The dream has always been a mystery. It remains untouched by the measures of science. They are unpredictable; always appearing at their whim, or disappearing at the slightest shift in our sleeping bodies. They can transform without warning and, strangely enough, our unconscious may not even register the change. Whatever they may be they are ours alone. Others offer interpretation however we are the only ones that experienced what we did, and we are the only ones that can truly say what they mean to us.
What if then, could another share in our dream experience? Friends could aid, helping us find meaning in our dreams and we could do the same for them. The impossible could seem like reality in the worlds we create. We could love without end, see exotic places together, or participate in sinister games of the imagination harm free. Anything could be done as long as the bounds of the imagination are untethered.
Problems would arise, like they often do. Who would be the arbiter of these worlds? Would such a one be needed with the physical factor virtually eliminated? Or would we find that the products of the mind are more tangible than we could have ever thought? "Your dream or mine?" a maxim for that era if there ever was one brings to light of how casually fleeing reality could become. Why would you need reality when you have perfectly actualized dreams? Is not the new dream reality enough?
Most importantly, however, would be this: how do you become the architect of something so fleeting and mystifying? How does one make concrete what is not even there?
The summer movie Inception, written and directed by the superbly talented Christopher Nolan, asks many of these same questions, tantalizing the audience with a cautionary-esque tale of events so explosive it left me in sheer awe when the final credits began to roll. Most people might know the movie from the very cryptic trailers that have been seen in theaters, on the web and, most recently on TV, but that is just about it. The marketing campaign has been masterful, showing just enough as to get people wondering but giving nothing away in the process (The perfect trailer, really; take note horror movie makers.) In this slumping summer of movies, producers would have us ask, "Who is Salt?" What myself and millions of others around the globe have really been wondering is, "What is Inception!?"
Inception is a word with Latin origins meaning "take" or "seize." The movie stars Leonardo DiCaprio as Dom Cobb, a man with mysterious ties to an unknown corporation. He works as an Extractor, someone who invades the dreams of others in order to steal secrets locked away in the subconscious of his subjects. The trick is doing it without the subject even knowing that it is happening. Joseph Gordon-Levitt plays, Arthur, Cobb's right hand man and fact checker. It's his job to make sure that the dream is accurate to the subject's reality effectively continuing the illusion. The team is tight, and both actors play expertly off on another.
The movie begins with Cobb and Arthur inside the dream of corporate mogul Satio (Ken Wanatabe). They are there to be tested, if they can steal a secret without being caught and if they can do it without giving the dream-state away. The purpose of the test is to see if the team is good enough for a very advantageous assignment: inception. Satio proposes not the extraction of ideas but rather the act of implanting a notion or thought into the mind of a subject.
Inception is deemed impossible by everyone except for Cobb who claims that he has done it once. The risk is extremely high but so is the reward; too high for Cobb to pass up, and he ends up taking the job. Later, Cobb employs characters played by Michael Cane, Ellen Page and Tom Hardy for their talents. What ensues becomes just short of chaos when the characters plummet farther into a foreign consciousness, fighting off imagined foes, time, and of course, themselves.
Inception is the summer movie that I have been waiting for and I have been waiting a long time. I can't remember the first time I saw the trailer for the film but I do remember the sentiment, "Wow, this is going to be big!" With Christopher Nolan comes excitement because I know what a treat is in store for movie goers. But after watching Inception I realized that I've been waiting for this film for far longer than I have thought. This is a film has so much weight and magnitude that I knew I would love it, but I didn't know exactly how much. In simple terms, Inception has far exceeded my very high expectations.
Yes, I know how that sounds, like I'm a fanboy foaming at the mouth with excitement. But understand that this film comes from the mind and talent of, who I believe, is one of the greatest directors of our time. Christopher Nolan has been kicking cinematic tail for over a decade now beginning with the largely unknown Following (1998). The film itself, I must be honest, never captivated me when I first saw it. But I could appreciate it as a form of art; it was quirky, it was black & white, it was very unique. It was when his next film, Memento (2000), came out that Nolan really came into the spotlight. Memento was a film so good it could work as many director's masterpiece, for Nolan he was still cutting his teeth in the film industry.
