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Hugo (film)

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Hugo
Theatrical release poster
Directed byMartin Scorsese
Screenplay byJohn Logan
Produced byGraham King
Timothy Headington
Martin Scorsese
Johnny Depp
StarringBen Kingsley
Sacha Baron Cohen
Richard Griffiths
Frances de la Tour
Asa Butterfield
Chloë Grace Moretz
Ray Winstone
Emily Mortimer
Jude Law
Christopher Lee
CinematographyRobert Richardson
Edited byThelma Schoonmaker
Music byHoward Shore
Production
companies
Distributed byParamount Pictures
Release date
  • November 23, 2011 (2011-11-23)
[1]
Running time
128 minutes
CountryTemplate:Film US
LanguageEnglish
Budget$150 to $170 million[2]
Box office$115,814,000[3]

Hugo is a 2011 3D adventure drama film based on Brian Selznick's novel The Invention of Hugo Cabret about a boy who lives alone in a Paris railway station and the enigmatic owner of a toy shop there. It is directed by Martin Scorsese and written by John Logan. It is a co-production of Graham King's GK Films and Johnny Depp's Infinitum Nihil. The film stars Asa Butterfield, Chloë Grace Moretz, Ben Kingsley, Sacha Baron Cohen, Ray Winstone, Emily Mortimer, Jude Law and Christopher Lee.

Hugo is Scorsese's first film shot in 3D, of which the filmmaker remarked: "I found 3D to be really interesting, because the actors were more upfront emotionally. Their slightest move, their slightest intention is picked up much more precisely."[4] The film was distributed by Paramount Pictures and released in the U.S. on 23 November 2011.[5] The film has been nominated for 11 Academy Awards, making it the most nominated film of 2011, which include a Best Picture nomination and a Best Director nomination for Martin Scorsese.[6] The film also won two BAFTAs and was nominated for three Golden Globe Awards, earning Scorsese his third Golden Globe Award for Best Director.

Plot

In 1931, Hugo Cabret, a 12-year-old boy, lives with his widowed father, a kind and devoted master clockmaker in Paris. Hugo's father takes him to see films and loves the films of Georges Méliès best of all. Hugo's father is burned alive in a museum fire, and Hugo is taken away by his uncle, an alcoholic watchmaker who is responsible for maintaining the clocks in the railway station Gare Montparnasse. His uncle teaches him to take care of the clocks, then disappears.

Hugo lives between the walls of the station, maintaining the clocks, stealing food and working on his father's most ambitious project: repairing a broken automaton – a mechanical man who is supposed to write with a pen. Convinced that the automaton contains a message from his father, Hugo goes to desperate lengths to fix it. Hugo steals mechanical parts in the station to repair the automaton, but he is caught by a toy store owner named Georges Méliès who takes Hugo's notebook from him, with notes and drawings for fixing the automaton.

To recover the notebook, Hugo follows Méliès to his house and meets Isabelle, a girl close to his age and Georges' goddaughter. She convinces him to go home and promises to help. The next day, Méliès gives some ashes to Hugo, referring to them as the notebook's remains, but Isabelle informs him that the notebook was not burnt. Finally Méliès agrees that Hugo may earn the notebook back by working for him until he pays for all the things he stole from the shop.

Hugo works in the toy shop, and in his time off manages to fix the automaton, but it is still missing one part – a heart–shaped key.

Hugo introduces Isabelle to the movies, which her godfather has never let her see (they sneak in a silent movie projection without buying a ticket), while she introduces Hugo to a bookstore where its owner first mistrusts Hugo. At first, Hugo is not trusting of Isabelle and tries to leave her, but Isabelle turns out to have the key to the automaton. When they use the key to activate the automaton, it produces a drawing of a film scene. Hugo remembers it is the film his father always talked about as the first film he ever saw (Voyage to the Moon). They discover that the drawing made by the automaton is signed with the name of Isabelle's godfather and take it to her home for an explanation.

In the Méliès home Hugo shows Georges's wife Jeanne the drawing made by the automaton, but she will not tell them anything and makes them hide in a room when Georges comes home. While hiding from him, Isabelle and Hugo finds a secret cabinet and accidentally release pictures and screen boards of Georges' creations just as Georges and Jeanne enter the room. Georges feels depressed and betrayed.

