The Amazing Technicolor Dream

Hugo

**** out of ****

Directed by: Martin Scorsese

Starring: Asa Butterfield, Chloe Grace Moretz, Ben Kingsley, Sacha Baron Cohen and Helen McCrory

Running time: 127 minutes

Most directors who pursue family friendly projects usually won’t start this endeavour when they are 69. Then again, most directors aren’t like Martin Scorsese.

One of America’s grittiest storytellers, Scorsese leaves the mean streets behind for the Parisian limelight in Hugo, a visually wondrous and deeply sentimental adventure that ranks as one of his richest and most accomplished works.

Adapted from Brian Selznick’s whimsical bestseller The Invention of Hugo Cabret, the film feels timeless from the first frame as a tracking shot sweeps through a crowded train station in the heart of Paris. Overlooking this station is an orphaned boy, Hugo Cabret (the terrific Asa Butterfield).

Responsible for ensuring that the clocks are running like, well, clockwork, Hugo has adorned the attic of the train station as his home, complete with a stunning view of Paris and enough room to store his inventions. The Pièce de résistance in his collection is an automaton, Hugo’s only connection to his late father (played in flashback by Jude Law), who found the machine abandoned in a museum but could never find the heart-shaped key needed to unlock it.

When he isn’t spying on a flurry of colourful personalities around the station or fleeing from the snidely inspector, Gustav (Sacha Baron Cohen, excellent comic relief), the orphan is sneaking handfuls of mechanical parts from Georges (Ben Kingsley), a toy store owner, to make sure the automaton is in mint condition.

But when Georges snatches Hugo’s notebook, the boy tries to get it back with the help of the toy store owner’s granddaughter, a curious bookworm named Isabelle (Chloe Grace Moretz). Together, the two discover the illuminating truth about Papa Georges, who used to be a major figure in the world of cinema.

From there, the film develops into an ode to early French cinema. Even if you can’t distinguish the Lumière Brothers from the Jonas Brothers, it’s hard not to be captivated by the engaging lessons in film history our professor Scorsese ratchets up. This portion is more than a mere regurgitation of Film 101 semantics, but helps bring colour and detail to Papa Georges' subplot, a major factor in the film's latter half.

Throughout his 45-year career, Scorsese's films have been consistently reliable with two things: having a rich atmosphere and strong, nuanced performances. Both come in full supply here.

An accelerated chase sequence at the film’s start flurries through a selection of boutiques and shops at the train station, from a bookstore where the novels are stacked up in small moutains to an airy café that comes equipped with a tiny jazz band and French pastries.

The sequence also covers the cramped corridors packed with billowing smoke and clock-related machinery that lead up to Hugo’s living space. Beyond the mystery aspects and the homage to early cinema, Hugo is also a triumph of art direction. The detail packed into each set is dazzlingly exorbitant, richly realized by production designer Dante Ferretti (who won an Oscar for Scorsese’s The Aviator in 2005).

Beyond the beautiful visuals, though, there is also real merit behind the performances. Asa Butterfield is a remarkably compelling leading man, with piercing blue eyes and a burgeoning curiosity that hooks into the compelling mystery elements at Hugo’s centre. He is precocious yet involuntarily vulnerable and exhibits an impressive range, as does his co-star, the impeccably reliable young actress Chloe Grace Moretz.

Beyond Howard Shore’s dreamlike score – which characteristically shifts from wistful to tender notes depending on the scene – the film also explores the rich connections characters make through art, whether they be on the page or on celluloid. That Scorsese is a known film enthusiast and preservationist is no secret, but how he depicts that passion for cinema is sublime, a word I save for special instances. Hugo marks one of those occasions: it is a movie to love that is all about loving movies.

And why save a swooning piece of nostalgic cinematic adoration for his first family entertainment? Well, as all great storytellers know, everything is infinitely more romantic when it is told through the eyes of the child. Whether the child in question is our titular character or the 69-year-old filmmaker is up for speculation.