Hugo

Yesterday afternoon I went to see the new Martin Scorcese film Hugo, based on the novel The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick (which is going to be read by yours truly at the earliest available opportunity). This is an extraordinary film that as far as I'm concerned deserves every accolade it has received in so many reviews -- heartwarming in the very best, non-sappy sense of the term, Hugo is nothing less than a love letter to the magic of the movies, and by extension the magic of living life to the fullest. It's a gorgeously rendered story of the power and joy that comes from living life as you're wired to do, a reminder of the precious gift it is to find and follow your calling. Amazing, lovely, wonderful film -- highly, HIGHLY recommended.

Hugo Cabret is a young boy who lives in the walls of a Paris train station in the 1930s, where unbeknownst to the station regulars he cleans and maintains the clocks. In a heart-breaking flashback (featuring a wonderful cameo by Jude Law!), we learn that Hugo and his father, a master clockmaker, shared an affinity for all things mechanical and a love of the movies. When his father tragically perishes in a museum fire, Hugo is taken to live with his drunk uncle, also a watchmaker whose job it is to maintain the train station clocks. All Hugo has left of his former life is a broken automaton that his father rescued from the attic of the museum prior to his death. Hugo is driven to repair the mechanical man as a last connection to his father, so when his uncle disappears he stays on as the clock worker, filching food to survive and mechanical parts from the toy shop in order to continue working on the automaton. When the toy shop owner, Monsieur Georges, catches Hugo in the act of stealing, he's unexpectedly shocked by the boy's notebook detailing the mechanical workings of the automaton. Georges refuses to disclose why Hugo's book upsets him, and Hugo is equally determined to finish his father's work, whatever it takes. With the help of Georges's goddaughter Isabelle, the two children embark on an adventure to discover the truth behind the broken automaton, Georges's broken heart, and the power of dreams.

Let me get this out of the way first -- story aside, on visuals alone this film is STUNNING. I saw it in 2D and was completely blown away by its recreation of 1930s Paris -- oh it was a glorious world to watch unfold on-screen! And Hugo's home, the inner workings of the train station, were absolutely fascinating -- it's almost as if he lived inside his own automaton, the train station itself. The costumes, the sets, the attention to detail is a feast for period drama lovers' eyes. I feel sure this is a film that visually will reveal new treasures on each subsequent viewing.

Hugo is anchored by a stellar performance by Asa Butterfield as the young hero. Prior to this film I was most familiar with Butterfield from his work as young Mordred in the Merlin TV show (unbelievably creepy!) and last year in Nanny McPhee Returns. Butterfield is a terrific actor in the making and I predict he'll be a face to watch for years to come. I couldn't help thinking, leaving this film, that if Harry Potter were being made today (starting at the beginning), Butterfield would be pretty near perfect. As Hugo, Butterfield will just break your heart with his determination and sincerity, his search for belonging and purpose against the odds. His on-screen counterpart, Isabelle, is played by American actress Chloe Grace Mortez. I was quite impressed with her performance, and the sweet hint of a teenage romance in the offing between her and Butterfield on-screen. Isabelle is a delightfully nerdy (I mean that in a nice way!), bookish girl with a fantastic vocabulary which I just loved, a nice quirk.

The crotchety Monsieur Georges is brought to life by Ben Kingsley, and if Oscar nods were given out solely based on the ability to break my  heart I'd say he deserved one. This performance was a treasure. Since I have yet to read the book, I wasn't aware until I started reading reviews of this film that actual historical characters featured in the plot. Monsieur Georges is in fact Georges Melies, a visionary French filmmaker. If the name is not familiar to you, perhaps this still from one of his most famous surviving films will be:

That image is from Le Voyage dans la Lune (A Trip to the Moon, 1902). To try and make a long and fascinating history short for the purposes of this post, Melies made over 500 films before being forced into bankruptcy during World War I. Tastes had changed and his magical, fantastical films were no longer in style. He sold hundreds of feet of film, which were melted down and made into shoe heels. And this is where the fictional Hugo comes into play -- seeing a master "magician," heartbroken over the loss of his art and his purpose, Hugo's desire to rebuild the broken automaton becomes a quest to remind Melies who he really is, and that his art has not been forgotten as he so long believed.

