Not a children's film - but a film about childhood.

Rating: 10/10 (13 January 2015)

If you come to "Hugo" expecting the fairy -tale qualities of "Narnia" you will be desperately disappointed.However it may have been marketed,it will not hold the attention of a young audience who want to see princesses and wizards,cuddly animals and castles. In "Hugo" there is a railway station - and that's as exotic as it gets. (Although - mischievously - there is a "Narnia - style wardrobe in M.Melies' apartment). The film is about the wonder,innocence,pain and joy of childhood. The main characters are all children - or grown - up children,from the spiteful yet redeemable Station Inspector( a slightly less scary Child catcher)to the petulant,clever toy repairer,the Arbucklish innocence of the late Mr Richard Griffith and the gawky awkwardness of Miss Frances de la Tour. It is about the relationship between man and machinery - a theme explored by many of the early movie greats to whom Mr M.Scorcese pays tribute. The clocks on the station Hugo repairs,the automaton that leads him ultimately to M.Georges Melies,the Station Inspector's mechanical leg,even the railway engines themselves play an important part in the narrative.And,of course,the cinematograph. For "Hugo" most of all is a film paying tribute to the pioneers of early cinema from the Lumieres,through Melies to the great silent comedians. Anyone pretending to have an interest in movies should watch it.