(soft clicking sounds)
(soft instrumental music)
(distant traffic noise)
(distant sound of trains)
(soft instrumental music)
(cheerful instrumental music)
(low indistinct chatter)
Good morning.
(indistinct chatter)
(cheerful instrumental music)
(instrumental music, slowly building)
(clicking sounds)
(soft instrumental music)
(music becomes suspenseful)
Got you at last!
Not the first time you've stolen from me, is it, my little thief?
- Empty your pockets. - You're hurting me!
Empty pockets or I'll call the station inspector! Do as I say!
(chuckles)
What are you doing with all these?
- And the other one. - There's nothing in it.
Where's the Station Inspector?
(soft instrumental music)
Ghosts.
Did you draw these pictures?
- Where did you steal this? - I didn't steal it.
A thief and a liar. Get out of here!
- Give me my notebook! -It's mine now, and I think I'll burn it.
- No! - Then tell me who did the drawings!
Get out of here, you little thief! (echoes)
Why are you still here? Go! (echoes)
Maximilian, do you hear an atrocity? Calamity? Corruption? Go!
(low indistinct chatter of alarm, Maximilian barks)
Excuse me! Excuse me! Move aside. (Maximilian barks and growls)
Move aside! Gangway!
(Maximilian barks and growls)
Stand aside!
(indistinct chatter, exclaims, Maximilian growls)
(cheerful music)
(exclaims)
What?
(dog barks, woman screams)
(screams)
(music stops)
As you were.
(instrumental music)
(Monsieur Frick grunts and sputters)
Stop that child! Apprehend! Monsieur Frick!
Hey! Move aside! Move! Move!
Move!
(woman screams)
Sir, move! (grunts)
(Maximilian barks)
(instrumental music)
(sound of train)
Malediction!
Oh, no! Stop the train! Hold the train!
Help! Help! Assistance!
Hold it! Hold the train!
Move the bag. Move the bag. (groans and moans)
No!
(soft instrumental music)
(sound of keys)
(door squeaks open)
(music slowly builds)
(low and indistinct chatter)
(rattling sound)
(cheerful instrumental music)
(low growling)
Oh, my God! I'm so sorry, Monsieur Frick.
(Frick mumbles)
What's the matter with you?
No, no, no, that was very bad.
(instrumental music)
(rattling sounds)
(soft instrumental music)
(music builds)
opening hours, closed Sunday
I know you're there.
What's your name, boy?
Hugo. Hugo Cabret.
Stay away from me, Hugo Cabret.
Or I'll drag you to the Station Inspector's office!
He'll lock you up in his little cell,
and you'll never get out.
You'll never go to school. You'll never get married,
and have children who take things that don't belong to them!
Give me back my notebook.
I'm going home to burn your notebook.
(soft instrumental music)
- You can't burn my notebook! - And who's to stop me?
(soft instrumental music continues)
(music builds, street noises)
(noises from trains)
(music continues)
(soft ominous music)
(music swells)
(sound of train)
(soft instrumental music)
(Mama Jeanne) You look so cold.
(Papa Georges) Very odd. He's really upset me. That Child.
(mouthing) Come down. Please.
(soft instrumental music)
- Who are you? - Your grandfather stole my notebook.
I've got to get it back before he burns it.
Papa Georges isn't my grandfather. And he isn't a thief. You're the thief.
You're nothing but a...
a reprobate.
- You have to go. - Not without my notebook.
Why do you need it so badly?
I can't tell you.
Is it a secret?
- Yes. - Oh, good! I love secrets.
- Tell me this instant. - No!
- Then you have to leave. - Not without my notebook!
(Isabelle hushes Hugo)
I'll get in trouble.
Just go home!
All right.
I'll make sure he doesn't burn your notebook. Now go.
(soft instrumental music)
-(Hugo) What is it? -(Father) It's called an automaton.
An automaton?
I found him abandoned in the attic at the museum.
What does he do?
He's a windup figure, like a music box.
And this is the most complicated one I've ever seen by far.
You see, this one...
this one...
can write.
- It must've been made in London. - Where mother was from.
She was from Coventry, but she moved to London.
Magicians used machines like this when I was a boy.
Some walked, some danced, some sang. But the secret,
was always in the clockwork.
Look at that.
- Can we fix him? - I don't know, Hugo.
He's badly rusted. And finding parts to fit will be very hard.
Of course we can fix him.
We're clockmakers, aren't we?
But only after I've finished my work at the shop and at the museum.
You understand.
(soft instrumental music)
Now we'll put this back in. Just steady it.
Perfect.
See this?