However, Hugo gets the book store owner's friendship and he helps Hugo and Isabelle search a for a book on the history of film. They find the book and are surprised that the author, Rene Tabard, refers to Georges Méliès as having died in the Great War (World War I). When they try to understand the reason for this error, Monsieur Tabard himself appears and the children tell him that Méliès is alive. Tabard reveals himself as a devotee of Méliès's films who still owns a copy of "Voyage to the Moon".

Hugo, Isabelle and Tabard go to Georges's home, and at first Jeanne does not welcome them, telling them to go before her husband wakes. However Jeanne accepts their offer to show "Voyage to the Moon" when it is revealed that she was one of the actresses in Georges's films. While they are watching the film, Georges appears and explains how he came to make movies, invented the special effects, and how he lost faith in films when the World War I began, being forced to sell his films in order to get money, and getting the toy shop in order to survive. He also believes the automaton he created was lost in the museum fire, and that there is nothing left of his life's work.

Hugo decides to go back to the station to get the automaton, but on arrival he is cornered by the station inspector and his dog. He escapes and runs to the top of the clock tower and hides by climbing out onto the hands of the clock. Once the inspector is gone he grabs the automaton and runs for the exit with it, but he is trapped by the inspector and the automaton is thrown to the railway tracks. Hugo tries to save it but there is a train coming. Climbing onto the tracks anyway, he is run over and dies.

Cast

Production

GK Films acquired the screen rights to The Invention of Hugo Cabret shortly after the book was published in 2007. Hugo was filmed at London’s Shepperton Studios as well as on locations in London, Paris and the Nene Valley Railway near Peterborough, who also loaned their original Compagnie Internationale des Wagons-Lits rolling stock to the studio.[7][8]

Reception

Critical reception

Hugo has received almost universal critical acclaim.[9][10][11] Review tallying website Rotten Tomatoes reported that 177 of the tallied 188 reviews were positive, for a score of 94% and a certification of "fresh".[12] In comparison, Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, gave the film an average score of 83 based on 41 reviews, indicating "universal acclaim".[13]

Roger Ebert of Chicago Sun-Times gave the film four-out-of-four stars saying "Hugo is unlike any other film Martin Scorsese has ever made, and yet possibly the closest to his heart: a big-budget, family epic in 3-D, and in some ways, a mirror of his own life. We feel a great artist has been given command of the tools and resources he needs to make a movie about – movies."[14]

Hugo was selected for the Royal Film Performance 2011 with a screening at the Odeon, Leicester Square in London on 28 November 2011 in the presence of TRH The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall in support of the Cinema and Television Benevolent Fund.[15]

Richard Corliss of Time named it one of the Top 10 Best Movies of 2011, saying "Scorsese's love poem, rendered gorgeously in 3-D, restores both the reputation of an early pioneer and the glory of movie history – the birth of a popular art form given new life through a master's application of the coolest new techniques".[16]

Box office

Despite the high critical acclaim, Hugo did not perform well at the box office. As of February 26, 2012, the film has grossed $69,414,000 in North America, along with $46,400,000 in other territories, for a worldwide total of $115,814,000, against its estimated budget of $150 to $170 million.[17] It was overshadowed by The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 1, The Muppets, Arthur Christmas and Puss in Boots (also a Paramount, but DreamWorks release).

Top ten lists

The film has appeared on the following critics' top ten lists for the best films of 2011:

Critic Publication Rank
David Denby The New Yorker 1st
Harry Knowles Aint It Cool News 1st[18]
Noel Murray A.V. Club 2nd
Glenn Kenny MSN Movies 2nd
Peter Hartlaub San Francisco Chronicle 2nd
Richard Corliss Time 2nd
Roger Ebert Chicago Sun-Times 4th
Lisa Schwarzbaum Entertainment Weekly 4th
Richard Brody The New Yorker 4th
Peter Paras E! Online 5th
— MTV 5th
Keith Phipps A.V. Club 6th
Todd McCarthy The Hollywood Reporter 6th
Peter Travers Rolling Stone 6th
— TV Guide 7th
J. Hoberman Village Voice 8th
Mark Kermode BBC Radio 5 Live 9th
Kim Morgan MSN Movies 9th
Sean Axmaker MSN Movies 10th
Glenn Heath Jr. Slant Magazine 10th
Jeff Simon The Buffalo News —
Manohla Dargis The New York Times —
Phillip French The Observer —

