Hugo (2011, 126 Minutes): 

Playing as a part of Scorsese: More Than a Gangster

This late-stage film by Scorsese offered him the chance doing something he’d never done before, a kid’s movie. The fantastical period piece is set in a railway station in 1930’s Paris where the titular orphaned young boy (Asa Butterfield), works in the shadows maintaining the clockwork of the whole station. His journey to find the missing pieces of an automaton his father left behind finds him working for a sad, mysterious old man (Ben Kingsley) who runs a toy shop nearby. With the help of the man’s goddaughter (Chloë Grace Moretz), Hugo discovers that the secrets of the old man and the secrets of his automaton are intertwined with each other and the birth of cinema. In Scorsese’s own perfect way, his film for children is an affectionate, earnest love letter to a pioneer of silent filmmaking and the magic the movies can offer our world. It’s a story where the dreams this art form offer can be used to connect us in ways we didn’t think possible.   

Beforehand, the film will be preceded by shorts by silent film legend (and important plot point in Hugo) Georges Méliès. This portion of the screening will be accompanied by live music, and Hugo will begin after a 15-minute break. Shorts TBA.  

Cast: Asa Butterfield, Ben Kingsley, Chloë Grace Moretz, Sacha Baron Cohen, and Jude Law