- Good morning.
- Good morning, madame.
- Good morning.
- Hello.
New delivery. I'm sure you've
got some excellent books there.
Got you at last!
Not the first time you've stolen
from me, is it, my little thief?!
- Hm? Quick, empty your pockets.
- You're hurting me!
Empty your pockets,
or I'll call the Station Inspector.
Do as I say!
Ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh.
What are you doing with all these?
- And the other one.
- There's nothing in it.
Where's the Station Inspector?!
Ghosts.
Did you draw these pictures?
Did you draw these pictures?
Where did you steal this?
- I didn't steal it.
- You're a thief and a liar.
- Get out of here.
- Give me my notebook!
It's no longer your notebook!
It is my notebook and I'll do with it
what I like! Maybe I'll just burn it!
- No!
- Then tell me who did the drawings!
Get out of here, you little thief!
Why are you still here?
- Go!
- Maximilian, do you hear an atrocity'?
Calamity? Corruption? Go!
Excuse me, excuse me!
Move aside!
Move aside! Gangway!
Move, move!
Stand aside!
What?!
- Ah! A wolf!
Move, move! Ah!
As you were.
Move!
Stop that child! Apprehend!
Monsieur Frick!
Hey! Move aside!
Whoa!
- Move!
- Whoa!
- Move!
- Pardon me!
- Sir, move!
Malediction!
Oh! No! Stop the train!
Hold the train! Whoa!
Help! Help! Assistance!
Oh! Hold it, hold the train!
Move the bag! Move the bag!
Ohhh! Oh! No!
- Oh, my God! I'm so sorry
I'm so sorry.
No, no, no.
That was very, very bad.
I know you're there.
What's your name, boy'?
Hugo. Hugo Cabret.
Stay away from me, Hugo Cabret.
Or I'll drag you
to the Station Inspector's office.
He'll lock you up in his little cell,
and you'll never get out,
you'll never go to school,
you will never get married
and have children of your own
to take things
that don't belong to them.
Give me back my notebook.
I'm going home to burn your notebook.
- You can't burn my notebook.
- And who's to stop me'?
Oh, you look so cold.
I'm very hot.
He's really upset me.
- Who's really upset you?
- That child.
Who are you?
Your grandfather stole my notebook.
I've got to get it back
before he burns it.
Papa Georges isn't my grandfather.
And he isn't a thief.
You're the thief.
You're nothing but a...
a reprobate.
- You'll have to go.
- Not without my notebook.
Why do you need it so badly'?
I can't tell you.
Is it a secret?
- Yes.
- Oh, good, I love secrets.
- Tell me this instant.
- No.
Well, if you won't tell me,
then you'll have to leave.
- Not without my notebook!
- Shh!
I'll get in trouble.
Just go home.
All right.
I'll make sure he doesn't
burn your notebook.
Now go.
What is it?
It's called an automaton.
An aut... An automaton?
I found him abandoned
in the attic at the museum.
What does he do?
He's a windup figure,
like a music box.
This is the most complicated one
I've ever seen... by far.
You see, this one...
this one can write.
It must've been made in London.
Where Mother was from.
She was from Coventry, but she...
moved to London.
Magicians used machines like this
when I was a boy.
Some walked, some danced,
some sang.
But the secret was always
in the clockwork.
Huh, look at that.
Can we fix him?
Oh, I don't know, Hugo.
He's badly rusted.
And finding parts to fit
will be very hard.
Of course we can fix him.
We're clockmakers, aren't we?
But only after I've finished
my work at the shop
and at the museum, hmm?
You understand.
We'll put this back in.
Just steady it...
Perfect.
You see this?
Another complication.
Another mystery.
That makes you happy.
Mmm. A keyhole
in the shape of a heart.
Unfortunately, we don't have the key.
I fixed the gears and...
Uncle Claude.
There was a fire.
Your father's dead.
Pack your things, quickly.
You're coming with me.
- Quick!
You'll be my apprentice,
and you'll live with me at the station.
And I'll teach you how
to take care of them clocks.