Accolades

Award Date of ceremony Category Recipients and nominees Result
Academy Awards[19] 26 February 2012 Best Picture Graham King and Martin Scorsese Pending
Best Director Martin Scorsese Pending
Best Adapted Screenplay John Logan Pending
Best Cinematography Robert Richardson Won
Best Original Score Howard Shore Pending
Best Art Direction Dante Ferretti, Francesca Lo Schiavo Won
Best Costume Design Sandy Powell Nominated
Best Visual Effects Robert Legato, Joss Williams, Ben Grossmann and Alex Henning Pending
Best Film Editing Thelma Schoonmaker Nominated
Best Sound Editing Philip Stockton and Eugene Gearty Won
Best Sound Mixing Tom Fleishman and John Midgley Won
Alliance of Women Film Journalists[20][21] 10 January 2012 Best Picture Graham King and Martin Scorsese Nominated
Best Director Martin Scorsese Nominated
Best Adapted Screenplay John Logan Nominated
Best Cinematography Robert Richardson Nominated
Best Editing Thelma Schoonmaker Won
American Society of Cinematographers[22] 12 February 2012 Outstanding Achievement in Cinematography in a Feature Film Robert Richardson Nominated
Art Directors Guild[23] 4 February 2012 Period Film Dante Ferratti Won
Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts Awards[24] 27 January 2012 Best Film – International Graham King and Martin Scorsese Nominated
Best Direction – International Martin Scorsese Nominated
Boston Society of Film Critics Award 11 December 2011 Best Director Martin Scorsese Won
Best Film Graham King and Martin Scorsese Nominated
Best Cinematography Robert Richardson Nominated 2nd place
Best Editing Thelma Schoonmaker Nominated 2nd place
BAFTA[25][26] 12 February 2012 Best Director Martin Scorsese Nominated
Best Cinematography Robert Richardson Nominated
Best Original Score Howard Shore Nominated
Best Sound Philip Stockton, Eugene Gearty, Tom Fleishman and John Midgley Won
Best Editing Thelma Schoonmaker Nominated
Best Production Design Dante Ferretti and Francesca Lo Schiavo Won
Best Costume Design Sandy Powell Nominated
Best Makeup and Hair Morag Ross and Jan Archibald Nominated
Broadcast Film Critics Association Best Picture Graham King and Martin Scorsese Nominated
Best Director Martin Scorsese Nominated
Best Young Actor/Actress Asa Butterfield Nominated
Best Adapted Screenplay John Logan Nominated
Best Cinematography Robert Richardson Nominated
Best Editing Thelma Schoonmaker Nominated
Best Production Design/Art Direction Dante Ferretti, Francesca Lo Schiavo Won
Best Score Howard Shore Nominated
Best Costume Design Sandy Powell Nominated
Best Visual Effects Robert Legato Nominated
Best Sound Philip Stockton, Eugene Gearty, Tom Fleishman and John Midgley Nominated
Chicago Film Critics Association[27][28] 7 January 2012 Best Film Graham King and Martin Scorsese Nominated
Best Director Martin Scorsese Nominated
Best Cinematography Robert Richardson Nominated
Best Score Howard Shore Nominated
Detroit Film Critics Society[29] 16 December 2011 Best Film Graham King and Martin Scorsese Nominated
Best Director Martin Scorsese Nominated
Florida Film Critics Circle Awards[30] 19 December 2011 Best Director Martin Scorsese Won
Best Film Graham King and Martin Scorsese Nominated
Best Production Design/Art Direction Dante Ferretti and Francesca Lo Schiavo Won
Golden Globe Awards[31][32] 15 January 2012 Best Director Martin Scorsese Won
Best Motion Picture – Drama Graham King and Martin Scorsese Nominated
Best Original Score Howard Shore Nominated
Indiana Film Critics Association Best Film Graham King and Martin Scorsese Nominated
Best Musical Score Howard Shore Nominated
Las Vegas Film Critics Society 13 December 2011 Best Film Graham King and Martin Scorsese Nominated
Best Family Film Won
Best Film Editing Thelma Schoonmaker Won
Best Youth in Film Asa Butterfield Won
National Board of Review[33] Best Film Graham King and Martin Scorsese Won
Best Director Martin Scorsese Won
New York Film Critics Circle Award 29 November 2011 Best Director Martin Scorsese Nominated 2nd place
Best Film Graham King and Martin Scorsese Nominated 3rd place
Online Film Critics Society Awards 2 January 2012 Best Picture Graham King and Martin Scorsese Nominated
Best Director Martin Scorsese Nominated
Best Cinematography Robert Richardson Nominated
Phoenix Film Critics Society 27 December 2011 Best Picture Graham King and Martin Scorsese Nominated
Best Director Martin Scorsese Nominated
Best Adapted Screenplay John Logan Nominated
Best Cinematography Robert Richardson Nominated
Best Production Design Dante Ferretti Won
Best Costume Design Sandy Powell Nominated
Best Visual Effects Robert Legato Won
Best Live Action Family Film Nominated
Satellite Awards 19 December 2011 Best Picture Graham King and Martin Scorsese Nominated
Best Director Martin Scorsese Nominated
Best Art Direction and Production Design Dante Ferretti and Francesca Lo Schiavo Nominated
Best Cinematography Robert Richardson Nominated
Best Visual Effects Robert Legato Won
San Diego Film Critics Society Awards 14 December 2011 Best Production Design Dante Ferretti Won
Best Film Graham King and Martin Scorsese Nominated
Best Director Martin Scorsese Nominated
Best Adapted Screenplay John Logan Nominated
Best Cinematography Robert Richardson Nominated
Best Editing Thelma Schoonmaker Nominated
Best Score Howard Shore Nominated
Washington D.C. Area Film Critics Association Awards[34] 5 December 2011 Best Director Martin Scorsese Won
Best Art Direction Dante Derretti Won
Best Film Graham King and Martin Scorsese Nominated
Best Acting Ensemble Nominated
Best Adapted Screenplay John Logan Nominated
Best Cinematography Robert Richardson Nominated
Best Score Howard Shore Nominated

