From an objective standpoint, HUGO doesn't quite work as a film. Its structure is ungainly, character motivations are remembered then quickly forgotten, and by the end of the film you're not completely sure who the protagonist is anymore. But HUGO isn't about a boy's quest to fix a robot anymore than Goodfellas is a heist movie. Hugo is about the emotions of a young idealist, particularly the need to belong. As a child Scorsese suffered from such medical aliments that he couldn't play on the street with other children, so he got lost into the world of cinema. Similarly, the eponymous hero of HUGO hides in the walls and catacombs of a Paris train station; an orphan, Hugo is only able to experience the world of Paris from a distance.
Hugo's one possession is a discarded robot, a gift from his dead father. Hugo's quest to fix the robot puts him in contact with toy-maker played by Ben Kingsley who (spoiler alert) turns out to not only be the robot's creator, but legendary filmmaker Georges Meilies. By the time HUGO takes place, Meilies, a pioneer most known for creating the 1902 classic 'A Trip to the Moon', has long thought to be dead.
The first half of the film centres around Hugo's quest to fix Melies' robot, thinking it could possibly produce a message from his father from beyond the grave. While Hugo's quest is involving enough, the stakes never get quite high enough to be completely engrossing. But after the basic plot goals have been satisfied, the film finally comes to life. In the second half HUGO transforms into a homage to early cinema. Scorsese, like a magician revealing his tricks, lifts the curtain on how early cinema was made. And young Scorsese, like the avid lover of cinema he was, watches with us in awe.
In an age of digital technology (Scorcese shot the film for 3D) HUGO doubles as an homage to analog cinema, when special effects meant physically manipulating the actual film stock. Meiles' training as a stage magician made him a natural filmmaker, especially at the turn of the century when so many were craving new fantastical imagery.
Visually the film has a lot of beauty to it. The train station where most of the film takes place has the wonderful earthy tones and punches of colour you'd expect from a Parisian train station. And while Scorsese uses 3D better than most filmmakers have, choosing to use it as a tool of immersion rather than gimmickry, the effect is still more disorienting than involving. The only positive experiences I've had watching a 3D movie have been when they're animated, otherwise it's more of a distraction than anyhing.
In the end HUGO is far from Scorsese's best film, but it may be his most personal, and very much worth seeing.
