I hadn't really planned on rereading Brian Selznick's Invention of Hugo Cabret, but this year I joined the book to movie challenge. I'd been curious about the film, Hugo. This "review" will share what I thought about both the book and the movie.
I found the movie wonderful. I found it very compelling. I was drawn into the story--the time and place. This is a movie (and a book) where setting is just as important if not MORE important than the characters. Because it is set in a train station in Paris, France, in the early 1930s, because it focuses on such an intriguing orphan who is desperate to make sense of the world and fix what needs fixing, because it was a story with such a strong emphasis on friendship and making your own family, it worked for me. The book and the movie are different from one another. The movie adds characters and even gives them story-lines. The movie changes some of the relationships as well. But I thought some of the changes--at least--worked better. I liked the Hugo of the movie better than the Hugo of the book! While the novel's focus on old cinema was interesting, on film it meant SO MUCH MORE. This book was meant to be filmed.I originally read the book in 2007. I watched the movie a few weeks ago and then decided to reread the book. I definitely preferred the movie to the book. But the book is a very quick read! It takes longer to watch the movie than it does to read the book!
© 2013 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews
2 comments:
I also enjoyed very much the movie, and of course that format allowed more easily the integration of George Méliès's art.
Still, the idea behind it all, the book itself, is so gorgeous, the way the illustrations fit the story, how the pictures accelerate with the plot, slow down and give room for more text when necessary. His pencils drawings are really fabulous.
Have you read his Wonderstruck? Very good too: http://wordsandpeace.com/2011/10/14/74-review-wonderstruck/
I enjoyed the movie and the book. I still remember buying the book on a whim and was surprised by how much I liked it. It was before I got into graphic novels very much. :)
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