The Key to the Nightmare

     When watching Hugo for the first time, I was originally very confused by the entire nightmare sequence. To me, I thought that it didn't thematically fit in with the rest of movie, and seemed kind of out of context. Stylistically, it went along with the rest of the movie, but it left me with more questions than answers, even at the end of the film.  But by breaking it down scene by scene, the parts begin to make more sense, independent of the whole. By focusing on just the scene with the key and the train, we can piece together how it fits into the movie and try to find how it strings together some of the themes and motifs of the film.
      "Cabret et Fils, Horlogers" is what's written on the key that Hugo notices amongst the pebbles on the train tracks. This literally translates to "Cabret and Sons, Clock Makers." We also notice that the key this is engraved on is a match to the key that Isabelle had for the automaton. Many different conclusions can be drawn from just analyzing this one segment, but coupled together with the graphic and accurate portrayal of the 1895 Paris train crash, one theory stands out to me most of all. Throughout the whole movie, Hugo's job is to keep the clocks accurate so as to keep the train schedule functioning properly. Trains are meant to be constant, a safe and efficient way to get from point A to point B. The train station represents a stable place kept together by time, so in turn, the people that keep the clocks running on time. When the train crashes because of Hugo, it shows that they can destroy everything in a matter of seconds, just by one little infraction that messes up the time schedule. It shows the importance of Hugo's fathers' job, and also of what Hugo does for the station.    
     As the train tears through the lobby of the station, I infer that as Hugo slacks, the sanctity and uniformity of the station is gone. Time and order are not maintained, therefore chaos ensues. This theory to me is overall negative. But speaking in terms of the boundaries we discussed in class, it can be interpreted as a good thing. This train destroys all sense of normalcy, breaking the 'walls' that separate these people that work together every day. It broke the hurt that connected Hugo to his father and allowed him to be able to accept a new family, in the train station that he had called home.