Saturday, November 1, 2014

Movie of the Month: Hugo

Could the master of gangster films and a man who showcases as much profanity and violence in his films as he does drug use and devious villains make a childrens movie? In 2011, master director Martin Scorsese proved not only could he make a childrens movie, he could make a childrens he would want to see. The film was Hugo, based off the book The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick. The film tells the story of Hugo, a boy who lives inside Paris' famed Gare Montparnasse train station. Prior to living there, his father was a clockmaster that was killed in a fire and had no where to turn. Prior to his father's passing, his family would see the films of Georges Méliès and become entranced by them. While living in the station, Hugo discovers Méliès and tries to bring the forgotten filmmaker's career back to life. While this is a film of fiction, the story of Méliès being forgotten by his fellow Frenchmen is true and of course it would take a film buff like Scorsese to tell that tale perfectly. Hugo, which was Scorsese's first venture into the 3-D world assembled a fantastic cast featuring Asa Butterfield, Ben Kingsly, Ray Winstone, Jude Law, Sascha Baron Cohen, Emily Mortimer, and Christopher Lee. While this is not your typical Scorsese film, it is still worth watching with the whole family as this month begins the holiday season.