Another complication.
Another mystery.
- It makes you happy. - Mmm.
A keyhole in the shape of a heart.
Unfortunately, we don't have the key.
(soft instrumental music)
(soft buzzing sound)
(rattling noises in the distance)
(soft ominous instrumental music)
(music builds)
I fixed the gears and--
Uncle Claude?
There was a fire. Your father's dead.
Pack your things, quickly. You're coming with me.
Quick!
You'll be my apprentice, and you'll live with me at the station.
I'll teach you how to take care of the clocks.
These apartments were built for them that run the station years ago.
But everybody's forgotten they're here.
Your bed is in the corner over there.
Now get some sleep. We start work at five.
- What about school? - You've finished with school.
There'll be no time for that when you're in them walls.
Hugo...
Without me, you'd be in the orphanage.
(coughs and wheezes)
Ah, time. Time is...
sixty seconds in a minute.
Sixty minutes in an hour.
Time's everything. Everything.
Ah, time, time.
(soft instrumental music)
(low opera music)
(chuckles) Hello.
((109 growls)
I just thought you might-- (dog growls, Frick whimpers)
(Madame) Stop that! No, Schatzi! Stop it!
(Madame) Oh, no no no no no no! (screams)
((109 barks)
(Madame) Stand back! He's just a small little dog.
Please be careful. You've stepped on him!
(Frick continues whimpering)
(indistinct chatter)
(opera music continues)
(ominous instrumental music)
(ticking of clock)
(instrumental music)
- Good morning! -(man) Morning, sweetheart.
(instrumental music continues)
- Good morning, sir. Can I help you? - I'll take these, dear.
(instrumental music continues)
(squeaking sound, music stops)
(music starts again)
(sound of roll-down shutter)
I thought I might see you today.
I need my notebook.
Why do you need it so badly?
To help me...
to fix something.
(soft instrumental music)
Go away.
Please, just go away.
Wait!
- Sorry, I... - I saw.
Are you crying?
- No. - Hold still.
Look. There is nothing wrong with crying.
Sydney Carton cries. And Heathcliff, too.
- In books they're crying all the time. - I can do it!
I need to talk to you. It's terribly important.
But not here. We're too...
exposed.
- Come on. - Where are we going?
Only to the most wonderful place on earth.
It's Neverland and Oz and Treasure Island all wrapped into one.
(door bells ring) - Good morning, Monsieur Labisse. -Isabelle.
May I present to you Monsieur Hugo Cabret...
a very old and dear companion.
Monsieur Cabret.
Hello.
Well, thank you for this.
I think I'm halfway in love with David Copperfield.
- Photography? - Back corner, left, top shelf.
Thank you.
(instrumental music)
- Listen, what is so important? - Papa Georges still has your notebook.
- He didn't burn it. That was all a trick. - Why?
I don't know. All I know is the notebook made him very upset.
He and Mama Jeanne stayed up very late talking about it.
(sighs)
Well, you see, I think he was crying.
- Why are you helping me? - Because this might be an adventure.
And I've never had one before.
Outside of books at least.
And I think we should be very...
clandestine.
Okay.
By the way, my name's Isabelle. Do you want a book?
Monsieur Labisse lets me borrow them and I'm sure, I could get one for you.
No.
- Don't you like books? - No, no. I do.
My father and I used to read Jules Verne together.
Well, come on.
- How do I get my notebook back? - Well...
I think you should stand up to him. And don't tell him we talked.
I'll help you if I can.
Be steadfast.
(indistinct chatter, sound of trains)
Go away.
Fix it.
I said, fix it.
I know you've been stealing parts from the shop.
You might as well use those you haven't stolen yet.
(soft instrumental music)
(music stops)
(buzzing sound)
(playful instrumental music)
- Give me my notebook. - You've got a bit of talent.
You'll have to proof there's more to you than being a thief.
You can earn your notebook.
- How? - Come to the booth every day.
I'll decide how long you must work for each item you stole.
And it will be up to me to decide when you've earned your notebook, if ever.
- I already have a job. - Thief is not a job, boy.
I have a different job.
So I'll come when I can.
You begin tomorrow. Go away.
I'll begin now!
Not that one. The other one. (clears throat)
(cheerful music)
(cheerful music continues in the background)
Is this your card?
(cheerful music continues)
(soft instrumental music)
(soft rattling sound)
(music continues)
Where is it?
(cheerful music)
(music becomes ominous)
- Little man. wasps)
(Maximilian growls and barks)
- Where are your designated adults?! - Ain't got none!
- Do you have any parents?! - No!