These apartments were built for them
that run the station years ago.
But every body's forgotten they're here.
Your bed is in the corner, over there.
Now get some sleep.
We start work at 5:00.
Oh...
- What about school?
- You've finished with school!
There'll be no time for that
when you're in them walls.
Hugo, without me,
you'd be in the orphanage.
Ah, time...
- My time is... 60 seconds in a minute.
Sixty minutes in an hour.
Time is everything.
Everything.
Ah,
time, time, time...
OK.
Oh, hello.
- I just thought...
- ...rather nice joke.
- Ah, ah, ah!
Oh, oh!
Stop that!
No, Schatzi! Stop it!
- Oh!
- No, no, no, no!
Come back!
Stand back!
He's just a small little dog.
Please be careful!
You've stepped on him!
Don't hurt him!
- Good morning!
- Morning, sweetheart.
Hello, how are you?
Good morning, sir.
Can I help you with anything?
I'll take these.
I thought I might see you today.
I need my notebook.
Why do you need it so badly'?
To help me...
to fix something.
Go away.
Please just go away.
Wait! Hey!
- Sorry, I...
- I saw.
- Are you crying?
- No.
Hold still.
Look, there's nothing wrong with crying.
Sydney Carton cries.
And Heathcliff, too.
- In books, they're crying all the time.
- I can do it.
I need to talk to you.
It's terribly important, but...
But not here. We're too...
exposed.
- Come on.
- Where are we going?
Only to the most wonderful
place on earth.
It's Neverland and Oz and...
Treasure Island all wrapped into one.
- Good morning, Monsieur Labisse.
Ah, Isabelle.
May I present to you
Monsieur Hugo Cabret,
a very old and dear companion.
Monsieur Cabret.
Hello.
Well, thank you for this.
I think I'm halfway in love with
David Copperfield. Photography'?
- Back corner, left, top shelf.
- Thank you.
Listen, what's so important?
Papa Georges still has your notebook.
He didn't burn it.
That was all a trick.
- Why?
I don't know.
All I know is the notebook
made him very upset.
And he and Mama Jeanne stayed up
very late talking about it.
Well, you see, I think he was crying.
Why are you helping me?
Because this might be an adventure.
And I've never had one before...
outside of books, at least.
And I think we should be very...
clandestine.
OK.
By the way, my name's Isabelle.
Do you want a book?
Monsieur Labisse lets me borrow them,
and I'm sure I could get one for you.
No.
Don't you like books?
No... No, I do.
My father and I used to read
Jules Verne together.
Well, come on.
How do I get my notebook back?
Well, I think you
should stand up to him.
And don't tell him we talked.
I'll help you if I can.
Be steadfast.
Go away.
Fix it.
I said, fix it.
I know you've been
stealing parts from the shop.
You might as well use those
you haven't stolen yet.
Give me my notebook.
You've got a bit of talent.
But you'll have to prove there's
more to you than being a thief.
- You can earn your notebook.
- How?
Come to the booth every day.
I'll decide how long you must
work for each item you stole.
And it will be up to me
to decide when...
you've earned
your notebook, if ever.
- I already have a job.
- "Thief" is not a job, boy.
I have a different job.
But I'll come when I can.
You begin tomorrow. Go away.
I'll begin now.
Not that one, the other one.
Is this your card?
Where is it?
- Little man.
- Ah!
Where are your designated adults?
Answer me!
- Ain't got none.
- Do you have any parents?
- No!
- Excellent.
It's straight to the orphanage
with you, isn't it?
What were you doing
looking in that man's bottle?
Was that your...
Was that your bottle?!
as that your paper bag?
Was that your paper bag?
It states clearly...
Yes, Gustave Dast
here. Yes, Officer, another orphan.
Um, trespass and theft this time.
His hand was trespassing
inside a paper bag, with the intent
- of removing its contents.
The object of his plunder? A pastry.
Be quiet!
Keep... Stop your sniffling,
you little urchin,
- with your filthy little mitts.
