Saturday 17 December 2011

Hugo (2011)


I liked this film - the story was good, the pacing steady, and the sets very good.  The opening shot, comparing the streets of Paris to Clockwork was nice, and I liked the way it established the importance of gears and mechanisms to the films visual language.  There were some nice references interspersed throughout the film - I particularly liked the Gare Montparnasse train wreck photo reference.  The 3D worked pretty well, and the special effects were pretty good.  The cast was generally good - Ben Kingsley particularly.

However, I wouldn't be me if I didn't point out the one big gripe I have with the film ^^;

For a film that makes so much use of clocks and clockwork, it was a crying shame that no-one appears to know how mechanical clocks actually work.  I had no problem with the Automaton, and even the gears in the tunnels, but the actual clock mechanisms were just wrong.  This was compounded when a speech about how machines "contain no superfluous components" was given with the character delivering the speech standing in front of gears that a) are not found in any clock and b) would serve no purpose in the running of the clock.

However, since I'm probably the only person who both noticed and cared about that detail, I'd recommend going and watching the film.

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