Excellent! It's straight to the orphanage with you!
What were you doing looking in that man's bottle?!
Was that your bottle?!
Was that your paper bag? Was that your paper bag?!
Yes, Gustave Dasté here.
Yes, officer, another orphan. Trespass and theft this time.
His hand was trespassing inside a paper bag,
with the intent of removing its contents. (boy whimpers)
The object of his plunder? A pastry. (whimpering continues)
Be quiet!
Keep...Stop your sniffling! You little urchin, with your filthy little mitts.
No, of course I wasn't talking to you. I have only the highest respect for you.
No, that was not a comment about your wife.
That's absurd. I have not heard any of those rumours.
No, I was not aware of that. Well, I am sure she will return.
Come on, you little vermin. (boy cries)
- So here's the little pastry thief. - Yes. Who's a little strudel thief then?
- Apologies about your wife. - What should I do about her?
- About what? - Leaving me.
- Oi! - Hey! Come on.
Come here! Come back, you little... (continues indistinct)
- You think it's mine? - What?
She's having a baby, you know.
- Sure it's yours. - Who else's could it be?
When was the last time you had relations with her?
- Anytime in the last year? - No, I don't think so.
- Very suspicious then. - If you should see her...please.
- You sure you want her back? - Oh, yes, yes. I love her very much.
Ready? One, two, three! (laughter)
It was perfect.
(bell tinkling)
Robin Hood. I saw this movie. With Douglas Fairbanks.
- Did you see that? - I've never seen a movie.
- What?! "Isn't it appalling?!
You've never seen a movie? Not ever?
Papa Georges won't let me. He's very strict about it.
I love the movies! My father always took me for my birthday.
Hugo...
is your father dead?
I don't want to talk about it.
(soft instrumental music)
Isabelle...
Do you want to have an adventure?
(music builds)
film theatre silent movie festival
(instrumental music)
We could get into trouble.
That's how you know it's an adventure.
(suspenseful instrumental music)
(gasps)
(music continues)
(music picks up pace)
(music becomes suspenseful again)
How did you two rats get in here?! Come on!
(playful instrumental music)
I'd better not see you in here again!
(music continues)
Why doesn't Papa Georges let you go to the movies?
(laughs) I don't know. He never said.
I bet my parents would've let me.
What happened to them?
They died, when I was a baby.
Papa Georges and Mama Jeanne are my godparents, so they took me in.
They're very nice about most everything, except the movies. (laughs)
My father took me to the movies all the time.
He told me about the first one he ever saw.
He went into a dark room and on a white screen he saw a rocket fly,
into the eye of the man in the moon. It went straight in.
He said it was like seeing his dreams in the middle of the day.
The movies were our special place. Where we could go and,
watch something and--
(sighs) We didn't miss my mum so much.
You think about him a lot, don't you?
All the time.
Hugo.
Where do you live?
(sound of trains in the background)
(soft instrumental music)
There.
My uncle taught me how to run the clocks.
So I just keep on doing it.
Maybe he'll come back some day. But I doubt it.
Aren't you afraid someone will find out?
Not as long as the clocks keep on running and no one sees me.
(ominous instrumental music, Hugo gasps)
Act natural.
- What? - Just keep on walking. Act natural.
How am I acting now?
(music continues)
(overlapping sounds of train station)
You two! Halt!
Come here.
(ominous instrumental music)
- Good day, Monsieur. - Where are your parents?
I work with my Papa Georges, at the toy booth.
Surely you've seen me there before.
And this is my cousin from the country. Hugo.
(Maximilian growls)
You'll have to forgive him. He's quite simple-minded.
Doltish really. Poor thing.
(Maximilian growls and barks)
Seems Maximilian doesn't like the cut of your jib, little man.
He is disturbed by your physiognomy.
He is upset by your visage.
Why would he not like your face?
Eh?
Well... perhaps he smells my cat.
- Cat? - Yes
Christina Rossetti's her name. After the poetess.
Would you like me to recite?
"My heart is like a singing bird
"Whose nest is in a watered shoot
"My heart is like an apple tree
"Whose boughs are bent with thick--"
All right! I know the rest. Enough poetry for today.
I love poetry, particularly that poem by Chris--
--tina. . .. - Rossetti.
Yes, she's one of my favourites. I know it's Rossetti.
I love poetry, just...
not in the station. We're here to either get on trains or get off them.
Or work in different shops. Is that clear?
- Yes, sir. - Watch your step.
Go on. Go!
(instrumental music)
Doltish?
Now, since I just saved your life,
how about letting me see your covert lair?
- My what? - Where you live, in the walls.
