VOA标准英语2012--Oscar-Nominated 'Hugo' Centers on Movie Magic

Oscar-Nominated 'Hugo' Centers on Movie Magic

 "Once upon a time I met a boy named Hugo Cabret. He searched to find a secret message and that message lit his way all the way home."

Hugo is an orphan¹ who lives in the shadows of a busy Paris train station, continuing the work his father taught him: keeping the many clocks running on time. The secret message is hidden within a man-shaped machine from his father's cluttered² workshop. 

Another orphan, Isabelle, holds the key - literally³ - to Hugo's automaton⁴, and it leads them on an adventure into the world of the great French film pioneer George Melies.

Adapted from Brian Selznick's novel "The Secret of Hugo Cabret," the story was personal for director Martin Scorcese who, as a frail⁵ young boy, spent long hours in his local cinema. 

In the film, Hugo discovers the wonder of the movies in much the same way. Asa Butterfield plays the title character. He knew he was reliving some of the director's early experiences, but he also had to find his way into Hugo's world. 

"Hugo is an orphan and he has had to grow up far faster than anyone his age should have to. I found it quite hard to relate to him because of all the hardships in his life," Butterfield explained.

Hugo finds a kindred spirit in Isabelle, played by Chloe Grace Moretz.

"The relationship was interesting because they both need each other for some reason," noted⁶ Moretz. "They both wanted to be loved, and I think Hugo needed someone to talk to and someone to have close to him …and I needed someone to have an adventure with." 

"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 have to be here for some reason …and that means you have to be here for some reason too."

In Hugo, Oscar winner Ben Kingsley plays George Melies, the pioneer known as the "father of narrative⁷ filmmaking." 

"I think the core value of its magic is its fearlessness in putting wounded characters on the screen. That's a very brave move," Kingsley said. "It is not sugar-coated and the healer is the youngest person on the screen who pulls all of these threads together. But you won't have an audience empathizing with you if nothing needs comforting."

Melies, a magician-turned-filmmaker, is at the center of this story. So perhaps it's appropriate that most of Hugo's eleven Oscar nominations⁸ are in the technical and craft fields including art direction, cinematography, costume design, editing⁹ and original musical score.

1 orphan   

n.孤儿；adj.无父母的

参考例句：

• He brought up the orphan and passed onto him his knowledge of medicine.他把一个孤儿养大，并且把自己的医术传给了他。
• The orphan had been reared in a convent by some good sisters.这个孤儿在一所修道院里被几个好心的修女带大。

2 cluttered   

v.杂物，零乱的东西零乱vt.( clutter的过去式和过去分词 )；乱糟糟地堆满，把…弄得很乱；（以…） 塞满…

参考例句：

• The room is cluttered up with all kinds of things. 零七八碎的东西放满了一屋子。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• The desk is cluttered with books and papers. 桌上乱糟糟地堆满了书报。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

3 literally   

adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实

参考例句：

• He translated the passage literally.他逐字逐句地翻译这段文字。
• Sometimes she would not sit down till she was literally faint.有时候，她不走到真正要昏厥了，决不肯坐下来。

4 automaton   

n.自动机器，机器人

参考例句：

• This is a fully functional automaton.这是一个有全自动功能的机器人。
• I get sick of being thought of as a political automaton.我讨厌被看作政治机器。

5 frail   

adj.身体虚弱的；易损坏的

参考例句：

• Mrs. Warner is already 96 and too frail to live by herself.华纳太太已经九十六岁了，身体虚弱，不便独居。
• She lay in bed looking particularly frail.她躺在床上，看上去特别虚弱。

6 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

7 narrative   

n.叙述，故事；adj.叙事的，故事体的

参考例句：

• He was a writer of great narrative power.他是一位颇有记述能力的作家。
• Neither author was very strong on narrative.两个作者都不是很善于讲故事。

8 nominations   

n.提名，任命( nomination的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Nominations are invited for the post of party chairman. 为党主席职位征集候选人。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Much coverage surrounded his abortive bids for the 1960,1964, and 1968 Republican Presidential nominations. 许多消息报道都围绕着1960年、1964年和1968年他为争取提名为共和党总统候选人所做努力的失败。 来自辞典例句

9 editing   

adj.编辑的

参考例句：

• The processing of data in random order,not subject to preliminary editing or sorting.未经预先编辑或分类，以任意次序对数据进行的处理的做法。