I knew Scorcese was an vocal advocate of film preservation, and Hugo drives the importance of this venture home with heartbreaking clarity. Melies's lost films were not just throwaway whims, were not even just about his imagination -- his films speak of his time, the dreams of the creator and his contemporaries brought to life on celluloid. Films like A Trip to the Moon are reminders to mankind today of where we've come from, who we were, and who we hope to be -- oh the possibilities of unfettered imagination!

To speak a bit to my earlier point that the train station is a kind of automaton, a film set in which the young Hugo makes his home, I have to give a nod to the colorful characters that inhabit his world. This film is chock-full of Harry Potter alum. Frances del la Tour (Madame Maxime) is Madame Emilie, who is the proprietress of a restaurant. She is crushing on Monsieur Frick (Richard Griffiths, Uncle Vernon!), a newspaper seller (if memory serves me correctly). The fact that her dog HATES him, and how he works around it, is hilarious. Georges's wife is played by Helen McCrory (Narcissa Malfoy), and can I just tell you how much I like her? She is class personified -- not to mention crazy-lucky in the husband department as she's married to Damian Lewis. And in the non-Potter, but really cool cameo category, Christopher Lee makes an appearance as Monsieur Labisse, a bookseller who seems to know just what his patrons need.

My favorite subplot, though, is the Station Inspector with the mechancial brace on his leg, played by Sacha Baren Cohen and the flower seller Lisette played by Emily Mortimer. Cohen provides a lot of comic relief, as is to be expected, particularly when he and his Doberman mimic each other's poses and expressions. *wink* The Inspector is an interesting character -- secretly in love with Lisette, he feels he can't act on it because of his injury, and masks his inadequacy with bravado and legalism. I am a sap, I freely admit it, but I loved watching the Inspector just melt once he overcame his fear of speaking to Lisette -- Mortimer and Cohen are an unusal pair but I loved them in this film.

Hugo is a film that begs to be seen on the big-screen. It is a rare film that I feel is so joy-filled, so life-affirming, so hopeful. Yes there's heartbreak and pain and peril -- like the best stories this doesn't sugar-coat or ignore those realities of life. But what it will remind you of is the power of dreams and art and the magic of unfettered imagination. From the opening shot you'll be fully immersed in Hugo's world -- the art direction, the score (thank you, Howard Shore), the acting -- everything works in concert to weave its glorious spell, to draw you into the world of the film. A movie about the power of movies, the power of imagination, and the ability of art to connect people, Hugo is a treasure not to be missed, and one I'll enjoy revisiting time and again.

Nanny McPhee Returns

Friday I went to see Nanny McPhee Returns with Kaye and Lori. And while I expected to enjoy the film, I was surprised by exactly how much I did so since going into it, I wasn’t entirely sold on the idea that the first Nanny film required or merited a sequel. Nanny McPhee came out five years ago (already?! – my, how time flies!), and was a wonderful, magical adventure from start to finish. I absolutely loved seeing Colin Firth as the loving but completely overwhelmed father of the wild, irrepressible Brown children. The film also featured several noticeable guest stars, including Angela Lansbury, Imelda Staunton, and Derek Jacobi, who gave the production some added gloss. With a sparkling predecessor like that, I really had my doubts that a sequel could bring anything new to the table. Happily, I was wrong on all counts – I never should’ve doubted the brilliant Emma Thompson’s work.

Nanny McPhee Returns jumps about 60 years or so into the future, taking the story to the 1940s. Anyone who has read this blog for any length of time knows that I love studying pretty much anything to do with the World War II time period, so this setting was most welcome. This time around we’re given a harried, stressed mother as the main character, one Isabel Green – here played by Maggie Gyllenhaal. I have to say I was quite impressed with her turn as a young British mother struggling to keep her children in line and keep a roof over their heads while her husband is away at war. She exhibited a very creditable British accent, and she really was completely believable as the young mother of three barely treading water during a most difficult time. Gyllenhaal just has a look that fits the clothes and mannerisms of the 1940s surprisingly well, and the glimpses she gave of the pain and concern she carried for her little family were quite moving.