No, of course I wasn't talking to you.
I have only the highest respect for you.
Please.
No, that was not a comment
about your wife.
- That's absurd.
I have not heard any of those rumors.
No, I was not aware of that.
Well, I'm sure she will return.
- Come on, you little vermin.
So here's the little
pastry thief, eh?
- This is the one.
- Who's a little strudel thief then?
Apologies about your wife.
What do you think I should do about her?
- What? About what?
- Leaving me.
- Oy!
- Hey! Come on!
- Nice try.
Go on, get in there!
- Do you think it's mine?
- What?
I don't know what to do.
She's having a baby, you know.
- Sure it's yours?
- Who else's could it be?
Of course it's yours. When's the last
time you had relations with her?
- Uh...
- Any time in the last year?
- No, I don't think so.
- Very suspicious, then.
If you should see her, please...
Oh. You sure you want her back?
Oh, yes, yes.
I love her very much.
Ready?
One, two, three!
- Perfect.
Robin Hood.
I saw this movie.
With Douglas Fairbanks.
Did you see that?
I've never seen a movie.
- What?
- Isn't it appalling?
You've never seen a movie?
Not ever?
Papa Georges won't let me.
- He's very strict about it.
- I love the movies.
My father always took me
for my birthday.
Hugo...
is your father dead?
I don't want to talk about it.
Isabelle...
do you want to have
an adventure?
We could get into trouble.
That's how you know it's an adventure.
- How did you two rats get in here?!
Come on!
And I'd better not see
you in here again!
Why doesn't Papa Georges
let you go to the movies?
I don't know. He never said.
I bet my parents would've let me.
What happened to them?
They died... when I was a baby.
But Papa Georges and Mama Jeanne,
they're my godparents,
so they took me in.
They're very nice about most everything,
except the movies.
My father took me
to the movies all the time.
He told me about the first one
he ever saw.
He went into a dark room,
and on a white screen,
he saw a rocket fly
into the eye of the man in the moon.
- It went straight in.
- Really?
He said it was like seeing
his dreams in the middle of the day.
The movies were our special place...
where we could go
and watch something and...
we didn't miss my mum so much.
You think about him a lot, don't you?
All the time.
Hugo, um... where do you live?
There.
My uncle taught me
how to run the clocks.
So I just keep on doing it.
Maybe he'll come back one day,
but I doubt it.
Aren't you afraid someone will find out?
Not as long as the clocks keep
on running and no one sees me.
- Act natural.
- What?
Just keep on walking.
Act natural.
How am I acting now?
You two, halt!
Come here.
Good day, monsieur.
- Where are your parents?
I work with my Papa Georges
at the toy booth.
Surely you've seen me there before.
And this is my cousin
from the country, Hugo.
You'll have to forgive him.
He's quite... simple-minded.
Doltish, really.
Poor thing.
Seems Maximilian doesn't like
the cut of your jib, little man.
He is disturbed by your physiognomy.
He is upset by your visage.
Why would he not like your face?
Eh?
Well, perhaps he smells my cat.
- Cat?
- Yes.
Christina Rossetti's her name,
after the poetess.
Would you like me to recite?
My heart is like a singing bird
Whose nest is in a water'd shoot
My heart is like an apple tree
Whose boughs are bent with thick-set...
All right, all right.
I know the rest.
That's enough poetry for today.
I love poetry, particularly
that poem by Chris... tina.
- Rossetti.
- She's... yeah.
She's one of my favorites.
I know it's Rossetti.
I know it's Rossetti.
I love poetry, just...
not in the station.
We're here to either
get on trains or get off them.
Or work in different shops,
is that clear?
- Yes, sir.
- Watch your step.
Go on, go.
Doltish?
Now, since I just saved your life,
how about letting me see
your covert lair?
- My what?
- Where you live, in the walls.
I have to go now. I have things to do.
Hold on!
You've seen my house.
Isn't it about time that I saw yours?
After all, I am your only friend.
You're not my only friend.
Being enigmatic really doesn't suit you.
- What are you up to?
