The past is both a wonderful and horrific thing for the characters in Selznick's The Invention of Hugo Cabret and Scorsese's Hugo. Hugo Cabret himself, in both versions, enjoys remembering his past with his father - they were happy inventors who did things together and generally enjoyed their time together, making them happy memories. Rebuilding the automaton, continuing his father's work, is Hugo's way of reliving the past and pushing away the fact that he is an orphan; that Uncle Claude is unloving (and has been missing for some time); and that he is all alone.
Georges Melies' past, on ...
