I was intrigued to hear that acclaimed director Martin Scorsese, known for his violent movies including “Taxi Driver,” “Raging Bull,” and “Goodfellas” had made a children’s movie. No one disputes that Scorsese is a great director, but this seems quite a departure for him. So I had to check out “Hugo.” I’m very glad I did.

Based on the book “The Invention of Hugo Cabret” by Brian Selznick, the film tells the story of an orphan who lives in Paris’ train station in the 1930s. Hugo was taught by his father and grandfather to keep all the clocks running on time in the enormous station. He is frequently seen by those who work at the train station, including the station agent (Sasha Baron Cohen), who keeps chasing Hugo, assuming that he is just a vagrant. No one knows of Hugo’s responsibilities.

Isabelle, whose grandfather (Ben Kingsley) runs a toy booth at the station, befriends the lonely Hugo. Eventually Hugo brings Isabelle to his hidden world inside the station’s great clock. Hugo finds a key that fits a robot found by his grandfather. The robot begins to draw a strange drawing, which eventually leads back to Isabelle’s grandfather. To everyone’s surprise, Isabelle’s grandfather is discovered to be Georges Melies, one of the great pioneers of early films who worked in a Paris studio before World War I. Georges stopped making movies after the Great War. After the horror of the war, no one was interested in Georges’ beautiful and entertaining movies. Through the efforts of a film historian, Georges is recognized and honored for his accomplishments as a great pioneer of film.

“Hugo” is a wonderful movie. It’s visually stunning. Using his famous tracking shots, Scorsese captures the joy and wonder of young Hugo, running through the mammoth train station, eluding the station agent, escaping into his secret hideaway. We see the insides of great clocks with their constant ticking, and marvel at the robot that seems to come to life as he draws with pen and paper. The station comes alive every morning as people come to work in their little shops and cafes. Like Hugo, we observe the interactions among them all with curiosity and delight. Even the station agent shyly tries to woo a pretty flower seller. There’s a beautiful sense that, even though most travelers would hardly notice the community of people who work at the station, they are unique people living their own lives, with their joys and disappointments.

I suspect that Scorsese was drawn to “Hugo” not so much to tell the story of the boy in the train station, but for its connection to the history of film. Scorsese is passionate about the history and preservation of film. The connection to the forgotten film pioneer Meiles no doubt drew Scorsese to this project. The scenes of Meiles in his early studio making movies are amazingly beautiful and a touchingly intimate portrait of a visionary artist. As Scorsese turns 70, he knows the importance of history and his debt to early filmmakers like Meiles, and even Howard Hughes, the subject of Scorsese’s “The Aviator” a few years ago.

I have to say that it took me a few minutes to get into “Hugo” and did not anticipate where it was headed. The 3-D effects are great, but don’t seem like gimmicks as they do in other movies. They are fully integrated into the movie experience from the opening sequence of snow falling gently over the audience. “Hugo” is beautiful to behold, fascinating in its detail, and ultimately a tribute to the ability of movies to captivate and delight an audience in a way that no other medium can.

The pioneer Melies understood movies as a way to share his dreams with people everywhere. I felt like young Hugo, finding delights and surprises throughout this beautiful movie. 100 years after Melies, I’m glad visionaries like Scorsese continue to invite us to share their dreams with them.

Tom Condon, OP

“The Descendants” is the acclaimed new film from writer-director Alexander Payne, who gave us “Sideways” and “About Schmidt” several years ago. Like those previous films, “The Descendants” pulls off the neat trick of being both funny and sad. Payne’s movies feature characters who are flawed, yet deeply human.“The Descendants” stars George Clooney in his finest film role as Matt King, a descendant of Hawaii’s royal family. Matt and his family are in the process of making a decision about a beautiful, unspoiled tract of land which they inherited. The land could easily be worth a fortune.

As the movie opens, Matt’s wife, Elizabeth, is hospitalized as a result of a serious boating accident. At the hospital, a doctor tells Matt that Elizabeth will not recover from the accident, and will soon be taken off life support. Matt and Elizabeth had drifted apart, and had considered a divorce. Matt knows that he must communicate this tragic news to his two daughters: Scottie, an 11-year-old, and Alex, a 17-year-old who is away at a boarding school on the island of Hawaii.

Reluctantly, Alex returns to Honolulu with her father. He informs her of Elizabeth’s condition. Matt asks Alex to help with Scottie at this time, even while she deals with her own grief. Alex agrees, if she can have her friend, Sid, with them for her own support. Matt reluctantly agrees, even though he doesn’t know Sid.

Alex also confides in her father that she knew that her mother had been having an affair. Matt is both devastated and angry at this news, and wants to discover and confront Elizabeth’s lover. Alex insists she doesn’t know him. She only saw the man with Elizabeth. As Elizabeth is dying, Matt, Alex, Scottie, and Sid make a quick trip to Kauai to find this man.

As with Payne’s previous movies, “The Descendants” has many rich, beautifully written and acted scenes between the major characters. Through these scenes, Matt and his daughters become closer to each other in the midst of the tragedy. Surprising depth arises from many scenes. One of my favorites was a late-night meeting between Matt and Sid. Seemingly dense and insensitive, Sid tells Matt that he had recently lost his own father. It’s a poignant moment in which Matt realizes there may be more to Sid than he assumed. Writer-director Payne is a master at quiet moments like this.

The best thing about the movie is the way that the relationship between Matt, Alex, and Scottie develops in the midst of the tragedy, and how they all deal with their conflicting feelings. Tragedies within families can either tear them apart or bring them closer together. In “The Descendants,” tragedy brings the Kings together. They bond as a family unit in a way that they had not before. In their own ways, Matt, Alex, and Scottie each mature throughout the course of the movie. Even Sid shows signs of hope.

George Clooney gives his best performance as Matt. Clooney looks older, sadder, and wiser than he has before. He’s always been a fine comic actor, often compared to Cary Grant. Here he shows the depth of emotion he can play. As Alex, newcomer Shailene Woodley gives a remarkable performance. Resentful and angry at first, she learns how to be there for her dad, deal with her mother’s adultery and death, and be a good big sister for Scottie. Woodley handles all this beautifully.

“The Descendants” is not quite as sharp as the great “Sideways.” At times, the film goes in too many different directions with its subplots. It could be a bit shorter and tighter. Despite this, “The Descendants” is still well worth seeing for its emotional depth and fine performances. I imagine it will be a contender in the year end award contests, particularly for Clooney and Woodley.

Tom Condon, OP