- I've got to go.
I should never have left
the station to begin with.
Hugo!
- Where did you get this?
- None of your business.
- I need it.
- What for?
I just need it.
Not unless...
Not unless you tell me why.
Come.
This is marvelous.
I feel just like Jean Valjean.
Oh, this is superlative.
What is that?
It's an automaton.
My father was fixing it...
before he died.
Why would my key fit
into your father's machine?
He looks sad.
I think he's just waiting.
For what?
To work again.
To do what he's supposed to do.
What happens when you wind him up?
I don't know.
What's the matter?
I know it's silly...
but I think it's going
to be a message from my father.
What an idiot, to think I could fix it.
- Hugo...
- It's broken!
It'll always be broken!
- Look...
Hugo, look, it doesn't
have to be like this.
- You can fix it.
- You don't...
You don't understand.
I thought...
if I could fix it,
I wouldn't be so alone.
Hugo!
Hugo, look! Look, it's not done.
It's not done!
It's not writing...
it's drawing.
That's the movie
my father saw.
Georges Mlis?
That's Papa Georges' name.
Why would your father's machine
sign Papa Georges' name?
I don't know.
Thank you.
It was a message from my father.
And now we have to figure it out.
Come on.
- Come on.
- Isabelle?
Mama Jeanne, we...
We have to talk to you.
This is Hugo Cabret.
Good evening, ma'am.
Very good manners... for a thief.
I'm not a thief.
What's going on, Isabelle?
Oh, well, it's a terribly long story
filled with circumlocutions,
but do you remember
several weeks ago when...
Wait!
Mama?
Oh, children.
What have you done?
Where did you get this?
You'll call me a liar.
No, Child.
A mechanical man drew it.
Do you have him?
My father found him in a museum.
Nobody wanted him.
We fixed it.
No, but it needed my...
my key.
- The key I gave you.
- No, no, Mama, he...
No. No, you take this away.
Can't dredge up the past now.
Whatever happens, you don't let
Papa Georges see it.
- Please tell us what's going on.
- Out! None of your business.
You must both forget this.
My father and I,
we worked hard to fix this.
This is all I have left of him.
I need to know what this means.
Please.
There are things
you're too young to understand.
You should not yet
know such sadness.
- It's Papa Georges.
- He can't know you're here.
Quiet!
Now just keep quiet. I'll find a way
to get him out of the apartment.
Not a noise from either of you.
She looked at the armoire.
I already searched it when
I was looking for your notebook.
I'll look again.
You stand guard.
Splendid.
- Where's Fizzie?
- You just missed her.
Not on the stairs? Didn't you
see her when you were going past?
- No.
- No? Well, um...
Look.
We have to investigate.
Let me. I'm taller.
- Knock on it.
- OK.
Back from the dead.
Stop. Stop, Georges.
- Stop it! This is your work!
- My work?!
What am I?
Nothing but a penniless merchant!
A broken windup toy.
I trusted you.
This is how you thank me.
You're cruel.
Cruel.
I should get back.
OK.
Thank you...
for the movie today. It...
It was a gift.
Sorry, I...
You know this volume?
My father and I
used to read it together.
Hmm.
It is intended for... my godson.
But now I think it is intended...
for you, Monsieur Cabret.
Might I have another cup?
Still brewing. Soon.
Demitasse, like everything else,
must happen at the opportune moment.
If we only knew when that moment was.
Oh, Gustave, be intrepid.
Say hello to her.
Come on, give me your best smile.
Your best smile.
It's beautiful.
Radiant!
Thank you.
- Oh.
- Mademoiselle Lisette.
A very gracious good evening to you.
- Monsieur Inspector.
- Hmm, yes.
Hmm, yes.
Those are lovely posies, those.
Thank you.
Yes, they're from Gourdon.
They come in on the overnight train,
so they're very fresh.
Ah, Gourdon.
Splendid country, that.
Robust.
The weather...
the cows and such mooing.
Perfectly formed udders.
Yeah.
Are they... Are they smelly?
