Clocks, Movies and an Orphan Boy

I love finding mostly unknown, but extremely beautiful movies to watch. Chief in my mind, among those films is Hugo.

     This movie is based on the book The Invention of Hugo Cabret (Ka-bray) by Brian Selznick which, shockingly enough, I have not read. Because of that, I do not know how close the movie is to the book. However, having watched the movie quite a number of times, I have grown to deeply enjoy it, and doubt I should care if it was different from the book. (Listen to me, the "stick-with-the-book-or-else" person.)

    The movie Hugo is both a beautiful and educational film and I can’t say which of these parts I enjoy more.

The movie is directed by Martin Scorsese, a man whose works are dedicated to the arts and to beauty. This film is no exception. Its intriguing plot is brought to life by this great director in breath-taking finery. The film follows an orphaned Hugo (Asa Butterfield) who lives in a train station in Paris, France during the interwar years. He has kept the clocks running in the large station for several years, ever since his uncle left him there and disappeared. Though no one in the train station knows that Hugo, and not his uncle, runs the train station clocks, he knows a good deal about the other people who inhabit the station. He often looks through grates and clock faces, following their lives. He watches the old man and woman who meet each other in the bakery, the frightening station master (Sacha Baron-Cohen) whose job is to catch homeless little boys and send them off to the orphanage and, most of all, the sad old man who runs the toy shop (Ben Kingsley).

      Towards the beginning of the movie and out of necessity to fix an automaton (a mechanical man)—the only thing he has left of his father—Hugo waits until the old man falls asleep and sneaks down to the toy shop, intent on taking some tools. He is caught and is forced into helping the old man around his small shop to pay for his stealing. If he works hard, the man promises he will not get the station master. Hugo agrees, of course.

     While working at the shop, Hugo meets the old man’s goddaughter (Chloe Grace Moretz) and the two become friends. The girl, Isabelle, introduces Hugo to books and, in exchange, Hugo introduces her to movies. Surprisingly enough, Isabelle has hardly ever been allowed to watch movies before. Her godfather has something against them, but what it is, he won’t say.

     When Hugo finally shares with Isabelle that he lives in the train station, he takes her up behind the walls into his secret room. While there, they crack the secret to the automaton and watch it draw what it has been programmed to. When the automaton finishes drawing, it signs a name at the bottom of the picture. Surprisingly enough, the name is that of Isabelle's godfather! As Hugo and Isabelle try to figure out exactly what her godfather was before he became a toymaker, sneaking around becomes more difficult as the station master closes in on Hugo's heels. The two children must try to find a way to help the toymaker without bringing up his painful past…or getting caught by the station master. The climax and conclusion are both exciting and beautiful. The only disappointing moment is when it's all over.

     While the movie is not only beautiful and exciting—which I hope I have proved to you—it is also very educational, following the history of film. It has a treasure trove of old movie clips in it, including a bit of the very first “movie” ever made: a train arriving in its station. Hugo shares a fascinating view of life in the 30s as well, detailing how the clocks were run, what people did for enjoyment, the food they ate and the music they listened to. Director Scorsese even has an actor portraying the famous Jengo Reinhart, an incredible jazz guitarist of the time. The movie composer, Howard Shore, (The Lord of the Rings) also creates a French, 30s feel with a piano, guitar and a musette filling the halls of the train station. Any history fans will enjoy all they can learn from this movie.

     In all, both the beauty and the educational aspect create a stunning, wonderful film. Do you want to watch it now? I hope so! Comment below and tell me what you thought!

Thanks for reading!