Hugo (Martin Scorcese)

There are not many films we'd go out of our way (as well as pay extra) to see in 3-D. However, because I'd liked Selznick's graphic novel for children, The Invention of Hugo Cabret and because Martin Scorcese is the director, we decided to make the extra effort.

First, regarding the 3-D. When we're shown George Melies's filming in his pre-WWI studio, the 3-D works to stupendous effect. Apparently he shot through fish aquariums in order to achieve underwater effects, and when the process is filmed, the 3-D is absolutely enchanting, capturing perfectly the dream state that Melies sought. The rest of the time, the 3-D is either superfluous or distracting. It made the characters feel much more cartoonish than the book suggestions (or even the film requires). It provides a false sense of depth--too often the foreground and/or background are blurry, forcing the eye to remain exclusively on the child actors who are lovely to watch but their acting range was rather limited). In fact, when we see a famous scene that causes early film-audience members to leap from their seats--they are trying to avoid a train that's rumbling towards them--the flatness of THAT film (which isn't translated into 3-D) fails to cause a sympathetic reaction in tonight's audience. Considering how perfect the 3-D was for specific segments of the film, I would have loved to have seen Scorcese imitate The Wizard of Oz and film the non-Melies scenes without the 3-D and reserve the 3-D for the Melies studio segments.

Otherwise, this is a lovely homage to Selznick's novel and to Melies.

Recommend.