Thursday, March 1, 2012

Struck by Hugo

I'm just going a little insane here, so what better way to recover than to blog?

Less than an hour ago, I finished watching Hugo. Its trailer had made it seem to be a nice movie that I might enjoy watching, but I never got the chance to while it was in theatres. Then it was so popular at the Oscars, so I quickly moved it to the very top of my Netflix queue to try and get it before everyone else did. During my break from schoolwork, I slipped the DVD into my laptop . . . and I emerged two hours later. I have somewhat succeeded in occupying my mind since then with some delicious potatoes, but when I tried to settle into some more reading (I'm being forced to read Pride and Prejudice again), I just couldn't. There are some movies that take a little time to recover from, and Hugo was one of those for me.

I feel like this is also one of those movies (like Remember Me, although for different reasons) that the less you know going in, the better. You have to just sit and let it take you in and let it flow.

The first bits have cinematography to delight your eyes and charm to delight your mind. It seems an odd comparison, but certain sections reminded me of Amelie--in a more, er, innocent way, I guess you could say. The character of Hugo is wonderful . . . maybe something like how Oliver Twist would have been to his original audience (before he became such an archetypal character, I mean). Besides Amelie and Oliver, Hugo reminds me slightly of Sarah (from A Little Princess); his circumstances are not completely opposite to hers, either.

The other characters are nice, as well, and the story unfolds with a balance of suspense (that word just doesn't sound right . . . ) and heart (that doesn't seem like the best word, either). It's a lovely movie. I do feel that something in it could have been taken just slightly to a higher level; just some tweaking I think could have made it into an absolutely brilliant movie. As it was, I felt like it maybe could benefit from that extra nudge.

Yet this was a delightful movie, one I won't be forgetting quickly. Its use of scene makes it both beautiful and thoughtful. Yes, it definitely has touches from the three stories I mentioned, which is funny considering how much thought I have been giving to A Little Princess lately: I caught sight of the leather-bound Barnes & Noble edition of that book and have been coveting it since, which means that I have also been going over how wonderful I think that book is--it is innocent, imaginative, tender, and heartbreaking. These are traits that Hugo shares.

My conclusion: oh, dear, I just added two more books to my Amazon wish list (the movie companion is the second). As if I didn't have enough to read without also having twenty books waiting to be bought.

(And I realize that this was probably an even more rambling post than usual--remember, I did say that I wrote it to cure my temporary insanity. I believe it worked: I should be able to focus on other things now. Also note that this rambling is why I usually give at least twenty four hours before commenting on things.)

No comments:

Post a Comment