Her wild trio of children is anchored by son Norman, played by Asa Butterfield. He looked so familiar, but I couldn’t place him while I was in the theater. Thankfully Kaye set the record straight – Butterfield is also known as the unbelievably creepy young Mordred in the television show Merlin! I’ve got to say it was really quite nice seeing him play a sympathetic kid for a change, LOL! Norman’s nemesis for the first part of the film is his cousin Cyril, played by Eros Vlahos. Cyril and his sister, Celia (Rosie Taylor-Ritson), were sent from London to live with their poorer cousins in order to escape the German bombs – and their culture shock is extreme, to say the least! Norman’s two siblings are Megsie (Lil Woods) and Vincent (played by an absolutely adorable Oscar Steer). When these five children are first thrown together, they are in desperate need of structure, guidance, and Nanny McPhee’s “five lessons” (though they would be loathe to admit it!). I really feel like this group of children got their act together a lot faster than the children in the first film. This felt appropriate to the time (even though they are just kids, they are very aware of the war and its affect on their lives), and true to the trying situation the children found themselves in through no fault of their own. This turnaround was anchored by Norman and Cyril coming to terms with each other and working to discover the whereabouts of Norman’s missing father. I really, really liked how those scenes played out – these kids matured fast and did it well.

As with the first film, this movie is full of humor and magic, with perhaps an even greater reliance on Nanny McPhee’s magical abilities than the first movie (though it’s been ages since I’ve watched that one, so I could be forgetting some scenes). These movies just feel like wonderful storybooks come to life with their vibrant, eye-popping colors, quirky sets and costumes, and gorgeous music. James Newton Howard provides an appropriate magical-sounding score, taking the reins from the great Patrick Doyle’s work on the first film. Howard’s work feels like a natural extension of Doyle’s, though not a carbon copy, full of his own flourishes and unique take on Nanny McPhee’s fantastic world. I also liked how the filmmakers used period songs two or three times throughout the movie – it was a nice touch that added to the 1940s atmosphere.

Nanny McPhee Returns is just as much of a who’s who of British acting talent as the first film. Rhys Ifans plays Isabel’s wastrel brother-in-law Phil. While Phil is definitely the villain of the piece his misadventures also provide some of the movie’s funniest scenes as he attempts to placate debt collectors, the delightfully named Misses Topsey and Turvey (sort of a whacked out Tweedledum and Tweedledee). Ralph Fiennes makes a brief appearance as Cyril and Celia’s father, the imposing Lord Gray of the War Office. (I could go off on a tangent here and discuss how far Ralph Fiennes has fallen role-wise in recent years – Voldemort notwithstanding, and honestly I do question if he was the best candidate for that role – but I will refrain.) I’ve saved the best two for last, though – Maggie Smith gives a sweet and hilarious turn as Mrs. Green’s employer, shop proprietress Mrs. Docherty. Mrs. Docherty has an unexpected connection to Nanny McPhee, and if you’re like me the reveal will bring a tear to your eye – very sweet and very well played. (The presence of Fiennes and Smith, along with Thompson, make this a mini Harry Potter reunion…and it makes me wonder why they could appear in this movie and the final Potter films, and Thompson bowed out. Granted, Nanny McPhee was her “baby” as far as projects go, and Smith and Fiennes’s scenes were limited…but still, I would’ve loved to see her return as Professor Trelawney. Oh well, c’est la vie!) And finally, Ewan McGregor makes a surprisingly and thoroughly welcome appearance as Mr. Green, the beloved husband and father away at war. I think he had something like two lines between his two scenes, but I just cannot begin to tell you how perfect those moments were – he was ideally cast as the family’s devoted husband and father.

If you enjoyed the first Nanny McPhee movie, I feel safe in whole-heartedly recommending this sequel as a thoroughly enjoyable way to spend an afternoon. In many ways, thanks to the setting and war-centered storyline, I think I may end up preferring this sequel to first in the long run. The acting chemistry between the kids also help sell the movie – this time around this group gelled really, really well and I loved watching them overcome their differences and come together as a family. I have to commend Emma Thompson for once again a job well done bringing Nanny McPhee to life – she’s so good as this character. There’s something so heartbreaking when you stop to think about McPhee’s role in the lives of her young charges – she can only stay when she’s needed, but not wanted - and when she’s finally wanted, that’s when she must go. It’s really a powerful reminder to treasure the relationships that matter in one’s life through thick and thin, especially parental relationships, I think. Between Thompson’s energetic script and elegant on-screen presence (warts and all!), Susanna White’s fast-paced direction (she’s behind Jane Eyre and several Bleak House episodes), sparkling sets and costumes, and wonderful acting, Nanny McPhee Returns is heart-warming, not-to-be-missed fun. With a sequel this good, I say bring on a third installment…