I have to go now. I have things to do.
Hold on! You've seen my house. Isn't it time I saw yours?
- After all, I am your only friend. - You're not my only friend.
Being enigmatic really doesn't suit you! What are you up to?
I've got to go! I should never have left the station to begin with!
(instrumental music)
(gasps)
(music slowly builds)
(screaming) Hugo!
(music continues)
(gasps)
Where did you get this?
- None of your business. -l need it
- What for? - I just need it.
Not unless you tell me why.
Come.
(instrumental music)
This is marvellous! I feel just like Jean Valjean!
Oh, this is superlative!
What is that?
It's an automaton.
My father was fixing it before he died.
(soft instrumental music)
Why would my key fit into your father's machine?
- He looks sad. - I think he's just waiting.
For what?
To work again.
To do what he's supposed to do.
What happens when you wind him up?
I don't know.
(soft instrumental music)
What's the matter?
I know it's silly.
But I think it's going to be a message from my father.
(rattling sound)
(tinkly sound)
(soft instrumental music)
(soft rattling sounds)
(music continues)
(rattling sounds stop)
(rattling sounds start again, music continues)
(music and rattling sounds stop)
What an idiot-- To think I could fix it!
It's broken! It's always been broken!
(sobs)
Hugo. It doesn't have to be like this. You can fix it.
You don't understand.
I thought...
if I could fix it, I wouldn't be so alone.
(rattling sounds)
Hugo...Hugo, look.
Look. It's not done!
It's not done!
(rattling sounds and instrumental music)
It's not writing.
It's drawing!
(rattling sounds and instrumental music continue)
(rattling sounds stop)
That's the movie my father saw.
(rattling sounds)
(instrumental music)
(rattling sounds stop)
Georges Méliés.
That's Papa Georges' name.
Why would your father's machine sign Papa Georges' name?
I don't know.
(soft instrumental music)
Thank you.
It was a message from my father.
And now we have to figure it out.
(soft instrumental music)
Come on.
(Mama Jeanne) Isabelle?
Mama Jeanne, yes. We have to talk to you.
This is Hugo Cabret.
Good evening, ma'am.
Very good manners, for a thief.
I'm not a thief.
What's going on?
It's a terribly long story filled with circumlocutions!
- Remember several weeks ago when-- - Wait!
(sighs)
(soft instrumental music)
Mama?
Oh, children--
What have you done? Where did you get this?
- You'll call me a liar. - No, child.
A mechanical man drew it.
- Do you have him? - My father found him in a museum.
Nobody wanted him.
We fixed it.
No, but it needed my...
my key-
- The key I gave you. - No, no, Mama, he--
Now you take this away!
We can't dredge up the past! And don't let Papa Georges see it!
- What's going on. - Out! None of your business.
- You must both forget this. - My father and I worked hard to fix this.
This is all I have left of him.
I need to know what it means.
Please.
You're too young to understand.
You should not yet know such sadness.
-It's Papa Georges. - He can't know you're here.
Quick!
Keep quiet. I'll find a way to get him out of the apartment.
Not a noise.
(instrumental music)
She looked at the armoire.
I searched it when I was looking for your notebook.
I'll look again. You stand guard.
Splendid.
(instrumental music)
(mama en papa talking indistinctly)
(Papa) Where's Fizzie?
You didn't see her on the stairs when you were going past?
(indistinct)
(instrumental music continues)
Look.
(music continues)
We have to investigate.
Let me, I'm taller.
(music continues)
Knock on it.
(music continues)
(exhales)
(shrieks)
(instrumental music)
(door opens)
Back from the dead.
- Stop it! This is your work! - My work?!
What am I?
Nothing but a penniless merchant! A broken windup toy!
I trusted you.
This is how you thank me?
You're cruel.
Cruel.
(breathes heavily, weeps)
(soft instrumental music)
I should go back.
Okay.
Thank you,
for the movie today.
It was a gift.
(grunts)
Sorry! I--
You know this volume?
- My father and I used to read it together. - Oh.
'Tis intended for my godson.
But now I think, it is intended,
for you, Monsieur Cabret.
(soft instrumental music)
(overlapping noises from train station)
(gasps)
- Might I have another cup? - Still brewing. Soon.
Demitasse, like everything else, must happen at the opportune moment.
If we only knew when that moment was.
Oh, Gustave, be intrepid. Say hello to her.
Come on. Give me your best smile.
Your best smile!
It's beautiful.
Radiant!
Thank you.
(music in the background)
- Oh. - Mademoiselle Lisette.
A very gracious good evening to you.
