In Hugo (2011), great modern director Martin Scorsese pays stunning tribute to one of the great technical innovators of Silent Film, and a pioneer in the medium, Georges Melies. It is fitting that the film uses the best, cutting edge 3D technology of our time, as it is almost surely a path Melies would have taken if he were making movies today.
Hugo Cabret is a young orphan living in a Paris train station in the 1920's. He diligently fixes and winds all the station clocks from behind the scenes, having been left there by his uncle, who had taken Hugo in after the death of his father. As long as the clocks are in working order, no one has any reason to believe he is there.
The only things he has to remind him of his father are a notebook and an automaton, which seemingly has the ability to write, but is broken.
Hugo, determined to fix the mechanical man, steals parts from a toy shop in the station, run by a bitter old man (Ben Kingsley).
After he is caught stealing, he must work off the debt, and in the process, befriends the man's adopted daughter. The two become inseparable, forming an adventurous team, sneaking in to movies...
and eluding the station inspector, who is known to hunt down and capture orphans...
Hugo eventually fixes the automaton, but it will not function without a special key. The girl has the part he needs, and the two activate the machine, eager to see what message the automaton will convey.
The automaton's subsequent clue sends them on a detective spree leading them to find early silent film director, Georges Melies, a master of dream-like films whose work is believed to have been forgotten...
Hugo- movie trailer