Are they smelly flowers?
Oh, um... yes, a little.
They're... Please.
You see, I was injured in the war,
and it will never heal.
Good evening, mademoiselle.
I lost my brother.
Where?
Verdun.
Good evening, Monsieur Inspector.
Very good evening,
Mademoiselle Lisette.
The Film Academy library.
Excuse me?
The Film Academy library.
You'll find all you need
to know about movies there.
Second level, fourth row,
section three...
and, yes, top shelf.
The Invention of Dreams...
by Ren Tabard...
The Story of the First Movies.
"In 1895,
one of the very first films ever shown"
was called A Train Arrives
in the Station,
"which had nothing more than
a train coming into the station."
"" When the train came
speeding toward the screen,
the audience screamed,
because they thought they
- "were in danger of being run over."
"No one had ever seen
anything like it before."
"No one had ever seen
anything like it before."
"" What began as a sideshow
novelty soon grew into something more
when the first filmmakers discovered
"they could use the new medium
to tell stories. "
Wow.
"The filmmaker Georges Mlis..."
was one of the first
to realize that...
films had the power...
"...to capture dreams."
"The great pioneer
of early filmmaking died during..."
"...the Great War."
Died?
- During the Great War?
- You're interested in Mlis?
Uh...
yes.
It's allowed.
IS it?
He's my godfather, you see.
And very much alive,
thank you very much.
But that's not possible.
I assure you, sir...
it's true.
Why should I believe you?
Because...
Because it's true.
Mlis alive?
Shh!
Come with me.
Your godfather is a passion of mine.
He was a great filmmaker.
Here he is at work in his studio.
And this is a handbill
from his stage act.
Here is the great crystal mystery clock
made by his mentor, Robert-Houdin.
And this... is one of his
actual cameras.
- He was a magician?
- Yes. He began on the stage.
How did he start making movies?
No one really knows.
Look how happy he is.
Professor Tabard, would you perhaps...
like to meet him?
Oh... but you see, I have met him.
My brother worked as a carpenter
building sets for Mlis.
One day he took me to
visit the studio.
It was like...
something out of a dream.
The whole building
was made of glass.
In reality, this was to let in
all the sunlight necessary for filming,
but to my eyes,
it was nothing short of...
an enchanted castle.
A palace made of glass.
We need more light!
- Get the louvers opened.
- Open the louver, please! More!
Clear the set, please!
Everybody except actors.
Actors only on the set, please.
Clear the set!
Why we doing this again?
There was a lobster
in front of a mermaid.
OK, if that happens again,
shout "blocked."
If it's clear, give me a "clear."
If you've ever wondered
where your dreams come from...
you look around.
This is where they're made.
Ladies and gentlemen, the sun will set!
Knights in position,
lobsters in position.
Mermaids in position. Action!
In the end,
he made over 500 movies.
He was phenomenally
popular in his day.
But... why did he stop?
Up until today, I believed
that he died in the war...
like so many others.
Could we watch some of his movies?
I wish you could.
But time hasn't been kind to old movies.
This is the only one
that we know of that survived.
Out of hundreds, one.
And Still...
it is a masterpiece.
We've got to get Tabard
to show Papa Georges the film.
Then he'll see he's not forgotten.
Shouldn't I tell Mama Jeanne?
No. I think it should be
a surprise, like a magic trick.
We need to have some... panache.
Panache.
Well done!
Monsieur Claude?
Shh.
Are you up there?
Monsieur Claude, was that you?
Keep a grip onto your spanners,
you cack-handed oaf!
You can hold onto a bottle
well enough, can't you?
Are you inebriated?
Chateauxed, are we?
Shicker? Are you drunk?
He's passed out.
He's passed out, isn't he?
You bloated buffoon!
Could've hurt a child.
What have we here?
Jules Verne. Yes, indeed.
- Not unknown in France.
- One of our finest.
Very good plates.
Monsieur Labisse gave me
a book the other night.
He's always doing that,
sending books to a good home.
That's what he calls it.
