Scorsece Stimulates Dialogue Between the Generations for the Sake of History

Rating: 10/10 (12 March 2012)

I am shocked at some of the poor reviews; these have to be by a younger generation who do not understand the time, place and history weaved into "Hugo" by the writers, Scorcese, and producer & francophile Johnny Depp. The near accuracy of the film is part of the movie magic.
Before Atomic Clock Time, "Train Time" was the most accurate; Standard Time resulted (to make connections). Thus anyone responsible for keeping time at a train station had an extremely accountable job - too exacting for Hugo's alcoholic uncle who realized his shortcoming and understood Hugo's advanced skills taught to Hugo by his father. The station inspector keeps checking his watch, as if inspecting the job the clock mechanic was doing. Clockmaker" was a respected profession. Knowing the inner workings of clocks was akin to our computer techs today; both considered highly innovative as attested by the pinnacle of creativity, an automaton/robot. Add this to the set designs of the innards of the station clocks, and again, high imagination, creative magic.
I was surprised to be told the film is set in 1931; more accurately it has a 20s feel, especially in costuming. I'm not sure how I am to bridge this gap. My confusion also lies in the fact that Hugo & Isabelle snuck in to see Harold Lloyd's "Safety Last!" 1923. Outside the theater as Hugo picks the lock, we also see a Hal Roach poster with Charlie Chase, another popular comic of the 20s (though my favorite scene of Chase's is in Laurel & Hardy's "Sons of the Desert, 1933). However, 1931 was only 14 years after the Great War and shortly into the Depression; most people would not have been stylish and would have still worn their old clothes of the 20s. Isabelle's dress for Méliè's tribute is straight out of the 20s. Hair styles were also not of the 30s, though today's stylists never get 20s, 30s, or 40s hairstyles accurate, in part because they no longer have the waving machines used then. Also there was no mention of "talkies" (or I missed it) which by 1931 were fairly evolved from the first sound-on-film in 1919 (although Kingsley, a dead ringer for Méliès, states that "People don't want my kind of films any more."). At the scene in the library, the book, 'La Revue du Cinéma,' which features Lumières' "Arrival of a Train at a Station," did have the effect on 1896 audiences as we see - a wonderful touch to be brought back to that time and place of innocence.
The juxtaposition of "Hugo" is of 3D and film origins via Méliès' films. First, we see his glass stage set. (Even Hollywood did not advance that - "inside" sets blow with the wind in many American silents; they were filmed outside for the light.) We also see 1890's traditional theater set design and its illusions of water, moonscape or the slaying of dragons. We see this transition of how Méliès advanced old into new (i.e. filming through a fish tank with real fish) which was surely considered "special effects" back then, amazing audiences to see real swimming fish before the actors in the background.
Because of Scorcese's age, born 1942, he has living memory of film history, a reason he has been so dedicated to its preservation. In "Hugo" we get only the highlights of film history, of the people Scorsese wants to be sure are brought back into public consciousness. I too nearly wept in awe at seeing the brightly colored hand-tinted Méliès' tribute films. I have only seen bastardized hand-me-downs and loved them as movie magic even then. The clips are the climax of the film, and the après film party a tidy tie-up of the loose ends of the characters (Inspector Gustav's "high-tech" brace designed by Hugo, of course).
When we see old films, we have a connection to our ancestors, what they saw and felt. Though the written-word is a first connection, it can lead to misconceptions because tone can be lost. No other mediums except film and sound have brought us into such direct contact with the past. Scorsese purposely accomplished bringing generations together for conversations that kids can have with grandparents. Then we have the revival of the actual train derailment at Gare Montparnasse in 1895 in 3D. Scorcese wanted today's audience to feel that which the 1896 audience felt with a train coming directly at them. The past brought to life through restoration, juxtaposed with the most advanced film-making to date.
Trying to make a film for everyone can get dicey, but there should be something for everyone to bite into in this juicy film, especially since it has state of the art 3D, and especially for students of film and film history, though I pray that young costumers will not take it as gospel that the clothes are those of the 30's. I am sure that Scorcese's 12 year old daughter is well schooled in film history to have brought Selznick's book to her father's attention. Just as the fictional character René Tabard was influenced as a child upon meeting Méliès to have kept track of all things Méliès, I can also safely assume that Scorcese, the writers, Depp and all others involved with this labor of love hope that "Hugo" will ignite the interest of younger generations to study and help preserve past generations of film.
============== Recommendations of important films quickly cited in 'La Revue du Cinema': 1)Griffith's "Intolerance" 1916, told in four stories, it is one of the first statements on social injustice (and his reaction to audience (mis)understanding of "Birth of a Nation"). 2)"The Thief of Bagdad" 1924, Douglas Fairbanks (advanced special effects and set design). The scale of both sets have not been seen before or since. 3)Anything Hal Roach. I know, I left too much out.