Hugo in the High School Classroom

Rating: 10/10 (5 February 2015)

If you are teaching a literature through film class, or a unit on film in any regular English class, I would highly recommend using this film as the starting point. Here are some topics you can teach on and discuss using this film:
The History of Film: George Melies, A Trip to The Moon, Effects of London's Economy on the early film Industry. (I began by showing my class a few clips of the very first films, including A Trip to the Moon, A Train Arriving at A Station, The Great Train Robbery, and part of Nosferatu.)
Cinematography: Discuss the effects of filming a movie in 3D. How did it affect this story? Are there some movies that you think would be better with 3D? Worse? Why?
Major Themes: Healing; Hugo fixes the automaton,Hugo's search for belonging, Papa George's journey of healing, Even the villainous police man has redemptive qualities. Purpose; the entire film alludes to the mechanical nature of purpose. Like the parts of a clock, however small, we all have our distinctive place.
Film to Book Comparison: The Invention of Hugo Cabret (Brian Selznick, 2007)
Even though Scorsese wanted to direct this film so that his daughter would be able to enjoy one of his films, you do not have to be a child to enjoy the great adventure this film portrays.