He's got real...
Purpose.
What do you mean?
Everything has a purpose,
even machines.
Clocks tell the time
and trains take you places.
They do what they're meant to do.
Like Monsieur Labisse.
Maybe that's why
broken machines make me so sad.
They can't do what they're meant to do.
Maybe it's the same with people.
If you lose your purpose,
it's like you're broken.
Like Papa Georges.
Maybe we can fix him.
Is that your purpose, fixing things?
I don't know.
It's what my father did.
I wonder what my purpose is.
I don't know.
Maybe if I had known my parents...
I would know.
Come with me.
Right after my father died,
I would come up here a lot.
I'd imagine the whole world
was one big machine.
Machines never come
with any extra parts, you know.
They always come with
the exact amount they need.
So I figured if the entire world
was one big machine...
I couldn't be an extra part.
I had to be here for some reason.
And that means you have
to be here for some reason, too.
Get back.
I'll bring Tabard
tomorrow night at 7:00.
Don't say anything.
Are you sure about this?
Not really.
But I think it's the only way to...
To fix him.
Hello. How was your day'?
Boy on the track!
There's a boy on the track!
Get out of the way!
There's a boy!
- Turn it off!
Get out of the way! Move!
Come on!
- Out!
Ahh!
Look out!
Morning.
Yes, he's employed here.
Large, uncouth man.
In the Seine?
Deceased? Are you sure?
No, he has no... no relatives.
Thank you, I'll...
I will gather his belongings.
Thank you so much.
If he is deceased...
then who has been
winding the clocks?
Good evening.
- This way, sir.
I'll get it.
Well, what a surprise.
Come in, come in.
Isabelle, what's the meaning of this?
Please don't be mad, Mama.
That young man is not welcome here.
We found out who Papa Georges is.
I... I deeply apologize, madame.
I thought you were expecting us.
I will leave immediately
and return upon your request.
Please keep your voices down.
My husband's sleeping.
He hasn't been well since...
No, Mama. Mama, please
don't make them leave.
I-I don't wish to impose
on you, Madame Mlis,
but if this is to be
the only time we meet,
please, let me express to you
the profound debt of gratitude
I owe your husband.
When I was a boy,
I saw all his films.
They inspired me.
Your husband is a very great artist.
Oh, I am so pleased
you remember my husband's films
with such fondness.
But... he's so fragile now.
It only hurts him to remember the past.
Then we will take our leave, madame.
And I do hope you'll
forgive me for saying...
you are as lovely now
as you were in the movies.
Mama?
- You were in the movies?
She appeared in almost all his films.
- You were an actress?
- Well, I...
Was a long time ago, children.
It was...
It was another time. I, uh... I...
Well, I was another person.
Would you like to meet her again?
We have a film.
One of Georges' films?
That's not possible. They're all gone.
May we show you?
Please.
- Oh, yes, please, Mama. Please.
Just be quick with it.
You were an actress,
a real cinema actress!
- It's impossibly romantic, Mama.
- It wasn't like that.
We weren't movie stars
like they have today.
But we did have fun.
Madame Mlis?
It's in color!
But of course.
We tinted the film.
We painted it by hand,
frame by frame.
Mama, it's you!
Yes.
Oh, beautiful.
You were beautiful.
She still is.
I would recognize the sound
of a movie projector anywhere.
Georges...
you've tried to forget
the past for so long.
It's brought you nothing
but unhappiness, hmm'?
Maybe it's time to try and remember.
You want to know?
Yes.
Just like you...
I loved to fix things.
I started out as a magician.
Mama Jeanne was my assistant.
We were very successful, I must say.
We even had our own theater.
But I was always tinkering
with machines.
I had my own workshop at the theater,
where I could invent new illusions.
Once, I even built a
working automaton.
Oh, he... was a particular treasure.
I put my heart and soul into him
Then, one night,
Mama Jeanne and I
went to visit a traveling circus.
We were walking past the sideshow tents
when I noticed something.
Something strange.
Something wonderful.
It will terrify you!
