose other than mere gimmickry. When the station inspector (and here I must point out how good Baron Cohen is in this role) leans in to interrogate Hugo, for instance, Scorsese actually has the actor lean into the audience so that we feel as if we, too, are being scrutinized. In a way, Scorsese uses 3D the way someone from the silent era might have used it. There's a great theatricality to it.
As usual, I can't argue with you, Joe. You make excellent, well-reasoned points. Almost makes me wonder why you aren't writing about film for a living. You definitely have an aptitude for it.
The film's pace is leisurely, I'll give you that, but I didn't mind that too terribly. I liken it to a bubble bath. Certainly, there are more efficient ways of getting clean, but somehow that's not quite the point. You know? The business with the characters keeping secrets is a bit more problematic, since both Hugo and Melies have the bad habit of being tight-lipped and secretive even when those tendencies IMPEDE their goals and prevent the story from progressing. Occasionally, I wanted to enter the film myself and tell these people just to be direct with one another, for god's sake! If there were some life-or-death reason for being secretive, this might have been more forgivable. But it mostly just seems to be unmotivated or barely motivated stubbornness on both their parts. But even here, I cannot fault Hugo too much, since eventually all IS revealed and, besides, who doesn't want to be let in on a secret... especially when the one with the secret is reluctant to talk about it?
And all this takes a backseat to what I feel is the film's main purpose: to create a sensual, stimulating, fully-realized environment which we explore along with the characters. Finally, I thought, here is a filmmaker who actually uses 3D for a purpose other than mere gimmickry. When the station inspector (and here I must point out how good Baron Cohen is in this role) leans in to interrogate Hugo, for instance, Scorsese actually has the actor lean into the audience so that we feel as if we, too, are being scrutinized. In a way, Scorsese uses 3D the way someone from the silent era might have used it. There's a great theatricality to it.
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