MovieChat Forums > Hugo (2011) Discussion > Why a fire?

Why a fire?

posted 8 years ago by purple66
2 replies | jump to latest

Seems like an unnecessarily cruel way to kill a fictional character. The circumstances of his death were irrelevant, so I'm just curious as to why they decoded it be a fire. I mean, it wasn't smoke inhalation either, they showed the first actually covering a very alive and awake Jude Law; He burned to death.

I thought maybe it'd somehow be that George's films started it (film being extremely flammable), or that the uncle was at fault (in the scene where he tells Hugo about his father dying, he burns himself on his cigar, I think)

[–] virgiltx 8 years ago

Homage to House of Wax 3D (1953)?

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The story is king.

[–] hobwuzzle 8 years ago

That museum is where Georges donated the automaton. The same fire that killed Hugo's father led Georges to believe the automaton was destroyed, that the last remnant of his film career was gone, adding to his bitterness. That is why Hugo goes back to the station at the end, to show Georges it was still intact and help undo the decades of bitterness that plagued him and show that his filmmaking past was not entirely lost. The fire is a common source of pain for both Hugo and Georges.