Hugo Two Part Review

I: Extended Review

The first thing I take note of in movies is the setting; the post World War I Parisian train station has a lot of potential for enchanting a viewer, and I feel like this was efficiently done- the movie was full to bursting with near fantastical. It wasn't so much that events were unreasonable, but that they were presented in a way that was almost dream-like, which I liked a lot. Hugo's double dream was interesting; but haven't we seen that train falling out of the window before? I also liked the beginning of the movie, where we see visually the analogy of a Paris roundabout working like a machine, which Hugo later references in terms of people. Talking with my partner made me realize this point a little more clearly. If all people, like machines, had a purpose, what was the purpose of some of the minor characters, like Uncle Claude and the Inspector's police friend?

The convenience of certain plot points was a little much- Isabelle having the key to the automaton (heart-shaped, no less), Papa Georges being the true owner of the machine, the automaton drawing the exact image of the moon that reminds Hugo of his father...Just a little cliché. Yet it's a film meant for children, if not for families, so I can let it go.

Back to the setting, I really liked the presentation of a post-war world, in which people are afraid to let loose and have fun, nobody is overly joyful, and the death and destruction of the war still hangs over everyone's head. The colors too were significant to me- the grey, black, and brown world of Paris contrasts with Melies' films, which abound with color, life, and playfulness. Watching the films within the film, I realized that the actors on the old films had more sense of fun than Isabelle or Hugo did, which only backs up the idea that the world they grew up in was devoid of any real play or laughter.

This, to me, is the premise of the film. The magic of film is the door opened with imagination. It's a machine, same as a gun or a bomb, but the way in which you use it makes it just as powerful because it spreads fun, color, and joy. Dreams woven into reality. I think there were more themes to Hugo: having a purpose, never giving up on your dreams, but these were all under the overlying theme of the magic of cinema.

II: Content and Form

In the beginning moments of Hugo, there is the analogy of the machine-world, as I mentioned before. But there's also an astute use of sounds to draw the viewer in to the world. The wind, the ticking of the clocks, the whistling of trains and bustling chatter of people.

The camera movements were also important. Beginning with a sweeping wide shot of the city, the camera sails into the station as a train would upon entering. The camera moves through a throng of people, and while their faces are blurry, we can still hear them talking, laughing, walking. They are important because these people make up the busy background of the movie: the train station. Finally, the camera tilts upwards towards a clock in the middle of the station, pausing on the clock's face, behind the four of which is Hugo's face.

The little excursion through the train station is effective to get us firmly planted in the world of Hugo, in which all the important aspects of setting, background, colors, and the background train station noise are established, even before we meet any characters or plot points at all.