Scorsese assembles cast for 'The Invention of Hugo Cabret'

By Sarah Sluis

As a big Scorsese fan with high expectations of his work, I, like many others, was disappointed by Shutter Island. It did well enough at the box office, so at least he gets points for making a profitable picture, but the movie itself was smoke and mirrors followed by a fairly obvious revelation.

I'm more enthusiastic about his next venture, The Invention of Hugo Cabret, which has assembled its lead cast, pending final deals. Twelve-year-old Asa Butterfield (The Boy in the Striped Pajamas) would play an orphan living in a French train station. He steals mechanical parts from different merchants in an

attempt to bring to life an automaton. The robot-like being intrigued his late father, a clockmaker who worked in a museum, and the boy wants to carry on his legacy. When he steals from a toy store, he ends up entangled

with the owner, Georges Mlis (Ben Kingsley), who in actuality was the pioneer of French cinema and special effects. Fellow kid Chloe Moretz (upcoming Kick-Ass, Let Me In) becomes Butterfield's sidekick, and Sacha Baron Cohen (Borat) plays a station inspector who must deal with the trouble-prone boy.

The Sony-distributed movie is based on a young adult book of the same name and winner of the Caldecott Medal in 2008. The award goes to illustrated books, but this one is unusual in that it is a 550 pages--great source material from which to craft a meaty plot and visual style.

Why would Scorsese be interested in a project like this? The most obvious reason is its tie to film history. Scorsese is a passionate lover of film and advocate for film preservation. He would jump at the chance to depict Mlis, who was famous for films like A Trip to the Moon, which employed what were at the time cutting-edge special effects. Hopefully, part of the movie involves recreating some of Mlis' trick photography.

From a character and plot perspective, Scorsese is attracted to morally ambiguous heroes. The boy, who resorts to stealing to fulfill his goal of re-creating this robot, is typical: a good person doing a bad thing. Expect the danger of his actions played up for the cameras.

Left unclear is whether this movie will be a PG-rated family film or something darker. I suspect the former. Tim Burton has had great success drawing a wide audience to his children's tales (Alice in Wonderland, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory) with very adult sensibilities. If The Invention of Hugo Cabret has a PG rating and a Scorsese feel, adults and kids alike will be interested in seeing the movie.