The story was about Leonard Shelby, a man that experienced a violent home invasion that resulted in a brain injury for him, giving him short-term memory loss, and the death of his wife. He is searching for his wife's killer but for anyone with memory problems this would prove difficult seeing as you wouldn't be able to remember a single clue to the case. To remedy this, Shelby tattoos the facts that he has found onto his body. He also has Polaroid's of important people, places and things that he needs to keep track of. This is my car, this is my friend, this is the hotel where I stay. What makes Memento really interesting to watch is that the whole film is backwards. The very first scene of the movie is actually the last scene in the story. This juxtaposition is really confusing but the result is that you are just as lost as Leonard Shelby, effectively connecting the audience to the character in ways that lesser directors can only dream of.
I remember when I first saw Memento. I was enthralled by the tale and how it was told. Even when my friends got bored with it and left, I was still there to the end. And what an end it was. Film Noir lives again! I'm not sure if it had died to begin with, but at least it was reinvented. After that I was hooked, a true fan of Nolan. I tried to find more about him and his films. I saw his career unfold over the years never being disappointed in the least. I think the story would have ended there, him being a niche director, had it not been for a little film known as The Dark Knight (2008).
Though there is nothing little about The Dark Knight seeing as it has grossed over a billion dollars worldwide. It was not his first foray with the Caped Crusader but it was definitely the best. The Dark Knight showed the world how convincing a superhero movie could be and what a world with these masked vigilantes and their nemeses would really be like if they existed. Coming off the heels of The Dark Knight, Nolan had absolutely nothing to prove. The irony is that if Inception had been far less impressive it could conceivably discredit him entirely. The Dark Knight gave the world Christopher Nolan, Inception showed the world that he could direct.
That being said, what makes Inception a triumph? The movie is largely a genre pic, but it really proves how epic formula can be. Inception is cool as a cocktail and I describe it this way: two parts Waking Life, one part Matrix and a squeeze of heist. Shake well, serve over ice. The film combines genre so well as to camouflage the subjects entirely. It has just enough Sci-Fi as to transport the story but not enough to alarm the audience that what they're really watching is Sci-Fi. It has a perfect amount of heist as to not get in the way and just enough brooding as to not get annoying.
The characters themselves are virtual dynamos of power played by actors at the literal top of their game. Many fault a movie for having DiCaprio in it, having never forgiven him for his roles in Romeo + Juliet (1996) and Titanic (1997) . His work on The Aviator (2004), The Departed (2006) and Shutter Island (2009) have long given credence that he is an actor worthy of acclaim. Gordon-Levitt's career's also keeps getting better after the smash hit (500) Days of Summer (2009) that he co-starred in. Ellen Page rounds out the talent by being part of Hollywood's new generation of great starlets.
But even the greats like Humphrey Bogart or Katharine Hepburn would fail if the characters that they played weren't worth the ink on a script. Inception's characters are exciting to watch and even more rewarding to figure out. The relationship between Cobb and his wife Mal is as electrifying as it is toxic. It's riveting to watch the only memories of his wife and children, destructive memories, really, pervade the world that Cobb is placed in. Mal's haunting becomes ominous and you come to feel how distant she is from reality.
Inception is saturated with many symbols and metaphors which is fitting seeing that many interpret dreams with very similar tools. One of the more prominent symbols in the film is the totem; a physical object that the possessor uses to indicate if they are in a dream state or not. The totem is very valuable, so much so that its owner can't even let others hold it. If someone could know the details of the totem then they could then fool an individual into believing that they are awake when in reality they are asleep in a dream. The totem that Cobb wields is a top that when spun will fall like tops always do. But if he is in a dream the top will continue to spin unaided for as long as it is allowed. Totems become keys to reality, objects of truth. When all else is unreliable the totem can be relied upon to cement the world around you. In a sense they are the only physical objects that matters.
Deep existentialist questions are posed in Inception. Primarily, what is reality and is it subjective? Cobb and Mal have an extended shared dream experience and upon waking Mal become dissatisfied with waking life, believing that nothing is real. She later becomes a specter for Cobb and tries to convince him that you can experience all the life you desire in the realms dreams. This is a very polarizing idea because both sides could be argued very vehemently. We can have very vivid experiences inside a dream but if it isn't real then what does it matter? Is joy and pleasure the means to an end, or does truth overrule?
