Clockwork homage

I do not usually write about DVDs that I have seen but I feel compelled to blog about Hugo, which I watched yesterday afternoon, while doing my ironing. First thing I would say is that I need to watch this again without my shirts in the way. This is beautiful film, with glorious use of colour and framing. It is a marvelous and enchanting story which, like a magical mystery tour, takes you to places you could not imagine. I won't breathe a single word about what happens. This is a film to be seen and be delighted, (especially if you are film hack like me).

There is superb acting from the young actors (Asa Butterfield and Chloë Grace Moretz) and the older ones (Ben Kinsgley & Sacha Baron Cohen especially). And it is of course directed by Martin Scorsese: so how would it not be brilliant?

As you will gather, this is a film where clockwork is a key feature of the story. At one point, Hugo imagines the world to be like a large clockwork machine with each one of us having a part to play. As he says, machines never come with parts that do not have a function. The challenge for all of us to find what part we have to play... what is our unique purpose?

Leaders are good at knowing their own purpose and more critically, helping others find their own purpose too. Leaders are good at spotting where a new cog might fit so that the whole machine judders into smoother running.

How are your watchmaking (and repairing) skills?

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This is the twentieth of my new series of blogs about leadership ideas to be found in the movies of our time. You can read here as why I am doing this. Please subscribe to this blog if you want to read more. Thanks. Click the label 'film' to see all the others.