Splatter: on FILM

HUGO!

I thought this movie would be about a boy who wishes a robot to life and journeys to a magical land.

But, this       is not that movie.

Scorsese changes his tune and shoots a children’s flick? Nope…not really.  He does present a film in true 3D. I usually loathe 3D movies – waiting for the trick – when the bug or sword or shield flies out toward a flinching audience. In this, however, you feel that you are in the movie. Characters float in depth. You almost forget you’re watching a movie, let alone a 3D movie.

In fact, you must curb all expectations and see this film with the mind of a movie lover.

This is a film about filmmaking.

Scorsese croons a love song to his art, singing film in the lyric of filmmaker.

Toward the end, I sat stunned…glued… forgetting completely my 3D glasses. Tears streamed my cheeks as I pondered the opus. This  was an operetta of winding gears, of a singular beam of light hitting a screen, of dreams come to life, of magic.

Movie magic. Storybooks left undusted, are breathed upon and revived!

The characters are lovely, memorable. The train station plays the constant character of permanence, despite cataclysm.

Shift & surge, dream & love, but know that this is not about the people; it’s about the projection. It’s not even about the adventure. Odysseus is safely home, recounting the story to Penelope, and inviting us into the dreaming. Story pages lift and float once more.

Blessed Ben Kingsley, like  the automaton, stands in need of awakening. The boy stands as savior in desperate need of saving.

I rarely talk of my own dreams on this blog. I prefer to cuddle safely in the warm blanket of anonymity. But, in truth and blunt honesty, I dream of being a mother. And, that boy Hugo is the son of my dreams.