- Monsieur Inspector. - Yes.
Yes.
- Those are lovely posies there. - Thank you.
Yes, they're from Gourdon.
They come in on the overnight train, so they're very fresh.
Gourdon. Splendid country that.
Robust.
The weather.
The cows and such mooing.
Perfectly formed udders.
Yes.
Are they... Are they smelly?
- Are they smelly flowers? - Oh.
Yes, a little. Please.
(music in the background continues)
(Squeaking sound)
You see, I was injured in the war, and it will never heal.
Good evening, mademoiselle.
I lost my brother.
Where?
Verdun.
(music continues in the background)
Good evening, Monsieur Inspector.
Very good evening, Mademoiselle Lisette.
(instrumental music)
(soft instrumental music)
(Monsieur Labisse) The Film Academy library.
(HUGO) Excuse me?
The Film Academy library.
You'll find all you need to know about movies there.
Second level, fourth row, section 3.
And yes, top shelf.
(soft instrumental music)
(Monsieur Labisse) "The Invention of Dreams."
By René Tabard.
"The Story of the First Movies."
(Hugo) "In 1995, one of the first films ever shown
was called 'A Train Arrives in the Station'
which had nothing more than a train coming into the station."
(piano music from film)
(gasps from audience)
(Isabelle) "When the train came speeding towards the screen...
the audience screamed,
because they thought they were in danger of being run over.
No one had ever seen anything like it before."
(Hugo) "No one had ever seen anything like it before."
(rattling of movie projector, piano music from movie)
(Hugo) "What began as a sideshow novelty soon grew,
into something more when the first filmmakers discovered,
they could use the new medium to tell stories."
(rattling sound of movie projector, music from movie)
Wow. (giggling)
(rattling sound of movie projector, music from movie)
(sounds and music stop)
(Isabelle) "The filmmaker, Georges Mélies,
was one of the first to realize that,
films had the power to capture dreams."
(Hugo) "The great pioneer of early cinema died during...
the Great War"?
Died?
- During the Great-- - You're interested in Mélies?
Uh--
Yes.
It's allowed.
Is it?
He's my godfather, you see.
And very much alive, thank you very much!
But that's not possible.
I assure you, sir, it's true.
Why should I believe you?
Because...
Because it's true.
Méliés alive?
(chuckles)
(laughs out loud)
(someone hushes him)
Come with me.
(dramatic instrumental music)
Your godfather is a passion of mine.
He was a great filmmaker. Here he is at work in his studio.
And this is a handbill, from his stage act.
Here is the great crystal mystery clock,
made by his mentor Robert-Houdin.
And this is one of his actual cameras.
- He was a magician? - Yes, he began on the stage.
- How did he start making movies? - No one really knows.
Look how happy he is.
Professor Tabard,
would you perhaps like to meet him?
Oh,
but you see, I have met him.
My brother worked as a carpenter building sets for Méliés.
One day he took me to visit the studio.
It was like something out of a dream.
The whole building was made of glass.
In reality this was to let in all the sunlight necessary for filming.
But to my eyes, it was nothing short of an enchanted castle.
A palace made of glass.
(soft instrumental music)
(crew member) We need more light. Get the louvers opened.
Clear the set, please. Everybody except actors.
Actors on the set.
(overlapping background noises)
There was a lobster in front of a mermaid.
If that happens again, shout "blocked".
(overlapping background noises)
If you've ever wondered where your dreams come from,
you look around.
This is where they're made.
(instrumental music)
Ladies and gentlemen! The sun will set.
Knights in position, lobsters in position. Mermaids in position. Action!
(instrumental music)
(Monsieur Tabard) In the end, he made over five hundred movies.
He was phenomenally popular in his day.
Why did he stop?
Up until today, I believed that he died in the war.
Like so many others.
- Could we watch some of his movies? - I wish you could.
But time hasn't been kind to old movies.
This is the only one that we know of that survived.
Out of hundreds, one.
And still,
it is a masterpiece.
We must get Tabard to show Papa Georges the film.
Then he'll see he's not forgotten.
Shouldn't I tell Mama Jeanne?
No. I think it should be a surprise.
Like a magic trick.
We need to have some...
panache.
Panache.
Well done.
(gasps)
(crashing sound)
(instrumental music)
Monsieur Claude?
Are you up there?
Monsieur Claude, was that you?
Keep a grip onto your spanners, you sack-handed oaf!
You hold onto a bottle well enough, don't you?!
Are you inebriated?
Chateaux'ed, are we?
Schicker, are you drunk?
He's passed out.
He's passed out, hasn't he? You bloated buffoon!