The score was composed by Hans Zimmer who has many credits to his name. For Inception he created a very dense score that fills the movie with an emotive and ever building sense of suspense. To his credit, Zimmer didn't craft a score that dictated the suspense but instead the action on screen and the music exist in a very healthy symbiosis. Nolan and Zimmer's talent are so well exhibited in this area that the climax of the film never seems to end. And that's a good thing. Tension builds continuously throughout the entire 148 minutes that the movie runs. Even as it comes to a close it doesn't fall and leaves you spinning as the final credits roll to the end.
Inception is a true cinematic juggernaut encompassing many forms of great. It created anticipation beforehand, it truly entertained, and even days after watching it I still can't stop thinking about it, and I can't wait to see it again. If you haven't seen it yet, you owe it to yourself to watch it. You might not like it as much as I did but I guarantee that you will enjoy it more than you thought. At the very least watch it to support good film making instead of the pathetic attempts at entertainment that we've been subjected to this summer. I predict that Inception will win big at the Academy Awards and that it will be talked about, thought about, and viewed many years to come.
The movie begins with Cobb and Arthur inside the dream of corporate mogul Satio (Ken Wanatabe). They are there to be tested, if they can steal a secret without being caught and if they can do it without giving the dream-state away. The purpose of the test is to see if the team is good enough for a very advantageous assignment: inception. Satio proposes not the extraction of ideas but rather the act of implanting a notion or thought into the mind of a subject.
Inception is deemed impossible by everyone except for Cobb who claims that he has done it once. The risk is extremely high but so is the reward; too high for Cobb to pass up, and he ends up taking the job. Later, Cobb employs characters played by Michael Cane, Ellen Page and Tom Hardy for their talents. What ensues becomes just short of chaos when the characters plummet farther into a foreign consciousness, fighting off imagined foes, time, and of course, themselves.
Inception is the summer movie that I have been waiting for and I have been waiting a long time. I can't remember the first time I saw the trailer for the film but I do remember the sentiment, "Wow, this is going to be big!" With Christopher Nolan comes excitement because I know what a treat is in store for movie goers. But after watching Inception I realized that I've been waiting for this film for far longer than I have thought. This is a film has so much weight and magnitude that I knew I would love it, but I didn't know exactly how much. In simple terms, Inception has far exceeded my very high expectations.
Yes, I know how that sounds, like I'm a fanboy foaming at the mouth with excitement. But understand that this film comes from the mind and talent of, who I believe, is one of the greatest directors of our time. Christopher Nolan has been kicking cinematic tail for over a decade now beginning with the largely unknown Following (1998). The film itself, I must be honest, never captivated me when I first saw it. But I could appreciate it as a form of art; it was quirky, it was black & white, it was very unique. It was when his next film, Memento (2000), came out that Nolan really came into the spotlight. Memento was a film so good it could work as many director's masterpiece, for Nolan he was still cutting his teeth in the film industry.
The story was about Leonard Shelby, a man that experienced a violent home invasion that resulted in a brain injury for him, giving him short-term memory loss, and the death of his wife. He is searching for his wife's killer but for anyone with memory problems this would prove difficult seeing as you wouldn't be able to remember a single clue to the case. To remedy this, Shelby tattoos the facts that he has found onto his body. He also has Polaroid's of important people, places and things that he needs to keep track of. This is my car, this is my friend, this is the hotel where I stay. What makes Memento really interesting to watch is that the whole film is backwards. The very first scene of the movie is actually the last scene in the story. This juxtaposition is really confusing but the result is that you are just as lost as Leonard Shelby, effectively connecting the audience to the character in ways that lesser directors can only dream of.
I remember when I first saw Memento. I was enthralled by the tale and how it was told. Even when my friends got bored with it and left, I was still there to the end. And what an end it was. Film Noir lives again! I'm not sure if it had died to begin with, but at least it was reinvented. After that I was hooked, a true fan of Nolan. I tried to find more about him and his films. I saw his career unfold over the years never being disappointed in the least. I think the story would have ended there, him being a niche director, had it not been for a little film known as The Dark Knight (2008).
