Ben Kingsley is Georges Méliès

urbanora · Post by **urbanora** » Wed Mar 17, 2010 5:53 pm

As I think has been reported here already, Martin Scorsese is filming Brian Selznick's children's novel The Invention of Hugo Cabret, in which a leading figure is Georges Méliès. Now's it's been announced that Méliès is to be played by Ben Kingsley (well he has more or less the right beard already). Sacha Baron Cohen will play the station inspector.

More info here: http://www.empiremovies.com/2010/03/16/ ... go-cabret/

WaverBoy · Post by **WaverBoy** » Thu Mar 18, 2010 1:23 pm

Ya mean Leo D isn't playing Melies?

urbanora · Post by **urbanora** » Thu Mar 18, 2010 1:51 pm

It seems a strange oversight. Perhaps he should have played Hugo.

Frederica · Post by **Frederica** » Thu Mar 18, 2010 1:56 pm

urbanora wrote:It seems a strange oversight. Perhaps he should have played Hugo.

I haven't yet read the book (blush), but it's on my ever-growing list. Reviews for it everywhere were excellent, so I have no excuse for missing it. Does the proposed casting seem reasonable?

R Michael Pyle · Post by **R Michael Pyle** » Thu Mar 18, 2010 2:08 pm

Took me about two hours to read, and it was a marvel to me. I'd never seen such a book, although my son had "read" them for years. The story's good, too. It'll make for an interesting film, although I have a feeling it will be "darkened" somewhat; I just have a feeling...

urbanora · Post by **urbanora** » Thu Mar 18, 2010 3:11 pm

I've just finished the book. Have to admit I was disappointed - not by its acknowledgment of film history, which is handsome, but by its storytelling, which I thought mediocre. But visually it's a real treat, cutting from text to passages of hand-drawn images (and at one point stills from Melies film) in a form that is quite thrilling. I suspect that quite a few changes will have to be made to the story to make it work as a film, and a good deal of bolstering up thinly-drawn characters (having Sacha Baron Cohen as the station master - a minor character in the book - already suggests significant changes have been made).

Post by **Mike Gebert** » Thu Mar 18, 2010 5:16 pm

I'm with Luke— I'm not sure the plot is very satisfying (it's one of those stories that seems to have three legs; there's one guy, Melies, with a history and a lost legacy of artistry, and then there's another guy with a different lost legacy which doesn't really fit into the climax). But the use of silent movie tricks in the illustrations is what's really captivating about it, so yeah, tidy the story up a bit and it should make a charming movie for kid film buffs.

milefilms · Post by **milefilms** » Thu Mar 18, 2010 5:46 pm

urbanora wrote:I've just finished the book. Have to admit I was disappointed - not by its acknowledgment of film history, which is handsome, but by its storytelling, which I thought mediocre. But visually it's a real treat, cutting from text to passages of hand-drawn images (and at one point stills from Melies film) in a form that is quite thrilling. I suspect that quite a few changes will have to be made to the story to make it work as a film, and a good deal of bolstering up thinly-drawn characters (having Sacha Baron Cohen as the station master - a minor character in the book - already suggests significant changes have been made).

Dear Luke,

No, it's not much of a story, but it might make a great film -- I'm actually hoping that little will be changed and that Scorsese will do it almost completely silent. And perhaps it won't be so dark but it already does have dark elements.

Post by **silentfilm** » Thu Mar 18, 2010 8:22 pm

Well, it was a book for kids (elementary age) so we can't exactly expect a window into Méliès tortured soul, can we? The point of the book (like so many kids' books) is about the loss and restoration of a family. The mystery about Méliès is the hook for our attention.

Post by **silentfilm** » Fri Jul 15, 2011 9:40 pm

Coming this Thanksgiving...

ColemanShedman · Post by **ColemanShedman** » Fri Jul 15, 2011 10:02 pm

I'm sold. Not a fan of 3D though it might be interesting to see what Scorsese does with it.

WaverBoy · Post by **WaverBoy** » Sat Jul 16, 2011 12:46 am

It's too bad the title is no longer "The Invention of Hugo Cabret". "Hugo" doesn't cut it.

The silly retitling notwithstanding, it looks like it could be really good. And it's Scorsese, so it couldn't be ALL bad, even in the worst-case scenario.

Arndt · Post by **Arndt** » Sat Jul 16, 2011 1:26 am

I'm worried. It already looks too cutesy to me.

boblipton · Post by **boblipton** » Sat Jul 16, 2011 4:23 am

Scorsese is a director I admire without, usually, enjoying. I can see the talent. I gasp at his daring and am blown away by his technique and his uncompromising honesty. Yet all too often he makes movies about cockroaches.

The trailer makes it look like a Jeunet film but without the dirt.

Bob

Jack Theakston · Post by **Jack Theakston** » Sat Jul 16, 2011 8:51 pm

Where did all the greens and yellows go?

ElectricPhonograph · Post by **ElectricPhonograph** » Wed Jul 27, 2011 8:51 pm

I liked the book, actually. It's one of my top 10. Without it, I never would have learned about Georges Melies, and then I never would have looked into early films, which would have caused me to never watched some of the Lumiere brother's films, along with others. The movie however, doesn't look as promising. I am interested, however, to see how they recreated Melies' films.

Rodney · Post by **Rodney** » Mon Aug 01, 2011 4:09 pm

Well, the plot has been changed at least some. I don't recall a train crash in the book, and that's a big event. The snippets of Melies films (with lobster costumes) imply perhaps a flashback to the heyday of the Melies studio, which would be a fun addition as well. I did hear from someone at the Academy that Serge Bromberg's color restoration of A Trip to the Moon will be part of the show. So that can be your excuse to see the film, if you need one.

LongRider · Post by **LongRider** » Mon Aug 01, 2011 4:29 pm

The train crash referred to a train that crashed inside the station some time earlier in the station's history. There was a photo of the crash in the book.

Cheers,
Maureen

FrankFay · Post by **FrankFay** » Mon Aug 01, 2011 4:30 pm

. Here's a photo of the actual crash: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Train ... e_1895.jpg" target="_blank" target="_blank

What bothers me a little is that from what I heard in the trailer they're using British accents instead of French. Couldn't they find children with French accents?

This is just a minor irritation, and it's a problem that crops up all through sound pictures- how to deal with accents, or with actors who are supposed to be speaking a foreign language. This last is sometimes ludicrous in war pictures where two characters can't understand each other though we hear both speaking English.

LongRider · Post by **LongRider** » Mon Aug 01, 2011 5:25 pm

Thanks Eric,

That was the photo in the book.

The station master in the book did not have a dog either, iirc. Just another 'improvement' on the original story.

Cheer,
Maureen

FrankFay · Post by **FrankFay** » Mon Aug 01, 2011 6:16 pm

LongRider wrote:Thanks Eric,

That was the photo in the book.

The station master in the book did not have a dog either, iirc. Just another 'improvement' on the original story.

Cheer,
Maureen

I don't mind additions like that, when you go from the page to the screen you often need to add visual elements. It looks as if they're also adding a bit of sci fi / fantasy.

Marilyn Slater · Post by **Marilyn Slater** » Sat Nov 19, 2011 2:38 am

Mary Mallory sent a note regarding an interview done on ALL THINGS CONSIDERED (NPR) by Melissa Block with Martin Scorsese’ about his movie HUGO, I have posted the transcript at Looking for Mabel. Scorsese explains the telling of a story of George Melies, the toy maker and maker of movie magic (and it is a 3-D movie)!!!

http://looking-for-mabel.webs.com/melieshugo2011.htm

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