What aunt_zelda Thinks: Hugo
Nov. 26th, 2011 06:16 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
aunt_zeldaI loved the book. I read it what seems like ages ago, but it had such an effect on me that years later, when someone mentioned that there was a movie I knew I had to see it, though I could barely remember the plot.
The movie was ... huh. How do you describe it, classify it?
To me, I can't judge it as a movie. If I was judging it as a movie, on the merits of the story and the performances of the actors ... it wouldn't stand out that much. Good, but nothing special. No, in order to judge this movie I have to rate it as an experience, an immersion in this harsh and bittersweet and steampunk and gorgeous and heartbreaking and magical and realistic world. There were several points where it was so beautiful that it literally brought tears to my eyes. It hurt so good.
There were attempts at slapstick that fell flat, the audience winced audibly in sympathy for the poor inspector, but then he was like a cartoon villain and for the first half of the film he was like two completely different characters. It seems like there were attempts to make it a "kid friendly" film where it really shouldn't have tried to do anything of the sort. It wasn't exactly a "kid movie" per se, kids could watch it and enjoy it, but it wasn't really intended or crafted for kids, except for those few forced moments I mentioned. It's a difficult movie to classify or describe, the marketing department must have had a tough time indeed. I mean, it's mostly about an old man who's lost the will to live because he believes that his life's work was literally burned down, and now he's a miserable old man who emotionally blackmails a little orphan boy ... and either of them could be considered our protagonist! Not a very "nice" movie, but there are lots of nice moments that ultimately lead to a happy ending, and thank god for that, because at that point your soul is in shreds from all the paper cuts of living in this harsh lovely world for the duration of the film.
All the nods to old movies were FANTASTIC. And Christopher Lee is the most intimidating kindhearted bookseller you'll ever see. I'm pretty sure that I saw Johnny Depp sneak in as a musician. And Uncle Vernon and Madame Maxime fall in love! It's pretty much a game of "spot the Harry Potter" actor, to be honest, but in a fun way, not a distracting way.
I cannot believe they snuck some of that stuff past the censors, especially the discussions between the inspector and his cop contact. "She's pregnant? Is it yours? Are you sure? She left you again?" I think most of that was add-libbed, but still ... WOW.
Good god, the clockwork! The steampunk! It's like a steampunk's wet dream. They had me from the first gorgeous shot of a gigantic clock turning into the city of Paris, and from there zooming down a crowded train platform with all the period costumes ... I was audibly sighing with awe and longing.
It was like eating some really good chocolate while you're hormonal and crying ... ok, not quite that intense ... um, eating good chocolate and crying because it's so good? No, not that either ... um, eating cheese and grapes with an old friend you're not going to see for a while after this lunch on a cloudy but warm-ish autumn afternoon ... yeah, that's what it was like.
The movie was ... huh. How do you describe it, classify it?
To me, I can't judge it as a movie. If I was judging it as a movie, on the merits of the story and the performances of the actors ... it wouldn't stand out that much. Good, but nothing special. No, in order to judge this movie I have to rate it as an experience, an immersion in this harsh and bittersweet and steampunk and gorgeous and heartbreaking and magical and realistic world. There were several points where it was so beautiful that it literally brought tears to my eyes. It hurt so good.
There were attempts at slapstick that fell flat, the audience winced audibly in sympathy for the poor inspector, but then he was like a cartoon villain and for the first half of the film he was like two completely different characters. It seems like there were attempts to make it a "kid friendly" film where it really shouldn't have tried to do anything of the sort. It wasn't exactly a "kid movie" per se, kids could watch it and enjoy it, but it wasn't really intended or crafted for kids, except for those few forced moments I mentioned. It's a difficult movie to classify or describe, the marketing department must have had a tough time indeed. I mean, it's mostly about an old man who's lost the will to live because he believes that his life's work was literally burned down, and now he's a miserable old man who emotionally blackmails a little orphan boy ... and either of them could be considered our protagonist! Not a very "nice" movie, but there are lots of nice moments that ultimately lead to a happy ending, and thank god for that, because at that point your soul is in shreds from all the paper cuts of living in this harsh lovely world for the duration of the film.
All the nods to old movies were FANTASTIC. And Christopher Lee is the most intimidating kindhearted bookseller you'll ever see. I'm pretty sure that I saw Johnny Depp sneak in as a musician. And Uncle Vernon and Madame Maxime fall in love! It's pretty much a game of "spot the Harry Potter" actor, to be honest, but in a fun way, not a distracting way.
I cannot believe they snuck some of that stuff past the censors, especially the discussions between the inspector and his cop contact. "She's pregnant? Is it yours? Are you sure? She left you again?" I think most of that was add-libbed, but still ... WOW.
Good god, the clockwork! The steampunk! It's like a steampunk's wet dream. They had me from the first gorgeous shot of a gigantic clock turning into the city of Paris, and from there zooming down a crowded train platform with all the period costumes ... I was audibly sighing with awe and longing.
It was like eating some really good chocolate while you're hormonal and crying ... ok, not quite that intense ... um, eating good chocolate and crying because it's so good? No, not that either ... um, eating cheese and grapes with an old friend you're not going to see for a while after this lunch on a cloudy but warm-ish autumn afternoon ... yeah, that's what it was like.
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Что Такое новый год?
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