Hugo (2011)
Martin Scorsese's glorious love letter to the birth of cinema. Uplifting, touching and joyous, this is a near perfect family film. Beginning as a mystery / fantasy film due as much to it's lush visuals as the story, the film slowly but surely transforms itself into a classy take on the history of the earliest days of silent cinema and one film maker - Georges Méliès, wonderfully portrayed by Ben Kingsley - in particular.
Finally the greatest director of our generation got to work with his great friend Christopher Lee and a fine array of British acting talent, from Jude Law and Helen McCrory to Frances De La Tour and Richard Griffiths, as well as outstanding child stars Asa Butterfield as Hugo and Chloë Grace Moretz who fit in seemlessly among them. Most surprisingly Scorsese gets a stand out turn from Sacha Baron Cohen, at first seemingly doing an impersonation of 'Allo 'Allo's Officer Crabtree but evolving it into a witty and charming portrayal of romance with the lovely Emily Mortimer.
Hugo isn't a film to simply watch. It's a film to immerse yourself in, to allow yourself to be swept away by a piece of cinema unlike anything that's been on our screens for more than half a century. As Hugo says at one point "Movies are our special place." and Hugo the film, celebrates this.
Highly recommended.
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