Could've hurt a child!
(sighs)
(soft instrumental music)
(soft rattling sounds)
What have we here? Jules Verne! Yes indeed.
- Not unknown in France. - One of our finest.
Monsieur Labisse gave me a book the other night.
He's always doing that.
Sending books to a good home. That's what he calls it.
He's got real...
Purpose.
What do you mean?
Everything has a purpose. Even machines.
Clocks tell the time. Trains take you places.
They do what they're meant to do. Like Monsieur Labisse.
Maybe that's why broken machines make me so sad.
They can't do what they're meant to do.
Maybe it's the same with people.
If you lose your purpose it's like you're broken.
Like Papa Georges.
Maybe we can fix him.
Is that your purpose? Fixing things?
I don't know. It's what my father did.
I wonder what my purpose is.
I don't know.
Maybe if I had known my parents,
I would know.
Come with me.
(instrumental music, rattling sounds)
Right after my father died, I would come up here a lot.
I'd imagine the whole world was one big machine.
Machines never come with any extra parts, you know.
They always come with the exact amount they need.
So I figured, if the entire world was one big machine,
I couldn't be an extra part. I had to be here for some reason.
And that means you have to be here for some reason too.
(instrumental music, rattling sounds)
(sound of roll-down shutter)
Get back.
I'll bring Tabard tomorrow night at seven. Don't say anything.
Are you sure about this?
Not really.
But I think, it's the only way to...
To fix him.
(soft instrumental music)
(Isabelle) How was your day?
(soft ticking)
(soft instrumental music)
(overlapping noises from train station)
(soft instrumental music)
(loud noises from train, suspenseful instrumental music)
There's a boy on the track! Get out of the way!
There's a boy!
Turn it off!
(suspenseful instrumental music)
Get out of the way! Move! Out!
(screeching noise)
(screams)
(overlapping screams, crashing sounds)
Look out!
(overlapping screams, crashing sounds)
(gasps)
(soft ticking)
(ticking continues, becoming louder)
(dramatic instrumental music)
(rattling sounds)
(clanging sounds)
(gasps)
(instrumental music)
(telephone ringing)
(Gustave) Morning.
Yes, he's employed here. Large uncouth man.
In the Seine? Deceased? Are you sure?
No, he has no...no relatives.
Thank you. I will gather his belongings. Thank you so much.
If he's deceased,
then who has been winding the clocks?
(soft ticking)
- Good evening. - This way, sir.
(knocks on door)
I'll get it.
Well, what a surprise! Come in, come in.
Isabelle, what's the meaning of this?
- Please, don't be mad, Mama. - That young man is not welcome here.
We found out who Papa Georges is.
I deeply apologise, Madame. I thought you were expecting us.
I will leave immediately and return upon your request.
Please, keep your voices down.
- My husband is sleeping. He isn't well. - No, Mama.
Mama, don't make them leave.
I don't wish to impose on you, Madame Méliés,
but if this is to be the only time we meet,
please, let me express to you,
the profound debt of gratitude I owe your husband.
When I was a boy, I saw all his films.
They inspired me.
Your husband is a very great artist.
I am so pleased,
you remember my husband's films with such fondness.
But, he's so fragile now.
It only hurts him to remember the past.
Then we will take our leave, Madame.
And I do hope you'll forgive me for saying,
you are as lovely now as you were in the movies.
-(Isabelle) Mama? - You were in the movies?
She appeared in almost all his films.
- You were an actress? - It was a long time ago, children.
It was another time.
Well, I was another person.
Would you like to meet her again?
We have a film.
One of Georges' films?
That's impossible. They're all gone.
May we show you?
-(Hugo) Please. - Yes, please, Mama. Please!
Be quick with it.
(Isabelle) You were an actress! A real cinema actress! It's impossibly romantic.
It wasn't like that. We weren't movie stars like they have today.
But we did have fun.
Madame Méliés?
(rattling sound of movie projector)
(laughs)
(soft instrumental music)
-(Isabelle) It's in colour! -(Mama) Of course.
We tinted the film. We painted it by hand. Frame by frame.
(soft instrumental music)
Mama, it's you.
Yes.
(soft instrumental music)
Ah, beautiful.
(music continues)
You were beautiful.
She still is.
I would recognise the sound of a movie projector anywhere.
Georges.
You've tried to forget the past for so long.
It's brought you nothing but unhappiness. Hmm?
Maybe it's time to try and remember.
Do you want to know?
Yes.
Just like you,
I loved to fix things.
I started out as a magician.
Mama Jeanne was my assistant.