Sir, madame, inside we have
moving pictures! Come and see!
The Lumire brothers
had invented the movies.
I fell in love with their invention.
How could I not be part of it?
It was like...
It was like a new kind of magic.
I asked the Lumire brothers
to sell me a camera, but they refused.
You see, they were convinced
that movies were only a passing fad
and they saw no future in it,
or so they said.
In the end, I built my own camera
using leftover pieces
from the automaton.
I just had to be a part
of this new wonder.
We risked everything. And we sold
the theater and everything we had
so we could build
our own movie studio.
Excellent.
Cameras, are we clear?
And so the great adventure began.
Actors only on the set, please!
Clear the set!
Look at you, look at you!
Love this shape, Mel.
It's a toile, though, right?
I wrote, designed, directed, and acted
in hundreds of movies.
I'm ready.
Oh, that was good,
that was good, yes, yes.
That felt good, that felt good.
On the pulley? On the smoke?
Stop, stop, stop. I saw that.
Give me two minutes.
It was good up to there.
Benny'? I'm gonna have a word.
Reload. Reset the dragon.
Benny, speak to me.
If you pull down a little harder
on the left-hand rope,
the head will come up higher,
which will be better...
- Under the belly!
- I see it.
Excellent, excellent, excellent.
The choreography was really good
up to there. Thank you, gentlemen.
- First positions!
- Back, first positions!
Action!
Excellent, excellent.
Setting back.
And in for the kill, knights.
In for the kill!
Come on, then, attack!
Stabbing, stabbing, and lunge!
Good.
Good, good. Good, knights.
Poised for the attack.
And... knights!
Three, two, one, freeze!
Skeletons, that's great.
You can go.
Pyrotechnics in, please.
Knights, please don't move.
Freeze. Freeze, everybody.
Wait for my "action."
Three, two, one, action!
Magic tricks and illusion
became my spaciality.
The world of imagination.
My beautiful wife
was my muse, my star.
And we couldn't have been happier.
Action!
We thought it would never end.
How could it?
But then the war came.
- And youth and hope were at an end.
The world had no time
for magic tricks and movie shows.
The returning soldiers,
having seen so much of reality,
were bored by my films.
Tastes had changed,
but I had not changed with them.
No one wanted my movies any more.
Eventually I...
I couldn't pay the actors...
or keep the business
running, and...
and so my enchanted castle
fell to ruin.
Everything was lost.
One night, in bitter despair, I...
I burned all my old sets
and costumes.
I was forced to sell my movies
to a company
that melted them down
into chemicals.
These chemicals were used
to make shoe heels.
With the little money I had from selling
my films, I bought the toy booth...
and there I have remained.
The only thing I couldn't
bring myself to destroy
was my beloved automaton.
So I gave him to a museum,
hoping he would find a home.
But they never put him on display.
And then the museum burned.
It's all gone now.
Everything I ever made.
Nothing but ashes
and fading strips of celluloid.
My life has taught me
one lesson, Hugo,
and not the one I thought it would.
Happy endings only happen in the movies.
I'll be right back.
Stop that! No, no!
Don't you frighten Monsieur Frick.
Schatzi, what's he got?
What has he got?
Oh, my goodness.
Oh, my goodness me.
Did you see that?
Be brave. My brave soldier.
Oh! Monsieur Frick, I am undone!
- Good evening.
- Ah, hello.
There has been
a disquieting development.
- What is it?
- You know Monsieur Claude?
- Mm-hmm.
- He's been found deceased.
- No.
- Monsieur Claude!
Consequently, he will no longer be
employed here winding the clocks.
You've got a little friend. Look!
- Oh, hello.
- Hello.
- Monsieur Claude is dead.
What? Why'?
What happened to him?
They found his corpse in the Seine.
It's been down there
for many months, it seems.
Can't say I'm surprised.
He was an inebriant
of the highest order.
- Well, yes, he was a drunk.
- Shoo.
- Oh, I wouldn't say that.
- Yes, he was a drunk!
Scram! Shoo!
