thrillerclub

HUGO dazzled, delighted and inspired me as Scorsese intended. Under the guise of a family film HUGO is really a plea for film preservation. It's as much about the life of pioneer filmmaker Geo. Melies as it is the child Hugo. And it was nice to see both Christopher Lee, whom I had no idea was in the picture prior to seeing it, and the young actress Chloe Grace Moretz a few short years after her breakout role in the fun though ultra violent KICK-ASS.

The real stars of the movie were Ben Kingsley and Helen McCrory who play the Melies (husband and wife) during their hey day on stage performing magic tricks and making/starring in (nearly 500) films, then in later years living in obscurity never dwelling on their all but forgotten past. The automaton steals the show in parts and seemed almost lifelike, but Scorsese never crosses the boundary into fantasy. My friend whom I saw HUGO with wanted the automaton to wink at us at the end. I'm glad it didn't! Based on the book The Invention of Hugo Cabret. While somewhat dramatized, many of the historical details in the film are based on fact. Included are scenes from early cinema, actual footage (bits of A TRIP TO THE MOON are tastefully enhanced with 3-D) from THE GENERAL, SAFETY LAST and other nascent flickers shown being watched by astonished audiences of the time. Overall beautifully done!

Not everyone was satisfied, finding precious little to sink their teeth into.

Bored, disappointed and terrible are descriptions posted in several summaries.

Down for the count? Relax and just let the vampire do all the work.

Others eagerly lapped up the subtle outré blend of horror, irony, tragedy and absurdity.

Why are the reviews so widely split regarding this movie about the making of the timeless classic, NOSFERATU (1922, F.W. Murnau, dir.)

To quote Boris Karloff (who's own last great role was "Byron Orlok" in TARGETS) from The Incredible Doktor Markesan, "We will review your testimony - over and over and over again!"

*****Spoiled reviewer alert: It may be necessary to read other comments for insights if my review isn't overly helpful.

Question to reviewers of this movie who lamented the lack of Insights into Murnau's life... expecting a full account of his homosexuality... isn't the hint of such things enough?

As to reviews complaining that not enough was said in Shadow of the Vampire about the real Murnau, is it the job of the film... to do your homework and roll up everything inside a mini-biopic before the film within the film finally gets underway?

To have gone on and on about the historic figures and their other films within this film, would have dragged the story down to pandering or ponderous depths.

The "10 minute" on and on talk between Malkovich and Dafoe one reviewer found boring... I did not find it at all to be so painfully extended! Did the reviewer watch this film on last year's iPod while waiting at a bus stop during a blizzard (dressed to kill, perhaps)?

Dafoe as Max Schreck as Count Orlock as Schreck as the vampire is convoluted and perhaps not even the real villain of the film - he's both wickedly funny and tragic, scarred by old, forgotten wounds. Some say Dafoe's performance was over the top; others called it the best thing about the film. Or claim that Dafoe didn't exactly resemble or do justice to the "real" Schreck.

Among the 30 pages of reviews on this film here, it's not unusual to find one that praises Dafoe as the vampire yet a few sentences later adds that the vampire looked terrible. NO make-up for you! Next!?

After several sips of VSOP (half-decent brandy labeled as made in France), I found myself copying some of Dafoe's gestures. He really nailed the uncanny movement of Schreck from the 1922 film.

One gesture Dafoe makes, not that I'm aware directly reenacted from Nosferatu, has amusing subtlety... Introduced by Malkovich/Murnau (to his stunned crew getting their 1st look at Schreck), as "unconventional", Dafoe waves one hand and shrugs, as if to say yes, so?

Some didn't like the German accents (please... if you want a genuine German accent, get a genuine German... or maybe an Austrian). Some found the Malkovich phrasings all wrong, the (Murnau) statements of intention over the top. If they found the film's beginning boring, so did the Murnau character:

When Murnau shouts, "at last an end to artifice", the filming as he intends begins.

When he philosophizes on the life beyond life of film, is he being pretentious?

Yes, but that's the way German artists in the 1920's expressed themselves... with more zeal than Americans then and now, who tend more to downplay the eternal whatsit of film, so casually consumed like so much popcorn (yet marketed with hard sell that Dr. Goebbels might have appreciated).

What about the caution advised for those that see this that haven't seen the 1922 original? I bet many modern viewers (present company excepted) would be bored by the original Murnau, though they might be entertained by Dafoe as Schreck... I doubt whether they would look further. Even if a fan tried to expose them to Nosferatu it would do no good, but who knows? I hope I'm wrong!

A scene some found to be a highlight, where Schreck describes the sadness of the book Dracula, makes me want to read those passages to see if Bram Stoker's vampire did indeed suffer the loneliness of one who has forgotten how to select cheese.

Comments varied wildly trying to define what type of a picture this even was. I don't think it matters greatly whether it's a horror-spoof, psycho-thriller, costume drama or a "what if" movie.

One reviewer praised it's avoidance of comic relief, all too often found even in otherwise serious horror movies such as The Exorcist and Psycho.

Many "purists" simply put their disbelief on hold and enjoyed the movie for what it is. Good for you.

If you have seen this sitting upright with high expectations and were disappointed, and were bored, try watching it again in a very relaxed frame (bed frame). As some have noted, you may see a new detail in the frame previously unnoticed.

By the way, I tend to sleep through the opening credits, which some reviewers disliked while others said were the best thing about the film.