Inception
March 3, 2014 by admin_name
Inception
released 2010
The film ”Inception” was released in 2010 and is an action packed sci-fi with an unpredictable storyline and so fun to watch. It stars a very talented cast such as Leonardo DiCaprio, Michael Caine, Ken Watanabe, Pete Postlethwaite, Tom Berenger, Ellen page, Cillian Murphy, Dileep Rao, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Marion Cotillard and Tom Hardy and was directed by Christopher Nolan. It is important to note that the music was composed by Hans Zimmer and added a great deal to the sense of anticipation and wonder at the strange dream-world of the characters.
The story introduces the viewer to the fascinating world of dreams through a tale of corporate espionage. Dominick “Dom” Cobb played by Leonardo DiCaprio steals corporate secrets by hacking into the minds of people. He has a very qualified team of hackers called “extractors”. His actions with his wife have put him on the wrong side of the law where he lives in exile away from his children. On the surface this is a situation he cannot bear so he spends all his efforts trying to get back to his children. This means accepting an impossible job that can only be done by solving the problem of “inception”.
Inception is the implantation of ideas into a target´s mind in such way the target would think it was their own. In other words, one could not tell the difference between an idea and one that was implanted by inception. It is a complicated and dangerous process where the extractors have to descend several levels into the mind of character Robert Fischer played by Cillian Murphy. The extractors have to deal with problems such as Robert´s own mind defense system, shorter time limits at every level and Dom has the ghost character of his ex-wife, played by Marion Cotillard, who endangers the mission at every turn.
A brilliant turn in the film is the character Ariande, played by Ellen Page. She is a student who is hired as an architect to help them build the dream-world they need. As the newest member of the group she is able to offer a more grounded viewpoint. This is important because as the story develops it becomes more difficult to distinguish between the dream-worlds and reality and it also becomes clear that some of the characters will not make it out of the dream-world.
The character of Dom reminds me of the Greek mythological character of Icarus. (Icarus flew too close to the Sun and fell to his doom when his wax wings melted). Like Icarus, Dom tinkers with something seductive and dangerous. Apparently the dream-world can be a seductive place where you can lose your ability to distinguish reality from the dream state and prefer the dream-world over reality. That is what makes Dom´s situation tragic and desperate.
The whole movie is Dom´s recognition that he prefers the dream-world over reality. As a result of this recognition he must ultimately make a choice. I´ve heard many other interpretations of the film, such as to say that the movie is actually the story of an inception being performed on Dom. Or the whole story is one dream with no reality reference point. Dom´s choice can be summed up from the scene with his Sorbonne professor, stepfather named Miles, played by Michael Caine, in Paris where he is asked to come back to reality. The way Miles treats Cob, looks at Cob, reveals that Cob is living his life in some sort of denial. Miles isn´t angry or judgmental and does not turn him in to the authorities. Miles wants Cob to come back to reality, to choose reality.
There are two important things you must know about this movie in order to see what is going on. Firstly, the character of Dom is not a reliable witness for the viewer. That is to say, he is never sure if he is dreaming or awake and hence neither are we the viewer. For example, he seems to break all the rules he tells Ariadne not to. (Famous examples of unreliable characters are Alfred Hitchcock´s “Vertigo” with the main character played by James Stewart).
Secondly, the character of Dom must come to terms with what he has done and the fact that he is addicted to the dream-world. Just keep in mind that this movie is a journey of self-discovery and self-forgiveness and not a mystery to keep tract of which layers of perception are the dream state and which layer is reality. In the end, Dom has taken an honest look at himself and what he is. He makes the choice of where he wants to be and ends up there. Whether you call that state reality or a dream is irrelevant.
This is a fresh, exciting, original film that can boast a very talented cast and great script. There is plenty of great action with an unpredictable story development. The worlds they created and the depth of the characters make this movie a must-see. Even in this day and age of CGI and fancy special effects no other film has achieved the feat of creating as believable a world of dreams and the mind quite like “Inception” and because of that this film is a trailblazer.
I highly recommend “Inception” as a sci-fi must-see and own.
John
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