TINKERING

It is the story of an orphan who fixes clocks, but nearly runs out of time.

It is the story of a man who revolutionizes an industry with brilliance, imagination and innovation; only to see his dreams dismissed into obscurity by technological revolution and innovation. 

 

HUGO is a must-see motion picture.  Based on the children's novel, The Invention of Hugo Cabret by David Selznick, HUGO is spectacular.  Moving.  Gorgeous.  Heart-wrenching.  Presented in 3-D, it literally seizes you- and your emotions- for two hours, sweeping you into 1930's Paris and a magical, menacing train station where character, spectacle and story come together to astonish.

Critics have hailed nearly every facet of the film, from Martin Scorsese's direction to Ben Kingsley's acting. Much has been made of its tribute to early motion pictures, and the special effects trickery utilized decades ago by film pioneers.

I was stunned by something else. 

 

The tinkering.

Hugo's father, a master clockmaker, has taught his son how to fix and maintain clocks. There is not a gear, pulley or mechanical part that this child has not seen, examined, moved, stolen, or salvaged.  The movie lives and breathes as the child attempts to fix the inner workings of an automaton that he and his father were working to bring back to 'life'- before a horrific fire takes his father's life.

 

Among all the marvels of this film, I was most enthralled by Hugo's expressions as he pulled apart a clock or a wind-up toy, or reached into a golden chest to rewire or replace broken gears and supports. Just as surely as the audience sees the gears spinning and moving in the train station clock, it views the gears humming in Hugo's brain when he is fixing a toy or piece of machinery.

Hugo tinkers. Thinks. Attempts. Fails.  Tries and tries again. Searches for and continues to imagine the next big fix. 

 

It's remarkable.

 

I watched my kids as they watched Hugo.  I wondered if youths who- more often than not- have a piece of glowing technology in their hands, on their laps, or in their pockets; kids who are constantly bombarded by visuals, music, sound bites, and din, would be bored watching the dawn of motion pictures.

Would they view the earliest 'special effects' as silly or ingenious?

 

Would they see Hugo's tinkering as brilliant or archaic?

Our kids progress from wooden blocks to Lincoln Logs, from Tinker Toys to K'NEX and LEGOs.  Construction toys, all.  But what might happen if they had to pull apart a broken wind-up toy, clock, or computer?

 

Would a child today (or an adult, for that matter) even bother to fix a broken wind-up toy?  Or would she simply toss it away; declaring it cheap, broken and useless?

Would- or could- a child sit long enough- or think hard enough- to imagine a fix for simple, or complex machinery? 

Would a child's solution to a problem begin with creative thought and imagination?  Would he consult a master craftsman, or would he consult Google?

As I watched Hugo, I realized that all of the brilliant, magical, brain-building tinkering, imagining and problem-solving done by kids and adults years ago is now done mostly by computers.

Watch the expressions on a child's face as he or she stares into a computer screen. Look for gears humming, ideas processing and accomplishment occurring.

It's a revelation. 

So is HUGO.

QUING Hereby Decrees:  It's Christmastime. Skip the stress. TINKER.