Christopher Nolan's latest film Inception, was a success. I'm not speaking artistically or financially, even though it is undoubtedly both. I am instead referring to the films hidden agenda cleverly disguised by the subterfuge of its narrative. I believe that the aim of the film and its preternaturally gifted film maker was to plant not just ideas in the viewers mind, but a renewed penchant for thinking and coming to our own conclusions regarding our chosen entertainments meaning and subtext.
It goes without saying that this has been a relatively bleak summer. Even Toy Story 3, with its stunning, maw of hell incinerator sequence, was essentially a tiresome retread of its previous installment. Blockbusters have come into theaters, made some quick dough, then exited the financial stratosphere as quickly as our collective conscience. Nothing has stuck. Sure, I enjoyed Predators, Splice and even Prince of Persia to a certain degree, but nothing has really blown me away or made me reassess the nature of film as an artistic medium. I've been vastly more interested in reading tallies on BoxOfficeMojo.com than I have been in studying reviews or critical essays. I've been pinning my hopes on Inception, and now, after seeing it twice, both times on an IMAX screen, I can say without reservation that my expectations have been met, turned on their heads and summarily surpassed.
I'll stop here and give the customary spoiler warning. I'm going to assume if you're reading this, you've seen the film. I will be discussing personal interpretations of the films story and events, not to mention hearsay and conjecture regarding the Director's impetus and intent behind creating it. Let me clearly state that this will be based on conclusions I have made, not necessarily on actual facts or truths. To paraphrase Ricky from Trailer Park Boys, I'm not a journalist, I'm a conversationalist. So, as the Joker from another Nolan masterpiece said, "Here... we... go..."
Inception is and is about more things than any film in recent memory. On the surface, it is about how we perceive our reality and it's about guilt and catharsis. But, like the multiple, ever deeper layers of consciousness the characters go through during the stunning final sequence, it is about a myriad many other things as well. The second sub textual layer concerns itself with the gambit between artist and audience. It is about the unspoken agreement between an entertainer and those who wish to be entertained. It is about our willingness (or unwillingness) to turn over the reins of our own imagination to an outside consult (substitute Nolan as the Director here, or, as portrayed in the film, Dicaprio as Cillian Murphy's subconscious security chief). The third sub textual layer represents how we choose to fill the construct provided us. What sort of denouement will we come to? In the film, Cillian Murphy had a deep psychological scar stemming from his unresolved issues with his father, so when thrown into a highly entertaining snowmobile siege on a Bond villain secret lair, he finds his old man in the vault and proceeds to pour his daddy problems and yearning for love and respect into the scenario. This is the heart of why we go to films, we put ourselves in the protagonists (or sometimes antagonists) shoes so as to experience the power, love or resolution that so often evades us in waking life.
The more I thought about the film in the day after I first saw it, I started to question if the whole thing might not be a dream, which would render whether or not the spinning top toppled at the end a moot point. I believe not only is that not a cheat, it's a brilliant approach to telling the story. The point of the film isn't if it's a dream or not. It might be a dream, it might not be. My personal interpretation is that Dicaprio's character of Cobb is actually an elderly man who has recently lost his wife and the film that plays out is nothing more than a rambling dream he has in order to deal with that loss on a subconscious level. It's all spelled out by Saito and Cobb repeatedly intoning the phrase about being an old man full of regret, waiting to die alone. It's clear as day when, near the end, Moll reminds Cobb that he dreamed they'd grow old together and he replies that they already did, and we see flashbacks of an elderly couple walking through a brightly lit city. But, as I previously stated, it doesn't matter if my interpretation is correct, because all interpretations are correct. Nolan led me into an engaging dream world, and I took out of it that Moll and Cobb lived a long happy life together, most likely because I am married and would like the same thing for myself and my wife. Others will deposit their own psyche into the dream safe and take from it what they will and they will not be any more or less correct than me.
It goes without saying that this has been a relatively bleak summer. Even Toy Story 3, with its stunning, maw of hell incinerator sequence, was essentially a tiresome retread of its previous installment. Blockbusters have come into theaters, made some quick dough, then exited the financial stratosphere as quickly as our collective conscience. Nothing has stuck. Sure, I enjoyed Predators, Splice and even Prince of Persia to a certain degree, but nothing has really blown me away or made me reassess the nature of film as an artistic medium. I've been vastly more interested in reading tallies on BoxOfficeMojo.com than I have been in studying reviews or critical essays. I've been pinning my hopes on Inception, and now, after seeing it twice, both times on an IMAX screen, I can say without reservation that my expectations have been met, turned on their heads and summarily surpassed.