(cheerful instrumental music)
(drum-roll)
(gasps, cheers and applause)
We were very successful. We even had our own theatre.
(instrumental music)
(cheers) Bravo!
But I was always tinkering with machines.
I had my own workshop at the theatre where I could invent new illusions.
Once I even built a working automaton.
He was a particular treasure.
I put my heart and soul into him.
(overlapping music and chatter)
Then, one night, Mama Jeanne and I went to visit a travelling circus.
We were walking past the sideshow tents when I noticed something.
Something strange. Something wonderful.
(man) It will terrify you. Sir, Madame, inside we have moving pictures.
See the greatest event of your lives!
The Lumière brothers had invented the movies.
(piano music)
(overlapping gasps, laughs)
(piano music continues, rattling sound of movie projector)
I fell in love with their invention. I had to be part of it!
It was like a new kind of magic!
I asked the Lumière brothers to sell me a camera, but they refused.
They were convinced the movies were only a passing fad,
and they saw no future in it. Or so they said.
In the end, I built my own camera,
using leftover pieces from the automaton. I had to be a part of this new wonder!
We risked everything.
And we sold the theatre and everything we had,
-so we could build our own movie studio. - Excellent.
(young Georges) Cameras, are we clear?
And so the great adventure began.
(young Georges) Actors only on the set, please.
I love this shape, Mel. It's a toile though, right?
It eats the light.
I wrote, designed, directed,
and acted in hundreds of movies.
I'm ready.
(explosion sound)
(piano music)
That was good. Yes, yes.
Good. On the pulley? On the smoke?
(piano music)
(piano music builds)
Stop, stop! Give me two minutes.
It was good up to there. Benny? I'm gonna have a word.
- Reload. - Reset the dragon.
Benny, pull down harder on the left rope, so the head comes up higher.
Under the belly! Excellent. Excellent. Excellent!
Choreography was really good. Thank you, gentlemen.
First positions.
Action!
(piano music)
(piano music builds)
Excellent! Settling back.
And in for the kill, knights! In for the kill!
Come on, men. Attack!
Stabbing, stabbing. And lunge!
(grunts)
(piano music)
Good! Good, knights. Poised for the attack!
Knights. Three, two, one! Freeze!
Skeletons, that's great. You can go. Pyrotechnics, in please! Don't move.
Freeze, everybody. Wait for my action.
Three, two, one, action! (sound of explosion)
Magic tricks and illusions became my specialty.
The world of imagination.
(piano music)
My beautiful wife was my muse.
My star. And we couldn't have been happier.
Action!
(piano music, sound of fireworks)
We thought it would never end. How could it?
(sound of explosions)
But then the war came,
and youth and hope were at an end.
The world had no time for magic tricks and movie shows.
The returning soldiers, having seen so much of reality,
were bored by my films.
Tastes had changed, but I had not changed with them.
No one wanted my movies any more.
Eventually I couldn't pay the actors,
or keep the business running.
And so my enchanted castle fell to ruin.
Everything was lost.
One night in bitter despair,
I burned all my old sets and costumes.
(piano music)
I was forced to sell my movies to a company that melted them down,
into chemicals.
These chemicals were used to make shoe heels.
(sound of heels)
With the little money I had from selling my films, I bought the toy booth.
And there I have remained.
The only thing I couldn't bring myself to destroy was my beloved automaton.
I gave him to a museum, hoping he would find a home.
But they never put him on display. Then the museum burned.
It's all gone now. Everything I ever made.
Nothing but ashes and fading strips of celluloid.
My life has taught me one lesson, Hugo, and not the one I thought it would.
Happy endings only happen in the movies.
I'll be right back!
(instrumental music)
(Opera music)
(overlapping noises and chatter)
(dog growls and barks)
Stop It! No! Don't frighten Monsieur Frick.
What's he got?
(gasps)
Oh, my goodness!
Did you see that?
Be brave.
(opera music continues)
Oho! Monsieur Frick, I am undone!
(opera music continues)
(Hugo gasps)
(low ominous instrumental music)
Good evening.
There has been a disquieting development.
-(Frick) What is it? - You know Monsieur Claude?
He's been found deceased. (gasps)
(Madame) Monsieur Claude?
Consequently, he will no longer be winding the clocks.
You've got a little friend!
- Hello. - Hello.
Monsieur Claude is dead. (Lisette gasps)
What? Why? What happened to him?
They found his corpse in the Seine. It's been down there for many months.
Can't say I'm surprised. He was an inebriant of the highest order.
- Well, yes, he was a drunk. - I wouldn't say that.
Yes, he was a drunk! Scram! Shoo! Go away!