He could've drunk
the entire River Seine.
- Please, go away! Go! Shh.
- Hold it!
- Let me go! Let me go!
- Did you think you'd escape me?
- Gustave, have a heart!
- Please, help me!
Please.
- No.
He's been undermining
this station for too long.
Come on!
- What's the boy done?
- Let me go!
- You happy now, boy?!
- Don't do this!
Do not leave my office.
You don't understand,
I've got to go.
You'll go nowhere
until your parents are found.
I don't have any!
Then it's straight
to the orphanage with you.
You'll learn a thing or two there.
I certainly did.
How to follow orders.
How to keep to yourself.
How to survive without a family.
Because you don't need one.
You don't need a family.
Police headquarters,
Yes, it's me again.
Another orphan.
Has been a busy week.
Oh, trespass, theft, pilfering,
littering, pillorying,
walking about, playing.
It's irrelevant.
Please come and pick him up.
Anyway, how are you?
Oh, she came back?
Oh, you think it's yours?
Excellent.
Well, I suppose you'll find out
in seven months.
Pardon me. Oh, in March?
I'll try to come.
I... I tend not to plan
that far ahead.
Are you sure?
Well, oh, that's very flattering.
I don't know really whether it's
appropriate for me to be the godfa...
Oh! Sir, hold on!
Maximilian!
Move!
Move aside! Get out of the way!
Maximilian, find him!
You can't escape me!
There's nowhere to hide up there, boy!
Maximilian, he's gone
the other way. Come on!
You!
Get out of my way!
Got you!
- Oof!
No! Oh!
There's a boy! Turn it off!
There's a boy on the track!
Get out of the way!
Move back! Move aside!
Move back!
What were you thinking?
Are you injured?
- Come on!
Stand aside. Careful.
We'll let the orphanage
deal with you.
- No, I don't belong there!
- Where do you belong?
A child has to belong to somewhere.
Listen to me, please!
Please, listen to me!
You don't understand.
You have to let me go.
I don't understand
why my father died.
Why I'm alone.
This is my only chance...
to work.
You should understand!
I do!
I do.
Monsieur...
this child belongs to me.
I'm sorry. He's broken.
No, he's not.
He worked perfectly.
Honored guests, I am proud
to welcome you to this gala
celebrating the life and work
of Georges Mlis!
For years, most of his films
were thought to be lost.
Indeed, Monsieur Mlis
believed so himself.
But we began a search.
We looked through vaults,
through private collections,
barns and catacombs.
Our work was rewarded
with old negatives,
boxes of prints, and trunks
full of decaying film,
which we were able to save.
We now have over 80 films
by Georges Mlis.
And tonight, their creator,
and the newest member
of the Film Academy faculty,
is here to share them with you.
Bravo!
Bravo!
Ladies and gentlemen...
I...
I am standing
before you tonight...
because of one
very brave young man...
who saw a broken machine...
and against all odds, he fixed it.
It was the kindest magic trick...
that ever I've seen.
And now, my friends,
I address you all tonight
as you truly are:
Wizards, mermaids...
travelers, adventurers...
magicians.
Come and dream with me.
Yes, you can start with the thaumatrope,
the zoetrope, the praxinoscope.
Any study of the history of film
must begin with the...
Poppy'? The cave pictographs at...
- Niaux.
- Niaux.
About canine socialization.
Not canine romance?
Oh, Monsieur Frick, do I detect
a pearl in your oyster?
The boy designed it.
It does not squeak at all.
Don't forget to smile, darling.
Well, which one?
I've mastered three of them.
Don't worry. I'm now a fully
functioning man. Aren't I, dear?
Tap the deck. And it's up,
it's up, it's up... It's there!
- Is this your card?
- That is my card.
Once upon a time,
I met a boy named Hugo Cabret.
He lived in a train station.
"Why did he live in a train station?"
you might well ask.
That's really what this book
is going to be about.
It's about how
this singular young man
searched so hard to find
a secret message from his father...
and how that message lit his way.
All the way home.