A formal essay on Hugo is in the works, but for now, some initial thoughts…

It never fails to impress me how Martin Scorsese is able to take a project, no matter how large in scale and no matter its subject, and make it completely personal. Like nearly all of Scorsese’s films, Hugo can be taken as personal allegory. It can also be taken as an allegory about film preservation. And, most obviously, it can be taken as a movie that is so full of love for movie-making it needs to express it any way imaginable. If along the way, it treads in some foolish territory, that’s only a testament to Scorsese’s exuberant approach which more often than not results in some of his most thrilling images.

After a handful of 3D films of merit, Hugo represents the first such work of sophistication. Staggering uses of depth and movement punctuate Scorsese’s already marvelous form, ennobling film grammar with the extra dimension. As a tribute to Georges Méliès, the film is a complete success, and seeing Le Voyage dans la Lune rendered in 3D is something that surely would have delighted its creator. He isn’t the only filmmaker paid tribute in the film, but I’ll try and leave Hugo‘s secret treasures as such for the time being. To avoid saying too much that will no doubt be repeated in my formal piece on the film, I’ll try and give mention to more marginal (but still important) aspects. There’s the film’s tremendous cast, which features Ben Kingsely as Méliès and wonderful bit parts from Christopher Lee and Michael Stuhlbarg. The two young leads, Asa Butterfield as Hugo, and Chloe Moretz as Isabelle, go above and beyond the call of duty. Butterfield has a couple key monologues with some real dramatic weight that he pulls off admirably, and Moretz is such an exciting talent. Her maturity on screen is remarkable and her future as a great actress is all but assured. One gets the sense that this is Scorsese at his least tortured, and luckily that does not to appear to be an artistic kiss of death. His motivations come with as much conviction as ever. With Hugo, Scorsese wants to acknowledge that he is standing on the shoulders of giants. His undying gratitude is expressed the way he knows best, through the language of cinema. Only Scorsese could make such a humble gesture so loudly.