On a good day he could've drunk the entire River Seine!
Go away. Shoo.
Hold it. (screams)
- Let me go. - Did you think you'd escape me?
- Gustave, have a heart. - Please, help me.
- Please. - No.
He's been undermining this station, for too long!
(overlapping grunts)
- What's the boy done? - Let me go!
- Don't do this! -Into my office!
- You don't understand. I've got to go! - Not until your parents are found.
- I don't have any! - Then it's straight to the orphanage.
You'll learn a thing or two there.
I certainly did! How to follow orders. How to keep to yourself.
How to survive without a family, because you don't need one.
You don't need a family!
Police Headquarters, 7th Arrondissement? It's me again.
Another orphan. Has been a busy week.
Trespass, theft. Pilfering, littering, pillorying,
walking about, playing. It's irrelevant. Please come and pick him up.
Anyway, how are you?
Oh, she came back! Oh, you think it's yours.
Excellent!
Well, I suppose you'll find out in seven months.
Pardon me. Oh, in March?
I'll try to come. I tend not to plan that far ahead.
Well, are you sure?
That's very flattering! But is it appropriate, for me to be the godfa--
Sir, hold on!
(suspenseful instrumental music)
(Gustave) Maximilian!
(music continues)
(Gustave) Move aside!
Out of the way!
(music stops)
(ominous tune)
(suspenseful instrumental music)
(loud bang)
Maximilian, find him!
(music continues)
You can't escape me!
(barks in the background)
(music continues)
(Maximilian barks) There's nowhere to hide up there, boy!
(dramatic instrumental music)
Three hundred eight, three hundred nine.
(music continues)
(Maximilian barks)
(music continues)
Maximilian! He's gone the other way! Come on!
(music continues)
(sound of whooshing wind)
(suspenseful instrumental music)
(overlapping sounds and chatter)
(instrumental music)
Get out of my way!
(Maximilian barks)
Gotcha!
(low dramatic instrumental music)
(suspenseful instrumental music)
(sound of train)
(overlapping shouts)
There's a boy! There's a boy on the track!
(music continues)
Get out of the way!
(screeching sounds)
(music continues)
Move back! Move aside! Move back!
What were you thinking? Are you injured?
Come on!
Stand aside. Careful.
- The orphanage will deal with you. - I don't belong there.
So where do you belong then? You must belong somewhere.
Listen to me, please! You do not understand!
You have to let me go!
I don't understand why my father died.
Why am I lonely.
This is my only chance to work.
You should understand!
I do!
I do.
Monsieur.
This child belongs to me.
- I'm sorry, he's broken. - No.
He's not.
He works perfectly!
(soft instrumental music)
(Monsieur Tabard) Honoured guests, I'm proud to welcome you to this gala,
celebrating the life and work of Georges Mélies.
(applause)
For years, most of his films were thought to be lost.
Indeed, Monsieur Méliès believed so himself.
We began a search, we looked through vaults,
through private collections barns and catacombs.
Our work was rewarded with old negatives,
boxes of prints and trunks full of decaying film,
which we were able to save.
We now have over 80 films by Georges Mélies.
(applause)
Tonight, their creator, and the newest member of the film academy faculty,
is here to share them with you.
(applause and cheers)
(cheers) Bravo!
Ladies and gentlemen,
I'm...
I am standing before you tonight,
because of one very brave young man.
Who saw a broken machine,
and, against all odds, he fixed it.
It was the kindest magic trick,
that ever I've seen.
And now, my friends,
I address you all, tonight...
as you truly are:
Wizards.
Mermaids.
Travellers. Adventurers.
Magicians.
Come and dream with me.
(instrumental music)
You can start with the zoetrope, the filoscope.
Any study of the history of film must begin with the cave pictographs at...
- Niaux. - Niaux!
-...about canine socialisation. - Not canine romance?
Oh, Monsieur Frick, do I detect a pearl in your oyster?
(Gustave) The boy designed it. It does not squeak at all.
- Don't forget to smile, darling. - Which one? I've mastered three of them.
Don't worry! I'm now a fully-functioning man. Aren't I, dear?
(Hugo) Cut the deck. And up. And it's up, and it's up
(gasps and cheers)
- Is this your card? - That is my card.
(voice over Isabelle) Once upon a time,
I met a boy named Hugo Cabret.
He lived in a train station.
"Why did he live in the train station?"
You might well ask.
That's really what this book is going to be about.
And about how this singular young man,
searched so hard to find a secret message from his father,
and how that message,
lit his way,
all the way home.
(soft instrumental music)