The Invention of Hugo Cabret
The Invention of Hugo Cabret ( eng. The Invention of Hugo Cabret ) is a " novel in words and pictures " for young people, which was written and illustrated by Brian Selznick. He was released in 2007 by Scholastic Press in 2008 and translated into German by Uwe -Michael Gutzschhahn at Cbj Children & Teens. He deals with the life of film pioneer Georges Méliès and can be seen as a tribute to the young film.
Action
The action takes place in Paris in the year 1931. The orphan Hugo lives in the walls of a Paris train station. To escape the orphanage, as Claude dies, he performs as a " watch inspector 's assistant " means the activity of his hated for months and lost drawing uncle and keeps the immense clock system of the station in operation. This allows him to move through the hidden passages in the entire building.
At the same time he is trying to repair a human-like machine, which " completely made movements and other fine mechanical parts " is. This wind-up machines had his father, a watchmaker, found in the attic of a museum. Hugo now believes that the machine contains a secret message from his father.
The spare parts for the repair Hugo steals the old Papa Georges, who runs a toy booth in the station. When one day caught him, the lives of the two combine in a series of revelations. Hugo finds together with Isabelle, Papa Georges ' stepdaughter out that Georges is in truth the film pioneer Georges Méliès. He built the machines of years earlier; the message that he finally reveals, is a drawing of Méliès ' black and white film Journey to the Moon.
They discover that Papa Georges is trying to escape from his past, and want to help him. Help of the young film students Etienne they get in contact with Professor René Tabard, a devotee of Méliès ' work. He leads them before the trip to the moon. When confronted with his own past, recognizes Papa Georges again the value of his films.
Hugo needs to be able to steal something to eat at the station and gets caught. The station saves him after a exciting chase from an approaching train. When Hugo again comes to, he sees Papa Georges and gives him back the machine. Papa Georges takes Hugo in on, and the French Film Academy honors him at a public event as a cinema legend.
Visual design
The book contains over 150 double-sided black-and- white illustrations. For the most part these are drawings by the author Brian Selznick, but there are also drawings of Georges Méliès and stills can be seen from early films. The pictures are an integral part of the story. In interviews Selznick explained that he had initially written the story as text and then as many passages as possible replaced by images.
Striking are several series of images in which individual actions are divided into a number of images. Thus, the image series mimic the essence of film and cinematic style typical means such as zoom, pan, or the film assembly. The book is more than a graphic novel, because the reviewer John Schwartz writes in the New York Times, it was more of a silent film on paper.
Awards
- 2007 Quill Award, Category Children's Chapter / Middle Grade
- 2008 Caldecott Medal
Text output
- The Invention of Hugo Cabret. Hardcover, Scholastic Press 2007, ISBN 9780439813785
- The Invention of Hugo Cabret. Paperback, Scholastic Press 2007, ISBN 978-1602521124
- The Invention of Hugo Cabret. Hardcover, cbj 2008, ISBN 978-3570133002
- The Invention of Hugo Cabret. Paperback, cbj 2010, ISBN 978-3570221181
Filming
Martin Scorsese acquired the film rights in 2007, and won John Logan as a screenwriter. The recordings began in 2010 in London, 2011 saw the launch of the film in the United States. In the German speaking part of the movie was released in theaters on February 9, 2012.