I'll stop here and give the customary spoiler warning. I'm going to assume if you're reading this, you've seen the film. I will be discussing personal interpretations of the films story and events, not to mention hearsay and conjecture regarding the Director's impetus and intent behind creating it. Let me clearly state that this will be based on conclusions I have made, not necessarily on actual facts or truths. To paraphrase Ricky from Trailer Park Boys, I'm not a journalist, I'm a conversationalist. So, as the Joker from another Nolan masterpiece said, "Here... we... go..."
Inception is and is about more things than any film in recent memory. On the surface, it is about how we perceive our reality and it's about guilt and catharsis. But, like the multiple, ever deeper layers of consciousness the characters go through during the stunning final sequence, it is about a myriad many other things as well. The second sub textual layer concerns itself with the gambit between artist and audience. It is about the unspoken agreement between an entertainer and those who wish to be entertained. It is about our willingness (or unwillingness) to turn over the reins of our own imagination to an outside consult (substitute Nolan as the Director here, or, as portrayed in the film, Dicaprio as Cillian Murphy's subconscious security chief). The third sub textual layer represents how we choose to fill the construct provided us. What sort of denouement will we come to? In the film, Cillian Murphy had a deep psychological scar stemming from his unresolved issues with his father, so when thrown into a highly entertaining snowmobile siege on a Bond villain secret lair, he finds his old man in the vault and proceeds to pour his daddy problems and yearning for love and respect into the scenario. This is the heart of why we go to films, we put ourselves in the protagonists (or sometimes antagonists) shoes so as to experience the power, love or resolution that so often evades us in waking life.
The more I thought about the film in the day after I first saw it, I started to question if the whole thing might not be a dream, which would render whether or not the spinning top toppled at the end a moot point. I believe not only is that not a cheat, it's a brilliant approach to telling the story. The point of the film isn't if it's a dream or not. It might be a dream, it might not be. My personal interpretation is that Dicaprio's character of Cobb is actually an elderly man who has recently lost his wife and the film that plays out is nothing more than a rambling dream he has in order to deal with that loss on a subconscious level. It's all spelled out by Saito and Cobb repeatedly intoning the phrase about being an old man full of regret, waiting to die alone. It's clear as day when, near the end, Moll reminds Cobb that he dreamed they'd grow old together and he replies that they already did, and we see flashbacks of an elderly couple walking through a brightly lit city. But, as I previously stated, it doesn't matter if my interpretation is correct, because all interpretations are correct. Nolan led me into an engaging dream world, and I took out of it that Moll and Cobb lived a long happy life together, most likely because I am married and would like the same thing for myself and my wife. Others will deposit their own psyche into the dream safe and take from it what they will and they will not be any more or less correct than me.
I think Inception is THAT film for Christopher Nolan. The one where he brought it all together that will be looked back upon as the moment he went from being the dude who could make smarter than average superhero movies to the preeminent artist in his field. Film is the most important art form in the history of human civilization. It encompasses all variegated forms of art into one narrative medium and reaches the most people of every age, gender, political affiliation, ethnicity, geographical location and religious belief. It is the apotheosis of what mankind can do to express his or her understanding of the predicament, joy and peril of consciousness and Christopher Nolan happens to be THE best person in the world at it right now. He makes movies that attain both critical and popular acclaim in a way previously unheard of. Thank god he's only 39!
You could pick out any one element to focus on and be blown away by it for the films two and half hour run time. You could spend the whole movie simply studying the cinematography of Wally Pfister, or the sumptuous production design and architecture, or the gorgeous costume design, or the positively unreal Hans Zimmer score, or the superlative stunt work, or the innovative and jaw dropping computer effects work, or the pitch perfect cast, or the mind bending, yet always understandable script and Direction. The point is, there isn't in my estimation even one weak spot in this whole film. Some people point to the coldness of Nolan's approach, the clinical detachment he imbues his films with as his weakness. I disagree. I think that Nolan is a Director who overpowers you with craft to be sure, but he gives you the option to be affected emotionally by the film. He doesn't tell you what to react to and how by manipulative, time tested techniques and editing parlor tricks. That's for Spielberg and Zemeckis and the like. He gives you the thought without you knowing it. He's a film maker who not only believes in the subtle beauty of Inception, but expertly practices it with every film he creates. He allows us to do the thinking and deciding and is such an elegant gentleman about it, he sees fit to make sure our surroundings are lush and agreeable. Then he stands out of the way and lets it happen as opposed to forcing every laugh, sigh, chuckle and tear out of us as with a crowbar. He is a new generation of auteur, and for those of us who place a premium on the art forms importance and meaning, a beacon to light the way.
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