Though there is nothing little about The Dark Knight seeing as it has grossed over a billion dollars worldwide. It was not his first foray with the Caped Crusader but it was definitely the best. The Dark Knight showed the world how convincing a superhero movie could be and what a world with these masked vigilantes and their nemeses would really be like if they existed. Coming off the heels of The Dark Knight, Nolan had absolutely nothing to prove. The irony is that if Inception had been far less impressive it could conceivably discredit him entirely. The Dark Knight gave the world Christopher Nolan, Inception showed the world that he could direct.
That being said, what makes Inception a triumph? The movie is largely a genre pic, but it really proves how epic formula can be. Inception is cool as a cocktail and I describe it this way: two parts Waking Life, one part Matrix and a squeeze of heist. Shake well, serve over ice. The film combines genre so well as to camouflage the subjects entirely. It has just enough Sci-Fi as to transport the story but not enough to alarm the audience that what they're really watching is Sci-Fi. It has a perfect amount of heist as to not get in the way and just enough brooding as to not get annoying.
The characters themselves are virtual dynamos of power played by actors at the literal top of their game. Many fault a movie for having DiCaprio in it, having never forgiven him for his roles in Romeo + Juliet (1996) and Titanic (1997) . His work on The Aviator (2004), The Departed (2006) and Shutter Island (2009) have long given credence that he is an actor worthy of acclaim. Gordon-Levitt's career's also keeps getting better after the smash hit (500) Days of Summer (2009) that he co-starred in. Ellen Page rounds out the talent by being part of Hollywood's new generation of great starlets.
But even the greats like Humphrey Bogart or Katharine Hepburn would fail if the characters that they played weren't worth the ink on a script. Inception's characters are exciting to watch and even more rewarding to figure out. The relationship between Cobb and his wife Mal is as electrifying as it is toxic. It's riveting to watch the only memories of his wife and children, destructive memories, really, pervade the world that Cobb is placed in. Mal's haunting becomes ominous and you come to feel how distant she is from reality.
Inception is saturated with many symbols and metaphors which is fitting seeing that many interpret dreams with very similar tools. One of the more prominent symbols in the film is the totem; a physical object that the possessor uses to indicate if they are in a dream state or not. The totem is very valuable, so much so that its owner can't even let others hold it. If someone could know the details of the totem then they could then fool an individual into believing that they are awake when in reality they are asleep in a dream. The totem that Cobb wields is a top that when spun will fall like tops always do. But if he is in a dream the top will continue to spin unaided for as long as it is allowed. Totems become keys to reality, objects of truth. When all else is unreliable the totem can be relied upon to cement the world around you. In a sense they are the only physical objects that matters.
Deep existentialist questions are posed in Inception. Primarily, what is reality and is it subjective? Cobb and Mal have an extended shared dream experience and upon waking Mal become dissatisfied with waking life, believing that nothing is real. She later becomes a specter for Cobb and tries to convince him that you can experience all the life you desire in the realms dreams. This is a very polarizing idea because both sides could be argued very vehemently. We can have very vivid experiences inside a dream but if it isn't real then what does it matter? Is joy and pleasure the means to an end, or does truth overrule?
The score was composed by Hans Zimmer who has many credits to his name. For Inception he created a very dense score that fills the movie with an emotive and ever building sense of suspense. To his credit, Zimmer didn't craft a score that dictated the suspense but instead the action on screen and the music exist in a very healthy symbiosis. Nolan and Zimmer's talent are so well exhibited in this area that the climax of the film never seems to end. And that's a good thing. Tension builds continuously throughout the entire 148 minutes that the movie runs. Even as it comes to a close it doesn't fall and leaves you spinning as the final credits roll to the end.
Inception is a true cinematic juggernaut encompassing many forms of great. It created anticipation beforehand, it truly entertained, and even days after watching it I still can't stop thinking about it, and I can't wait to see it again. If you haven't seen it yet, you owe it to yourself to watch it. You might not like it as much as I did but I guarantee that you will enjoy it more than you thought. At the very least watch it to support good film making instead of the pathetic attempts at entertainment that we've been subjected to this summer. I predict that Inception will win big at the Academy Awards and that it will be talked about, thought about, and viewed many years to come.
