‘Hugo’ Introduction: Scorsese Invites You to His Latest, Which Will Premiere at the NYFF

It was speculated all weekend and confirmed this morning that Martin Scorsese‘s Hugo, a feature adaptation of Brian Selznick’s best-selling children’s novel, “The Invention of Hugo Cabret“, will premiere tonight, October 10, at the New York Film Festival (NYFF) and with that announcement comes an introductory video from Scorsese.

To date not much has been revealed of the story of an orphaned boy (Asa Butterfield) who secretly lives in the walls of a busy Paris train station and looks after the clocks and gets caught up in a mystery adventure when he attempts to repair a mechanical man. We’ve had the here and there.

However, in response to the buzz the film would be showing at NYFF, Jeff Wells at Hollywood Elsewhere received an email from someone claiming to have seen the film and they were quite enthusiastic about it:

“Not at all. Lots of wide-angle and tracking shots. In fact, there’s one tracking shot in the opening 10 minutes that outdoes the Copa shot in Goodfellas in terms of sheer technical razzle-dazzle — it follows Hugo across and around catwalks, down a ladder, around a spiral slide, through walls, etc.  It doesn’t have the same narrative effect as the Copa shot, but it left my jaw the floor.

“The most consistently impressive aspect of the 3D is actually the particulate matter Scorsese adds to all the shots in the train station — amber-hued dust, snow, seta, etc.

“Also, much of the aesthetic is rooted in the wide proscenium framings of silent cinema. This makes a lot of narrative sense once the ‘secret’ of the film is revealed.

That was in mid-September and the screening tonight at NYFF is said to still be a “work in progress” print as the film works toward its November 23 release.

All of that said, here’s the video I promised. Along with Butterfield in the title role, the film also stars Sacha Baron Cohen, Ben Kingsley, Chloe Moretz, Jude Law, Ray Winstone, Christopher Lee, Frances De La Tour, Richard Griffiths, Mathieu Amalric, Emily Mortimer and Michael Stuhlbarg.

Tonight’s screening is obviously meant to generate some buzz around the film and I can’t help but wonder if we’re looking at a potentially successful kids film or another major Oscar contender from Scorsese. Thoughts?