Posts Tagged ‘automaton’

Short Take: Perhaps the most pleasant surprise to have ever come from Martin Scorsese

Director: Martin Scorsese

Screenwriters: John Logan; Brian Selznick (novel The Invention of Hugo Cabret)

Cast: Asa Butterfield, Ben Kingsley, Sacha Baron Cohen, Chloë Moretz, Emily Mortimer, Christopher Lee, Jude Law

Length: 2h 6m

Synopsis: On an average day in the middle of 1930s Paris, orphan boy Hugo Cabret (Butterfield) can be found tending to the public clocks of a train station at the heart of the city. Climbing inside, between, and behind the walls means Hugo can travel about the station unbeknownst to most everyone, allowing him to snatch the occasional piece of bread or fruit and retreat with ease. His penchant for pinching also includes mechanical parts from Mr. Méliès (Kingsley) toy shop to repair a mysterious automaton that his late father (Law) left him. Hugo eventually comes to meet Méliès’ granddaughter Isabelle (Moretz), and the two bond over their shared exploratory habits. Such habits get them into trouble, however, as Hugo finally gets caught stealing from the toy shop and both children get caught prying into Méliès’ past. What they discover is that Mr. Méliès was actually at one point a very successful and important filmmaker, but hard times forced him to give up his dreams and, even worse, face obscurity. By the end, Hugo makes up for his thefts by helping Méliès recapture the sense of purpose he felt when he put his dreams up on the silver screen. And along the way, Hugo’s also able to recapture that same sense for himself.

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