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HUGO - Scorsese Makes Magic - Perhaps one of the Greatest Films about Film Ever

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Meryem Ersoz

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I think this is one of the greatest films ever, period. And it is a great film about film by a great director.

Everyone in this film is broken, somehow - all of the characters are in some way orphaned, wounded, alienated, or lost. And film is what fixes them. Film magic fills the gap between our real lives and our imagination and dreams. It is the thing humans have invented to bring our interior world to life, to throw it up on the screen and share the experience it, in the outer world.

The film contrasts the fragility and mortality of humans with the immortality of film perfectly.

Scorsese and the actors hit every note. The set design is genius...beautiful and magical. The 3D adds a layered, textural dimension to the space.

It is one of those films which is completely enhanced by the 3D space, where you are pulled into the heart of the machine and drawn on an adventure fraught with peril, mystery, and discovery.

I always like movies that mix a profound exploration with great spectacle.

If you have a heart for film history, you will love the film.
 
OK, Meryem, I'll have to see it then ;-)

Scorcese's previous movies have discouraged me to watch this one. His first movies were so much better, in my opinion. He seemed to have lost his soul. So, we'll see ;-) The picture of the trailer is gorgeous. Arri Alexa I think ?
 
shed your expectations for a Scorsese film - this is film magic at its finest. it is an homage to cinema. it has mermaids! you will be happily surprised.

shot on Alexa, yes, that is why I posted in off-topic... I don't know that I have seen that many films shot on Alexa...looked great, though it is a huge effects film, tons of compositing, so that is never the best film for judging overall quality of a camera's image... I would love to know more about the workflow, but we never get much of that kind of information on these things. behind the scenes.
 
where did you see it Meryem? didn't think it was out until xmas
 
I agree -- a stunning film. I could care less if it's in HD, 2K, 4K, or 18K, this is solid, brilliant cinematography by any definition. Bob Richardson does great work. I'm not generally a 3D fan, but the immersive quality of the smoke, the camera movement, the sets, and the people was really breathtaking. Hands-down, the best 3D I've ever seen.

I also found the story, characters, and music really moving, very emotional. It's really three separate stories that wind up intersecting, but I'd rather not spill the beans and let people discover it on their own. Suffice it to say, it's not a children's film (even though it's almost marketed as one), and it's more a story about the history of movie-making than anything else. Plus kind of a valentine to the importance of film preservation, which I know is something on which Scorsese is passionately concerned.

Four-star review from Roger Ebert, and deservedly so.
 
I was fortunate enough to be at an advance screening of Hugo last Sunday evening at the Ziegfeld in NYC.

I was absolutely enthralled with the images (compliments to Robert Richardson, ASC) - I didn't find myself trying to see past the storyline to the technical side - something that is so easy to do.

After the credit roll, Marty and a number of his senior production team (Casting Director, Editor, Composer, etc.) talked to us for nearly an hour.
Most of the discussion centered around the aesthetics - selection of actors, music composition, approach to using 3D... Scorsese has worked with many of these folks for 10-20 years - it's a family - they know how to work together. Nearly everything shot at Shepperton Studios - very little on location in Paris.
Never had a chance to ask about the choices made (HD 2K vs 4K or better) - but the bottom line, technically, it held up. No question.

Yes, it was shot on Alexa - using Cameron/Pace Fusion 3D rigs with Cooke S4/i, S5/i and Panchro/i primes. Tethered fibre to HDCAM SR recorders.
They also had a very effective workflow on set (using the /i tech, Pablo & Baselight) that no doubt will be the subject of some articles soon.
 
I didn't intend to watch this before it's bluray release. It just looked like Scorsese went all mainstream. But you guys got my hopes up. Thanks.
 
