Underrated movie: Hugo

Every now I then, I watch a movie and have the urge to tell everybody about it. Last week, I saw Hugo and I immediately wanted to let everybody know it. This movie is a few years old but still of the best movies I’ve ever seen. I asked my friends at school if they’ve ever seen it, which most of them didn’t. So the idea of making a blog post about Hugo was born!

Short summary

Hugo Cabret is a young orphan. He lives all by himself inside the train station Montparnasse in Paris. His father died a while ago and left him with an automaton. A broken automaton. While Hugo is trying to fix it, he gets sucked into a mystery involving the automaton and a shopkeeper in the station.

The story

Without spoiling too much, I want to emphasize that the story is truly unique. Based on a book by Brian Selznick, directed by Martin Scorsese and loosely based on the life of film director Georges Méliès. The way everything fits perfectly into the entire story is beautiful. There’s no other way to describe this movie than unique.

The cinematography

Oh. My. God. I couldn’t believe I actually almost forgot to mention this one. It actually won an Oscar for its cinematography! The entire use of color, the use of camera placement. Even though I didn’t watch this movie in 3D, if you have the chance: Please do. It was the first time for director Martin Scorsese that he shot a 3D movie, which came out great even though I didn’t see it in 3D. Georges Mélièrs was a fan of tricks with the camera, a true pioneer. The way his movies fit into this Hugo is perfect!

The sound

Two others Oscar wins for Hugo: Sound Mixing and Sound Editing. The use of Surround Sound in this movie is exceptional. Everything seems to be just right. Howard Shore, known for his soundtrack in The Lord of the Rings, made the soundtrack for this movie too which gained him an Oscar nomination. I think I have said this before, but music doesn’t often get my attention. Rarely I even notice the music, but you just can’t get around the music in this movie. It’s all with a French twist, just like Amélie!

The actors

Asa Butterfield is popular right now, because of the show Sex Education. But he was a great actor years ago. He starred in The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas in 2008 and he starred in this movie in 2011. Except for Asa Butterfield, this movie stars a lot of great actors: Ben Kingsly, Sacha Baron Cohen, Chloë Grace Moretz, Christopher Lee, Emily Mortimer, Jude Law and much more! Chloë Grace Moretz was wonderful; sometimes I forgot she wasn’t actually English in 1931 but American in 2011.

Fun facts

• In the opening, the entire station is shown in a fantastic scene. Each frame in this scene took one thousand computers to render and completion of it took one whole year.
• It was Martin Scorsese’s daughter, Francesca, who made him make this movie. She gave her father the book The Invention of Hugo Cabret as a birthday gift and convinced him to make a 3D movie out of it. Thanks, Francesca!
• This movie was nominated for eleven Academy Awards and eventually won five of them.
• In the 2012 Academy Awards, in which this movie competed, France seemed to be a recurring theme. A lot of other movies that competed that year had something to do with France: The Artist, War Horse, Midnight in Paris, The Adventures of Tintin, Puss in Boots and Planet of the Apes.
• Georges Mélièrs really worked at Montparnasse station as a toymaker after World War I.

I know this movie is a few years old, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t still beautiful. If you haven’t seen it, I hope I convinced you to do so!