Hugo an elaborate fantasy
5:06pm Tuesday 3rd April 2012
Hugo (Cert U, 120 mins, Entertainment In Video). Starring Asa Butterfield, Chloe Grace Moretz, Sir Ben Kingsley, Sacha Baron Cohen, Emily Mortimer, Frances de la Tour, Richard Griffiths, Jude Law,
Ray Winstone HHHH Twelve-year-old Hugo Cabret (Butterfield) is raised by his father (Law), who has a passion for cinema and mechanical devices. The old man dies, leaving behind an intricate
automaton, and Hugo is forced to live secretly in the station with his hard-drinking Uncle Claude (Winstone), who maintains the clocks. When the bottle claims Claude’s life, Hugo continues to tend
the clocks while stealing food from shopkeepers without attracting the attention of the station inspector (Cohen). An encounter with bookish Isabelle (Moretz), god-daughter of toy shop owner Papa
Georges (Kingsley), catalyses a journey of self-discovery that Hugo hopes will lead to a message from beyond the grave from his father. Adapted from Brian Selznick’s book The Invention Of Hugo
Cabret, Martin Scorsese’s elaborate fantasy indulges the Oscar-winning director’s passion for cinema, lovingly recreating films of the era and paying homage to the early pioneers, including the
Lumiere brothers. Butterfield is an endearing if mournful central presence, contrasting with Moretz, who is luminous in every frame. Older cast struggle to put meat on the bones of their thinly
sketched characters, while Baron Cohen’s comic relief grates as much as it delights.
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