IN: Hugo is a 2011 epic historical adventure drama film directed and co-produced by Martin Scorsese and adapted for the screen by John Logan. Based on Brian Selznick's book The Invention of Hugo Cabret, it is about a boy who lives alone in the Gare Montparnasse railway station in Paris in the 1930s. A co-production between Graham King's GK Films and Johnny Depp's Infinitum Nihil, the film stars Ben Kingsley, Sacha Baron Cohen, Asa Butterfield, Chloe Grace Moretz, Ray Winstone, Emily Mortimer, Jude Law, Helen McCrory, and Christopher Lee. Hugo is Scorsese's first film shot in 3D, of which the filmmaker remarked, "I found 3D to be really interesting, because the actors were more upfront emotionally.

The film currently holds a 94% "Certified Fresh" rating on aggregate review site Rotten Tomatoes based on 206 reviews, with an average score of 8.3/10. The site's main consensus reads, "Hugo is an extravagant, elegant fantasy with an innocence lacking in many modern kids' movies, and one that emanates an unabashed love for the magic of cinema." Metacritic gave the film an average score of 83 out of 100, based on 41 reviews, indicating "universal acclaim".  Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times gave the film four out of four stars, saying "Hugo is unlike any other film Martin Scorsese has ever made, and yet possibly the closest to his heart: a big-budget, family epic in 3-D, and in some ways, a mirror of his own life. We feel a great artist has been given command of the tools and resources he needs to make a movie about--movies." Peter Rainer of The Christian Science Monitor gave it a "B+" grade and termed it as "an odd mixture: a deeply personal impersonal movie" and concluded that "Hugo is a mixed bag but one well worth rummaging through." Christy Lemire said that it had an "abundant love of the power of film; being a hardcore cinephile (like Scorsese) might add a layer of enjoyment, but it certainly isn't a prerequisite for walking in the door" besides being "slightly repetitive and overlong". Michael Phillips of the Chicago Tribune rated it three stars and described it as "rich and stimulating even when it wanders" explaining "every locale in Scorsese's vision of 1931 Paris looks and feels like another planet. The filmmaker embraces storybook artifice as wholeheartedly as he relays the tale's lessons in the importance of film preservation." Joe Morgenstern of The Wall Street Journal said that "visually Hugo is a marvel, but dramatically it's a clockwork lemon".  Hugo was selected for the Royal Film Performance 2011 with a screening at the Odeon, Leicester Square, in London on 28 November 2011 in the presence of the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall in support of the Cinema and Television Benevolent Fund. Richard Corliss of Time named it one of the Top 10 Best Movies of 2011, saying, "Scorsese's love poem, rendered gorgeously in 3-D, restores both the reputation of an early pioneer and the glory of movie history--the birth of a popular art form given new life through a master's application of the coolest new techniques". James Cameron called Hugo "a masterpiece" and that the film had the best use of 3D he had seen, surpassing even his own acclaimed films.

What were some other reviews or ratings?

OUT: Metacritic gave the film an average score of 83 out of 100, based on 41 reviews, indicating "universal acclaim".


IN: Andriana refers to both the noble class and a title of nobility in Madagascar. Historically, many Malagasy ethnic groups lived in highly stratified caste-based social orders in which the andriana were the highest strata. They were above the Hova (free commoner castes) and Andevo (slaves). The Andriana and the Hova were a part of Fotsy, while the Andevo were Mainty in local terminology.

The Andriana caste were originally the source of nobility and they specialized in the rituals and warrior occupations in the Merina society. However, in 19th century when Merina conquered the other kingdoms and ruled most of the island, a much larger army was needed, and the soldiers then included the Hova caste as well.  The Andriana benefited from numerous privileges in precolonial Madagascar. Land ownership in Imerina was reserved for the andriana class, who ruled over fiefs called menakely. The populace under the rule of an andriana lord owed him--and the king--a certain amount of free labor each year (fanompoana) for public works such as the construction of dikes, rice paddies, roads and town walls. Posts of privilege within the government, such as judges or royal advisers, were likewise reserved for certain groups of andriana.  The valiha, the national instrument of Madagascar, was originally an instrument of the masses but came to be affiliated with the noble class in the 19th century. The valiha featured heavily in the music of the Merina royal court performed at palaces such as Ambohimanga or the Rova at Antananarivo. The strings of the valiha were more easily plucked with the fingernails, which were commonly grown long for this purpose; long fingernails became fashionable and symbolic of belonging to the andriana class within the Kingdom of Imerina.  At Antananarivo, only andriana tombs were allowed to be constructed within town limits. Hovas (freemen) and slaves were required to bury their dead beyond the city walls. The highest ranks of andriana were permitted to distinguish their tombs by the construction of a small, windowless wooden tomb house on top of it, called a trano masina (sacred house) for the king and trano manara (cold house) for the Zanakandriana, Zazamarolahy and Andriamasinavalona. This tradition may have originated with King Andriantompokoindrindra, who is said to have ordered the first trano masina to be built on his tomb in honor of his memory.

What other differences did slave have from hovas?

OUT: