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.)

Oliver Twist and Shasta

Comparing Oliver Twist to The Horse and His Boy may seem far-fetched, but the stories are more similar than you might think.

First we have Oliver and Shasta (unlike Aravis, I prefer to keep calling him this name instead of Cor.) They both have an innocent quality. Oliver's is more because he's a little younger and it's central to the story that he's the innocent victim. Shasta's is less because C.S. Lewis never leaves accountability out of his stories. For Shasta to be accountable for his actions, he can't be entirely innocent. In him, it's more just an air of innocence, coupled with a lot of ignorance. Oliver also has some ignorance, though, as he falls into his den of thieves, as compared with Shasta's Calormen. They're both on a quest to get away from this griminess to where they originated, with the London elite and with the Narnians.

Now on to Bree and . . . Mr. Jack Dawkins, the Artful Dodger. That's a funny image; I don't think either one would like it very much. The reason for both statements? They both have such an ego. They both think so much of themselves. Of course, in Bree's case, his ego handicaps him, while the Artful nearly always keeps his head because of his confidence. Their relationship to Oliver/Shasta is similar, as well. The Dodger teaches Oliver to pick pockets and Bree teaches Shasta to "raid" the Calormenes during their journey. Sure, it seems like Bree is justified in this (what else could they do?), but then we come back to accountability. They were stealing, justified or no.

The female characters are a little harder. I've settled on Nancy and Aravis, and Rose Maylie and Hwin. The first two have spirit and manage to see right and wrong even in difficult situations. Rose and Hwin are both sweet, gentle, and kind.

And there it is. I could try to go on by saying that Rabadash and Bill Sykes both were willing to kill and loved one of the female characters or that Arsheesh is greedy like Fagin, but I think my comparisons will start to run dry if I go so far.

Rereads

I felt like reading something simple right now, and as I don't seem to have much in that way that I haven't read yet, I opted for a quick reread of The Chronicles of Narnia. It's always nice to get all the things I've forgotten for another time while revisiting favorites. With Narnia, there's plenty that you might not notice until reading it a few times and other things that you never tire of reading. Simple, but still encouraging mind activity.

There are so many books I haven't read that I've been busy enough lately trying to get to them, but I do miss the days when I didn't feel like I wasn't making any progress by picking up an old favorite. I don't like forgetting things, books included. There's just never enough TIME.

Which is why I'm in a race to finish all seven Chronicles on Friday. That's one a day. I'm on The Horse and His Boy right now, going in chronological order. This time around, I'm finding Shasta very much an Oliver Twist character, with Arsheesh as Fagin and Bree could be . . . but that could be another whole post.