December 14, 2011 THE VILLADOM TIMES I, II, III & IV • Page 21 ‘Hugo’ is Scorsese’s valentine to early cinema by Dennis Seuling “Hugo,” adapted from a Caldecott Medal-winning book by Brian Selznick, tells the tale of orphan Hugo Cabret (Asa Butterfield), who lives in a Paris train station tending to its massive clock and striving to complete work on an automaton his father (Jude Law) left him. Hugo has been regularly pilfering mechanical parts for the automaton from the proprietor of a toy shop and is therefore on guard against the station inspector (Sacha Baron Cohen), whose obsessive determination to catch Hugo and send him off to the local orphanage results in a number of chases in crowded walkways and behind walls and interior clockworks. It has been written that director Martin Scorsese has created, in “Hugo,” his first family film. This is only partially true. Young viewers will enjoy Hugo’s adventures, his independence, his ability to outsmart the grown-up gendarme, and the movie’s humorous aspects. However, the film is far richer than typical kid fare and perfectly suited for Scorsese’s background. Sure, Scorsese has made such violent films as “Goodfellas,” “Cape Fear,” and “The Departed,” but he has also championed the cause of film preservation and is quite a promoter of the history of film both in America and worldwide. The second half of “Hugo” shifts focus from the title character to the toy shop owner, who turns out to be Georges Melies (Ben Kingsley), a stage magician who became one of the pioneers of early cinema, exploiting its unique potential in scores of short films, the most famous being 1902’s “A Trip to the Moon.” At that point, the movie switches gears from a boy’s adventure to a drama about fame, its passing, and a bittersweet look at an unsung genius finally receiving recognition. When viewers meet him, Melies has been largely forgotten, his place in the infant movie industry overshadowed by A toy maker (Ben Kingsley) shows an orphan (Asa Butterfield) one of his creations in ‘Hugo,’ directed by Martin Scorsese. stars like Harold Lloyd, Charlie Chaplin, and Buster Keaton. Scorsese beautifully educates viewers about the real Melies (continued on Crossword page)