References to real-world history

The Jaquet-Droz automaton "the writer", an inspiration for the automaton in the film

The overall backstory and primary features of Georges Méliès' life as depicted in the film are largely accurate: he did become interested in film after seeing a demonstration of the Lumière brothers' camera, he was a magician and toymaker, he experimented with automata, he did own a theatre (Theatre Robert-Houdin), he was forced into bankruptcy, his film stock was reportedly melted down for its cellulose, he became a toy salesman at the Montparnasse station, and he was eventually awarded the Légion d'honneur (Legion of honor) medal after a period of terrible neglect. Many of the early silent films shown in the movie are Méliès' actual works such as Le voyage dans la lune (1902).

The automaton was inspired by one made by the Swiss watchmaker Henri Maillardet, which Selznick had seen in the Franklin Institute, Philadelphia,[35] as well as the Jaquet-Droz automaton "the writer".[36]

A dream sequence in the film depicts the famous Gare Montparnasse railway derailment. The station shown is modelled on the Gare du Nord, but with the belfry from the Gare de Lyon, the clock - and approximate location - from Orsay (now a museum), and the facade and elevated railbed (with respect to street level) of Montparnasse. Other elements are taken from Est and Gare d'Austerlitz.

Emil Lager, Ben Addis, and Robert Gill make cameo appearances as Django Reinhardt, the father of Gypsy jazz guitar, Salvador Dalí, the Spanish surrealist painter, and James Joyce, the Irish writer, respectively. The names of all three characters appear towards the end of the film's cast credit list.[37]

The book that Monsieur Labisse gives Hugo as a gift, Robin Hood le proscrit, was written by Alexandre Dumas in 1864 as a French translation of a 1838 work by Pierce Egan the Younger in England. The book is symbolic, as Hugo must avoid the "righteous" law enforcement (represented by Inspector Gustave) to live in the station and later to restore the automaton both to a functioning status and to its rightful owner.

Home media

Paramount Home Entertainment are due to release Hugo on DVD, Blu-ray Disc and Blu-ray 3D on February 28, 2012.

