Martin Scorsese surprised the audience in 2011 with the adventure drama movie Hugo, but there’s a very sweet reason behind Scorsese’s decision to make this specific movie. Although Martin Scorsese has covered different genres in his movies, he’s best known for his crime dramas, particularly gangster movies, such as Goodfellas and The Departed. However, Scorsese has also stood out in other genres, and in 2011, he made an unexpected but amazing move when he made Hugo, based on the 2007 book The Invention of Hugo Cabret, by Brian Selznick.

Set in 1931 Paris, Hugo follows 12-year-old Hugo Cabret (Asa Butterfield), an orphaned boy who lives alone in the Gare Montparnasse railway station. Hugo ends up embroiled in a mystery involving his late father’s automaton and pioneering filmmaker Georges Méliès. Despite being different from what Scorsese had done up to that point, Hugo was a critical success though not so much a box office one, but what’s truly special about the film is the sweet reason why Scorsese decided to make it.

Martin Scorsese Did Hugo So That He Could Have A Movie His Daughter Could Watch

Martin Scorsese’s Movies Aren’t Exactly Family-Friendly

Hugo is, undoubtedly, Martin Scorsese’s only family-friendly movie, and that was the intention all along. Hugo gave Martin Scorsese the Golden Globe Award for Best Director in 2012, and in his acceptance speech, he shared the strong and sweet reason why he made a family-friendly movie starring kids after years of movies for mature audiences. Scorsese thanked his wife, Helen Morris, who asked him why he didn’t make a movie that their daughter, Francesca, could watch – and so he did, adding that he was “rediscovering the world through the kids”.

In an interview with THR, Scorsese revealed that Francesca also influenced the decision to make Hugo in 3D. Scorsese shared that one of the reasons they opted for bringing Hugo’s story to life in 3D was that, when they mentioned it to Francesca and her friends, they were excited about it. In another interview in 2011, now with Le Monde (via The New Yorker), Scorsese shared he identified with the character of Hugo Cabret, but the movie also had to do with the development of Francesca’s imagination.

Hugo Was An Unexpected But Welcome Addition To Martin Scorsese’s Filmography

Martin Scorsese’s Hugo Was A Pleasant Surprise

When Hugo was released, Scorsese had just made the psychological thriller Shutter Island, so his following project being a family-friendly movie starring kids was an unexpected but great move. Scorsese, like most filmmakers, has shown what his narrative and visual style are like, but before Hugo, his movies were about more mature themes either in the crime, drama, or thriller genres. Hugo arrived to prove that Scorsese could do pretty much anything and that his style was not at odds with the genre of the project.

It’s not just the target audience of Hugo that makes it stand out from the rest of Martin Scorsese’s movies, but also the genre, the story, and its visuals. Hugo is a full-on fantasy adventure movie, which explores the limits of imagination in ways that Scorsese’s previous movies couldn’t. However, Hugo didn’t lack the touch of drama found in most of Scorsese’s movies, but it did so with depth and innocence not often seen in family-friendly movies, thus appealing to both adults and kids.

Martin Scorsese Directing A Love Letter To Movie Magic Felt Just Right

Hugo Fits Perfectly With Martin Scorsese’s Works

Hugo is not just a story for kids starring kids – it’s also a love letter to the magic of filmmaking, which fits with Scorsese’s well-known passion for films. Hugo’s adventure leads him to none other than Georges Méliès (Ben Kingsley), who is revealed as the maker of the automaton Hugo and his father repaired. Hugo and Isabelle (Chloë Grace Moretz), Georges’ goddaughter, find out about Georges’ past as a magician and filmmaker, which prompts a change of heart and mind in him, and he stops lamenting his lost dreams and begins to cherish his accomplishments.

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Scorsese shared that Hugo is a tribute to Méliès (via CBS News), who “invented everything” when it comes to movies as he was a magician who “understood the possibilities of the motion picture camera”. In the above-mentioned interview with THR, Scorsese said that the final key that made him decide he had to make Hugo was that the whole mystery in Hugo’s story is ultimately resolved through the invention of cinema, and so the story spoke to his well-known love for the craft of filmmaking.

Martin Scorsese ended up doing his own magic with Hugo by bringing this story to life and in 3D, a method that Méliès himself experimented with in the early 1900s. All this makes Hugo one of his most personal but also special works, as well as one of his best movies.

Sources: THR, Le Monde, CBS News.

Based on The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick, Hugo follows the titular character, a young boy living alone in a train station in Paris. While working to restore an automaton found by his late father, Hugo becomes involved in a mystery surrounding the automaton and filmmaker Georges Méliès. Asa Butterfield stars as Hugo, with Chloë Grace Moretz, Ben Kingsley, Sacha Baron Cohen, and Jude Law as part of the main cast. 

Release Date

November 23, 2011

Runtime

126 minutes