Hugo is a 2011 historical adventure drama film directed and produced by Martin Scorsese and adapted

for the screen by John Logan. Based on Brian Selznick's book The Invention of Hugo Cabret, it tells the
story of a boy who lives alone in the Gare Montparnasse railway station in Paris in the 1930s.

Hugo is Scorsese's first film shot in 3D, of which the filmmaker remarked, "I found 3D to be really
interesting, because the actors were more upfront emotionally. Their slightest move, their slightest
intention is picked up much more precisely."[4] The film was released in the United States on November
23, 2011.[5]

Hugo received critical acclaim and received 11 Academy Award nominations (including Best Picture),
more than any other film that year, and won five awards: Best Cinematography, Best Art Direction, Best
Sound Mixing, Best Sound Editing, and Best Visual Effects.[6] It was also nominated for eight BAFTAs,
winning two of the eight, and was nominated for three Golden Globe awards, earning Scorsese his third
Golden Globe Award for Best Director. Despite this, the film was a commercial failure, grossing $185
million against its $150–$170 million budget.

Contents

1 Plot

2 Cast

3 Production

3.1 Pre-production

3.2 Filming

3.3 Music

4 Release

5 Historical references

6 Reception

6.1 Box office performance

6.2 Critical reception

6.2.1 Top-ten lists

6.3 Accolades

7 References

8 External links

Plot

In 1931 Paris, 12-year-old Hugo Cabret (Asa Butterfield) lives with his widowed, clockmaker father (Jude
Law), who also works at a museum. Mr. Cabret finds a broken automaton - a mechanical man designed
to write with a pen - at the museum. He and Hugo try to repair it, with Mr. Cabret documenting the
automaton in a notebook. When his father dies, Hugo goes to live with his resentful, alcoholic uncle,
Claude (Ray Winstone), and is forced to maintain the clocks at the Gare Montparnasse railway station.
When Claude goes missing for several days, Hugo continues maintaining the clocks, fearing that
vindictive Station Inspector Gustave Dasté (Sacha Baron Cohen) will send him away as an orphan if
Claude's absence is discovered. Hugo attempts to repair the automaton with stolen parts, believing it
contains a message from his father, but the machine requires a heart-shaped key that his father could
not find.

Hugo is caught stealing from a toy store. When the owner, Georges (Ben Kingsley), looks through Hugo's
father's notebook and threatens to destroy it, Georges' goddaughter, Isabelle (Chloë Grace Moretz),
offers to help Hugo get the notebook back. As their friendship grows, he shows her the automaton, and
is astonished when Isabelle inadvertently reveals she wears the key as a necklace given to her by
Georges. When started, the machine draws out a scene that Hugo recognizes from his father's
description of the film A Trip to the Moon. Isabelle identifies the signature, that of a "Georges Méliès",
as her godfather. She sneaks Hugo into her home, where they find a hidden cache of more imaginative
drawings of Méliès, but are caught by Georges, who banishes Hugo from his home.

Hugo and Isabelle go to the Film Academy Library and find a book about the history of cinema that
praises Méliès' contributions. They meet the book's author, René Tabard (Michael Stuhlbarg), a film
expert who is surprised to hear that Méliès might still be alive, as he had disappeared after World War I
along with nearly all copies of his films. Excited at the chance to meet him, René agrees to meet Isabelle
and Hugo at Georges' home to show his copy of A Trip to the Moon, hoping it will invigorate Georges.

The next day, Hugo discovers that the key has somehow found its way onto the railway tracks in the
station. As he drops onto the track to retrieve it, he is suddenly hit and killed by an uncontrollable train
that eventually smashes through the walls of the station. Hugo wakes up to discover that the harrowing
events were just a nightmare. After noticing that a pocket watch hanging from the rafters of his home is
missing, Hugo can still hear an ominous ticking emanating from him. He then discovers he's been turned
into the automaton, only for him to wake up again to discover that this was yet another nightmare,
possibly and disturbingly symbolizing Hugo’s belief of all beings having a sole purpose in life.

On the scheduled night, Georges' wife Jeanne (Helen McCrory) tries to turn them away, but René
compliments Jeanne as Jeanne d'Alcy, an actress in many of Méliès' films, and she allows them to
continue. As the film plays, Georges wakes up at the sight, and Jeanne finally convinces him to cherish
his accomplishments rather than regret his lost dream. Georges recounts that as a stage magician, he
had been fascinated by motion pictures, and used the medium to create imaginative works through his
Star Film Company, but was forced into bankruptcy following the war, closing his studio and selling his
films to be turned into raw materials. He laments that even an automaton he made that he donated to a
museum was lost. Hugo recognizes this is the same automaton he has, and races to the station to
retrieve it. He is caught by Gustave, who has learned that Claude's body was found some time ago, and
threatens to take Hugo to the orphanage. Hugo runs from him, but drops the automaton on the tracks.
He is almost run over by a train like his dream, but Gustave saves him and the automaton. Georges
arrives and tells Gustave that he will now see to Hugo, adopting him as his son.

Some time later, Georges is named a professor at the Film Academy, and is paid tribute through a
showcase of his films recovered by René. Hugo joins in with his new family as they celebrate at the
apartment, where the guests include a mellower Gustave. He has a new leg brace (which is implied to be
crafted by Hugo), and is clearly in love with Lisette (Emily Mortimer), a flower seller at the station. As the
movie ends, Isabelle starts to write down Hugo's story and the automaton is shown in Hugo's new room,
staring into space.