Entertainment Desk: Director Martin Scorsese's "Hugo", which bagged five Oscars at the 84th Annual Academy Awards 2012, is the best children's film that has ever been produced in the past.

The outstanding performances by the child stars Asa Butterfield and Chloe Moretz are seldom seen from kids at their age of 14 or 15. "Hugo" deserves the prestigious film awards and the film would be justified if kids will be inspired by the characters.


Scorsese has dedicated the movie to protecting old movies, which had been neglected and less spoken out. Therefore Hugo includes a line like "Time hasn’t been kind to old movies". The film has been set in the 1930s. It gives a message that 80 percent of American films made between 1894 and 1930 are now lost.


The story revolves around Hugo (Asa Butterfield), a child with the stillness and big attentive eyes, lives with his father (Jude Law) in a Paris train station. When his father dies, he lives with his uncle, who is in a clock service at the train station. He learns how to keep the clock running.


However, his destiny again betrays him as his uncle also passes away leaving him alone. He resorts to nicking things in the station. However, he is caught by the toy vendor (Ben Kingsley) who takes him as an apprentice. He knows that Hugo has a friend, a half-repaired robot or automaton, the only tangible memory of his father.


Hugo comes in contact with Isabelle (Moretz), the vendor’s niece. She is fond of books and words. The robot is finally fixed and begins to write what Hugo hopes. But the writing falls apart, starts drawing and sketching a visual clue. In the movie, the words turn to images and books into films.


The station inspector (Sacha Baron Cohen), who catches orphans and hands them over to the authorities, is a fascinating character. He saves Hugo's life at one point. However, he is closed-minded and lacks artistic vision. Like Isabelle, he also uses big words like “Malediction, Calamity” but doesn’t appreciate them. He claims to love poetry but does not know the meaning.


The film can be described as an ode to machines. It is about miraculous machines, gears and cogs and wheels whirring and grinding. The film justifies 3D linking with the past.


"Hugo" offers the richest and most astonishing visuals that the audiences might not have seen in a long time in action and family oriented films.


Director: Martin Scorsese
Star Cast: Asa Butterfield, Chloe Grace Moretz, Ben Kingsley
Our Rating: ***

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