References

  1. ^ "Hugo Cabret". ComingSoon.net. Retrieved 2011-02-20.
  2. ^ Kaufman, Amy (November 24, 2011). "Movie Projector: 'Breaking Dawn' to devour three new family films". Los Angeles Times. Tribune Company. Retrieved 2011-11-24.
  3. ^ http://boxofficemojo.com/movies/?page=main&id=hugocabret.htm
  4. ^ "Can Martin Scorsese's Hugo save 3D?". Retrieved 2012-12-09. {{cite web}}: Text "BBC News]" ignored (help)
  5. ^ "Global Sites & Release Dates". Paramount Pictures. Retrieved 2011-08-11.
  6. ^ "2012 Academy Award Nominations!". The Mud Doctor. 2012-01-24. Retrieved 2012-01-24.
  7. ^ "HUGO CABRET Filming Commences Full Cast Announced Jude Law, Ray Winstone, Christopher Lee". Collider.com. 2010-06-29. Retrieved 2010-06-30.
  8. ^ Truslove, Ben (2011-01-25). "Film Legend Scorcese's Peterborough film shoot". PeterBoroughToday.co.uk. Retrieved 2011-10-21.
  9. ^ "Empire's Hugo Movie Review". Empireonline.com. 2006-12-05. Retrieved 2011-12-27.
  10. ^ "The Mud Doctor: Hugo". Themuddoctor.blogspot.com. 2011-12-05. Retrieved 2011-12-27.
  11. ^ Corliss, Richard (2011-11-22). "Movie Review: Hugo – Martin Scorsese's 3D Movie | Entertainment | TIME.com". Entertainment.time.com. Retrieved 2011-12-27.
  12. ^ "Hugo". Rotten Tomatoes. Flixter. Retrieved 2011-11-24.
  13. ^ "Hugo Reviews, Ratings, Credits". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved 2011-11-24.
  14. ^ Ebert, Roger. "Hugo Review". Chicago Sun-Times. Retrieved 2011-11-23.
  15. ^ "Martin Scorsese's Hugo chosen for Royal Film Performance". IndieLondon. Retrieved 2011-12-04.
  16. ^ Corliss, Richard (December 7, 2011). "The Top 10 Everything of 2011 – Hugo". Time. Retrieved December 13, 2011.
  17. ^ "'Hugo' and 'The Artist' lead the Oscar pack... Hollywood just loves movies about movies". Entertainment Weekly. January 24, 2012.
  18. ^ Knowles, Harry (2012-01-06). "Harry's Top Ten Films of 2011..." Retrieved 2012-01-24.
  19. ^ "Oscars 2012: Nominees in full". 24 January 2012. Retrieved 20 February 2012.
  20. ^ "2011 EDA Awards Nominees". Retrieved 20 February 2012.
  21. ^ "2011 EDA Awards Winners". Retrieved 20 February 2012.
  22. ^ "The American Society of Cinematographers Nominates". The ASC. 11 January 2011. Retrieved 20 February 2012.
  23. ^ Kilday, Gregg (3 January 2012). "Art Directors Nominate Movies as Different as 'Harry Potter' and 'The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo'". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 15 January 2012.
  24. ^ "AACTA Awards winners and nominees 2011" (PDF). Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts (AACTA). 31 January 2012. Retrieved 20 February 2012.
  25. ^ "Orange BAFTA Film Awards 2012 winners list - in full". Digital Bits. Retrieved 20 February 2012.
  26. ^ "BAFTA 2012 the winners - the full list". The Guardian. 12 February 2012. Retrieved 20 February 2012.
  27. ^ "Tree of Life Leads CFCA Nominations with 7; Descendants, Drive Follow with 6". Chicago Film Critics Association. 2011. Retrieved 21 February 2012.
  28. ^ "CFCA Names Tree of Life Best Picture". Chicago Film Critics Association. Retrieved 21 February 2012.
  29. ^ "Best of 2011". Detroit Film Critics Society. Retrieved 20 December 2011.
  30. ^ "Florida Film Critics swoon for 'The Descendants'". Miami Herald. 19 December 2011. Retrieved 20 February 2012.
  31. ^ "Golden Globes 2012 the winners - the full list". The Guardian. 16 January 2012. Retrieved 21 February 2012.
  32. ^ "Golden Globes 2012: The Full List". The Hollywood Reporter. 15 January 2012. Retrieved 21 February 2012.
  33. ^ "Hugo Named Best Film by NBR". AwardsDaily.com. 1 December 2011. Retrieved 21 February 2012.
  34. ^ "The 2011 WAFCA Awards". dcfilmcritics. 19 December 2011. Retrieved 21 February 2012.
  35. ^ Fountain, Henry (26 December 2011). "Graceful Moves, for a Boy Made of Metal". The New York Times. Retrieved 27 December 2011.
  36. ^ Lytal, Cristy (27 November 2011). "Working Hollywood: Dick George, prop maker". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 25 January 2012.
  37. ^ "Hugo (2011) – Full Cast and Crew". IMDb. Retrieved 13 December 2011.
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