Inception; Was It Just A Dream?

Interesting article I came across in this month's Empire magazine yesterday. If you are one of those, like me, who are still unsure who was dreaming which dream, which parts were reality, and just who exactly is the masked magician, then read on. Below should help you decide whether the reality in the film was merely all a manifestation of Cobb's mind...

YES!

• The spinning top does not fall over in the final scene.
• Cobb's children look exactly the same in the final scene as they do throughout the film, despite it being two years since he last saw them in 'reality'.
• In the Mombasa scene - the only 'real world' action sequence - the goons chasing Cobb are as faceless as the goon-projections in the dream worlds.
• Also in Mombasa, the moment where the alleyway and the walls start closing in on Cobb - perhaps the most obvious clue that this is not the 'real' world.
• The company out to get Cobb, 'Cobol Engineering', shares its first three letters with Cobb himself, a sure indicator that it's really just a creation of his own paranoid mind.
• Finally, when Mal points out to Cobb the ludicrousness of the idea that being chased around the world by a sinister company constitutes 'reality'.

NO!

• That's not to say the spinning top will never topple - it's merely a cheeky cut to keep us guessing. We actually see a tell-tale wobble just before the end credits role.
• Cobb's children are not exactly the same as he left them. Two pairs of children play them at different ages. Nolan just confuses us by having the older kids wear the same clothes as the younger.
• Unlike the dream-goons, the ones in Mombasa talk to Cobb. One of them growls; "You're not dreaming now, are ya?!".
• The walls closing-in in Mombasa is merely Nolan creating tension in the scene, not one of the characters manipulating the architecture. Indeed, the walls don't literally close-in, it's merely a narrowing alleyway.
• With regards to 'Cobol Engineering', you may as well say Cobb shares his name with another Nolan thief-character, Alex Haw's Cobb in 'Following', and assert that this movie is all his dream...
• Mal is a "shade", a product of Cobb's own guilty, self-destructive subconscious, and isn't to be trusted.

So, there you have it, the two arguments side-by-side. What do you think? Empire went with 'No', arguing that "there's no doubting that Nolan makes us question Cobb's reality at every turn, but we should, just as Cobb feels he needs to. It's all about making the journey more entertaining, rather than signposting its destination". Fair point, although I still remain unconvinced...

Inception Music

Ok, so we all know by now what an awesome film Inception is. Yes? Good. But how many of you were actually paying attention to Hans Zimmer's musical score? Watch the video. See how it fits with the levels of the mind's subconscious and the relativity of time. How many times has the awesomeness of this film now just been magnified for you? Exponentially for me! Now you too.

Film Review: Inception

It's difficult to know where to begin when trying to describe Inception. It's kind of like, the Matrix meets Ocean's 11 meets Bond meets Memento. To sum it up in a word: Mindfuck.

It's difficult to summarise what is an absolutely ingenious plot. Cobb (DiCaprio) is a freelance corporate spy who specialises in a very unique type of security; the human mind. He and his colleagues have developed a technique through which they can enter one's dreams and extract information known only by that person. When a job goes wrong on a Japanese business man, Saito (Watanabe), he enlists Cobb to perform the previously thought impossible; Inception - planting an idea in the mind of a target rather than extracting it. Enticed by the promise from Saito that his success will allow him to see his estranged children again, Cobb agrees, risking his own mind should he fail.

Inception is clever without being pretentious, a rare quality in the face of some hugely pseudo-intellectual arty films that people tend to rave about. It does not try to deceive you with magician's tricks, like one of Nolan's other works, The Prestige. Inception lays everything you need to know in front of you. There are parts where you will say "come again?", but it really works your brain in such an enjoyable manner that you will want to watch it again, and not for the reasons you might think. Christopher Nolan doesn't seem to direct a bad movie. After the massively successful revamp of the Batman films he can do no wrong. But as I think about it, when has he ever directed a bad film? The fantastic thing about Nolan though is that he does not attempt to ram a point down your throat. Rather, he presents numerous themes for the audience to contemplate themselves. Grief, faith and the afterlife are all there to be pondered upon in Inception. Or, if you're like me, have heated discussions with others over what the real meaning of this or that was. Knowing Nolan though, he'll never tell us himself what he truly meant.

The artistry involved in this film is incredible. From the Matrix-style fist fights in zero gravity to Paris being uprooted and twisted upon itself. From the high octane gun battles in the pouring streets of LA to the glaringly blatant yet still enjoyable homage to Modern Warfare 2. Inception has some fucking cool scenes. The way in which these are all so complexly edited together to form the layers of the mind's subconscious is so incredible and mind boggling, yet somehow managing to maintain coherency, that it will absolutely fry your brain at how awesome the whole spectacle is.

DiCaprio used to be someone I never really liked. Don't ask me why, just 'something about him' I guess. A bit like Clooney. However, he has now officially won me over. He is an absolutely brilliant actor and literally carries the film without putting an emphasis on it. Of course everyone puts out a fantastic turn and you will recognise some from previous Nolan films, most noticeably Cillian Murphy who played the Scarecrow in Batman Begins. Whilst the characters are solid, the narrative sacrifices their development for Cobb's story to be told. This in no means detracts from the film, but I thought some characters, particularly Gordon-Levitt's Arthur and Ellen Page's Ariadne could have been explored further or given more personality. This is but a very minor quibble though. For what is sacrificed in them however is made up in DiCaprio's portrayal of Cobb. Depth oozes out of him and you can really believe his tale. You empathise with this man, forming a genuine attachment to his plight. It's fantastic to watch and marks the second time this year (the other being Shutter Island) in which DiCaprio has produced an outstanding, if not career defining performance.

This is a bloody clever film, but it is not half clever as it thinks it is. You are constantly barraged with information so you will need to pay attention if you want to stand any hope of following what's going on. But you will be rewarded with a highly satisfying feeling having done so, even if it may feel a little, for want of better word, clichéd, but not. You will however want to watch it again, just to make sure. Somehow, somehow, Nolan has managed to create an intellectual film which is also emotional without skimping on the explosions. All this without letting the success of the Batman series get to his head to go on a wildly pretentious 'creative' spree. This is an amazing film, probably film of the year, and a definite must see.