Hugo: A Conundrum

     

We all know that when we go to see a film it's because when we watch the promotions and the TV spots, we were increasingly attracted to what we were being presented with. That's how the business works. The conundrum that we are presented here with is that, it's such a distinct film, that it appeared that the film's marketers didn't know how to position it for the audience. and that affected the film a lot in the aspect of profits. That's how we see a very significant difference in the way things were done back in the "Golden Age of Hollywood", where films were presented to the masses with the ultimate means to gain profit, but the quantities of money was not what generally determined the success of a film. What ultimately measured the success of a film was the acclaim it would receive, not only from the critics, but also from their peers, and of course the audience. There is a line in the movie "The Holiday" by the great actor Eli Walach that goes: "now a days a movie has to make a 'killing' on opening weekend in order to be successful" (well, something along those lines). And it struck me - he couldn't be more right! So, the problem that we have here is a combination of many factors that can be divided into phases. Because film making is done in phases: concept creation, pitching to the studios, pre-production, production, and finally post-production. But we focus on a general aspect of the whole picture. We focus on how that product is going to be promoted from the moment it is announced to the media, and how the studio will want the product to be seen and what they want it to be portrayed as to the public. After all, the audiences are the ones that keep these people in their comfy seats, inside their big, floor-to-ceiling windows, so, the audience decides if it’s going to be a hit or a flop. And here comes the situation with “Hugo”. Hugo wasn’t advertised in a way that portrayed their central story, because when I saw the film, I had no idea that the film was about what it ultimately was about. Which was the life of film making “founder” George Méliès. The film is probably one of the most beautiful films I have ever seen (and I’ve seen many films, I love almost all of them) but this one is special. It touched a subject that is very near and dear to my heart, and you saw Mr. Scorcese’s heart and passion in it, he even had a cameo in it. Which was such a lovely surprise to me, to see him be an even more direct part of what was a passion project for him. I ramble. In the words of my closest friend: “The film looks too childish for adults, and it’s too adult for children, so they had no way of promoting it in a way that would appeal to all demos.” It’s probably the reason why it wasn’t as successful in the box-office as they thought t would be. And I couldn’t agree more. I recommend it to all who want to see a piece of extremely old-school cinema, it’s truly remarkable. And I encourage all of you, dear reader(s) (all one of you), to investigate your films before deciding not to go see them. Us filmmakers work from the heart, for the pleasure of your entertainment.