I have a canker sore on my left tonsil. Every time I move anything, eat anything, or swallow it feels like someone is stabbing my throat. Based on past experiences I’m assuming I got it because of stress. It’s finals week, I’m applying for internships, I’m in the midst of pre-production for a short film I’m shooting in a few weeks, and I’m trying to find time to watch all of Scorsese’s films. My mind is a tornado right now and my body is in pain, but for 2 hours and 6 minutes Scorsese guided me through a story full of childlike wonder that I haven’t felt since I was, well, a child. Everything disappeared and cinema took over in a genuinely beautiful and moving way. Now back to finding some ointment for this canker sore.
Orphaned and alone except for an uncle, Hugo Cabret lives in the walls of a train station in 1930s Paris. Hugo's job is to oil and maintain the station's clocks, but to him, his more important task is to protect a broken automaton and notebook left to him by his late father. Accompanied by the goddaughter of an embittered toy merchant, Hugo embarks on a quest to solve the mystery of the automaton and find a place he can call home.
Where to watch
1Hugo is showing in 1 cinema in Los Angeles — next screening Sunday 9 August at 14:30 at Old Town Music Hall.
Sunday, 9 August
Cast & crew
6What people say
one of the only movies about “the magic of the movies” that actually captures just how miraculous cinema can be. a way for us to connect together, even just for a few hours, to see worlds and images that were considered impossible. it moves me beyond words to know that one of cinema’s greatest treasurers made a film for kids about how beautiful the artwork is, creating the same effect for an entire generation that he received from old prints in a library. we come to movies on our own paths through life but what matters is that we’re all here now, together, united by celluloid.
Where were all the French people?
What is Hugo about?+
Set in a 1930s Paris train station, the film follows an orphaned clock-keeper who attempts to solve a mystery left behind by his father involving a broken mechanical automaton.
Who directed Hugo?+
Martin Scorsese directed the 2011 film, his first project focused on family-oriented storytelling.
Is Hugo based on a book?+
Yes, the film is adapted from Brian Selznick's illustrated novel The Invention of Hugo Cabret.














