Read my Analysis of the Fairytale themes in Hugo here.
So as I have said, I very much felt Hugo was made for me. I wouldn't have bothered with my rantings about Fairytale symbolism, were it not for the fact I felt the movie was so nearly transcendent. Had it been a disposable nothing, I would not have expended so much time and effort trying to unravel it.
So in a way, this is a back-handed compliment...
Ignoring my own feelings about how the story could/should have been different, my biggest complaint is that Hugo as a character never changes. Although starting the movie as a poor orphan, and ending as the adopted son of a famous filmmaker, Hugo's personality never really feels like it changes.
When we see him in the flashbacks with his father he is exactly the same as he is in the party at the end of the movie.
In fact, the only characters who really change are the two villains - Méliès himself and the Station Inspector. There is also the chase scene shoe-horned in at the end, which supplies much of the imagery for the promotional campaign, despite taking very little time and being completely superfluous to the story, as it changes absolutely nothing.
The movie also feels tonally confused in places. At times it is a sober fairytale about a boy looking for meaning and love, at others a slapstick family adventure. I would be tempted to say these could be resolved in the hands of better director, but Scorsese is supposed to be one of the best.
There are also the multiple story strands (all but one of which resolves off-screen). A few people have pointed to Jean-Pierre Jeunet's Amélie as proof and precedent of a French film with unconnected stories. However in Amélie, all the stories are connected by Amélie herself. Hugo's part in the stories that surround him is as an observer, not a fixer as Amélie is, and Hugo claims to be.
Thus far everything really stems from a problem with the script, which is why I was surprised when it was nominated for an Oscar, and relieved when it didn't win. It may stem from the way The Invention of Hugo Cabret was presented as sections of prose intercut with a comic book-like series of images, but the script itself is an odd read. Speaking as someone who has read a lot of screenplays and written more than a couple,Hugo reads more like a shotlist than a screenplay. I have not read any of John Logan's other screenplays, so I do not know if this is his style, or peculiar to this production.
As I have said before, these would be minor complaints were it not for the pedigree of the creators.
My final complaint is the vast cost of the production. Okay, in an era where a summer blockbuster can hit $250m or more,Hugo's $170m or thereabouts sounds relatively modest. But those other movies had strong fan-bases and defined audiences to draw on.
I can see where the money went - on 3D recording and the digital set extensions as seen here.
This work is so flawless I originally thought the movie was shot on a vast set akin to the Narrows of Batman Begins being constructed in Cardington Hanger. Despite the quality of the VFX work on Hugo, I'm still not sure why this wasn't the case. I can see the argument for using set extensions if there are many vast locations, but in this movie where so much of it takes place in the train station, one has to wonder if it would have been more cost effective to simply build it for real.
Onto the positives, then.
Hugo looks beautiful. The production designers have done a wonderful job of creating a not-quite-real world where we can believe in wizards and magic, even if in a symbolic fashion.
The performances of the main actors were universally excellent. We all know Sir Ben, Frances de la Tour, Richard Griffiths and Christopher Lee are excellent, but Sacha Baron Cohen managed to show real depth and sensitivity in his few dramatic scenes, while I Helen McCrory was particularly wonderful as Georges Méliès's wife Jeanne.
Special mention, though, has to go to Asa Butterfield in particular as the movie really would have been dead in the water were it not for his highly charismatic portrayal of the title character. It is a rare thing to see such a young actor has such direct access to such a range of powerful emotions, which he was able to bring to the surface with heart-breaking intensity. Despite what must have been a great many takes over a long period of time, each moment felt fresh, honest and spontaneous, and he is able to emote with the slightest twitch of an eyebrow of flick of his gaze.
Adding to the sense of wonder if Howard Shore's sweeping score, which manages to convey the air of magic, mystery, danger and sadness, as well as a strong sense of time and place, and I think he was robbed of his Oscar.
Hugo is an odd sort of movie to watch. Even after seeing it twice, I only have the vaguest sense of the running order of the scenes. I cannot remember so much individual moments, but a general sense of it. A bit like recalling a dream.
I was delighted that it was able to tell an all-ages story without dumbing down for the kids, or resorting to gratuitous sex or violence for the sake of older audience members. Despite reports of children being bored in the theatre, the two audiences I saw it with were highly engaged from start to finish, particularly when it came to the black and white films, I am delighted to say.
On the way out of my local mulitplex I heard to a boy and girl, who I took to be only nine or so, replaying the scene with Harold Lloyd hanging from the clock in Safety Last, and Buster Keaton being lifted up and down by the beam of the steam train in The General. I have since seen attempts to recreate the "stop-trick" effect of making things or people disappear or reappear on YouTube with digital cameras.
I did hope that Hugo's legacy, in addition to bringing a new appreciation for old films and and old pioneer, might have included ushering in a new era of sophisticated family films. However, what is generally considered to be poor box office receipts may bring an end to that dream before it has even begun.
I would like to think that if a movie could be made for a more reasonable budget (say less than £100m), and not invoke the spectre of Hugo, it may still come to pass.
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