This was indeed a fantastic film but man... I have given 3D many chances in the past and I understand that it is a very popular fad but 3D in cinema/photography is such an unnatural way to see see that world that I constantly find myself taking the glasses when a more 2D looking scene presents itself. It was such a relief when they played the actual films of Méliès that I took the glasses off to soak in all their undimmed and natural glory. 3D scenes are so disjointed and fragmented that unless it is a very stylized shot or sequence it is just too difficult to get involved in the story. I usually opt out for the 2D versions but Hugo is getting such raves that I took the chance. You can be sure that I will be seeing Hugo again but this time in glorious 2D which is a much more accurate representation of the natural world.
 
Joe Taylor said:
This was indeed a fantastic film but man... I have given 3D many chances in the past and I understand that it is a very popular fad but 3D in cinema/photography is such an unnatural way to see see that world that I constantly find myself taking the glasses when a more 2D looking scene presents itself. It was such a relief when they played the actual films of Méliès that I took the glasses off to soak in all their undimmed and natural glory. 3D scenes are so disjointed and fragmented that unless it is a very stylized shot or sequence it is just too difficult to get involved in the story. I usually opt out for the 2D versions but Hugo is getting such raves that I took the chance. You can be sure that I will be seeing Hugo again but this time in glorious 2D which is a much more accurate representation of the natural world.
Click to expand...

The only time I've really enjoyed 3d is when it's gimmicky and things are flying out at the screen at me in a film that is not serious, but supposed to be fun and silly.

Whenever I see something in 3d that is trying to be more serious, it's more of a distraction than anything else and takes away from enjoying the film.

I want to see Hugo, but I think I will just see the 2d version so I can enjoy the story.
 
3D is not for everyone...my 11 year old daughter gets video motion sickness, so I don't take her to 3D screenings. I understand that others may have a low tolerance as well, for a variety of reasons.

I do think that if you are not in the category of a person who experiences actual physical discomfort, then it is definitely worth experiencing the film in 3D. I believe that it is a deliberate aesthetic choice, for this film, not a gimmick, and is designed to draw you into the interior of the machinery of filmmaking itself.

I think of it as an echo back to an era where people were as fascinated by the machines as they were by the images which they produced. Man With A Movie Camera, or some such - except that instead of watching cameras producing images, the 3D space collapses the boundary between the subject/object, placing the viewer within the machinery itself. Some of you might find this a bit of an academic description, which it is - but I found the actual experience itself to be quite magical.

This aspect will be lost in 2D - I anticpate a certain flattening of the narrative. I think it is an important part of the overall effect of the film.

I understand that 3D isn't for everyone and once spent an evening in the multiplex bathroom, holding back my daughter's hair, several years ago at A Christmas Carol in 3D.

My recommendation for people to see it in 3D is because I think it adds an important textural layer to the experience - and a dimension of meaning which 2D will strip away - but not to see it in 3D at any and all costs.

I wouldn't want anyone to end up on the bathroom floor or with a splitter headache or other physical discomfort....
 
I believe Meryem is on target with her thoughts about how 3D contributes to this particular film. Well said.

The decision to use 3D also fit in with the goals of the director - he studied the history and especially the experimentation that became a significant point of the storyline - back then, there were no set rules. (Need to keep this statement cryptic to avoid being a spoiler - at least until enough time has passed)

Would add that one of the interesting things I did make note of were the focus pulls tied to cuts - used sparingly, it added a touch of intimacy between characters. I'm wondering how those transitions will translate to 2D.

The viewing of 3D by children remains an issue - pretty much all adults have 65mm spacing between our eyes. When you don't have that "mature human interocular spacing" established, all of the IO calculations both in production and presentation are distorted.
 
I don't have a problem with 3D per se. What I do have a problem with is cinemas installing under rated lamps in the projectors. The Z-Screens really mute the brightness terribly. I went to watch Immortals but walked out in the trailers, despite the fact that I don't pay for the cinema, with a film so defined by its visual aesthetic it needs to be punchy—especially with so many dark sequences.

Anyway back on topic, it would take a fair bit to turn me on to a Scorsese film now, but I liked the look of it and was prepared to watch it. Will see how it pans out.
 
The December issue of AC arrived this afternoon - not the cover, but an in-depth article about this film inside - Robert Richardson contributes quite a bit of the content - a must read.
 
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