Inception
Written and directed by Christopher Nolan
Leonardo DiCaprio
Joseph Gordon-Levitt
Ellen Page
I'd like to start by saying this:
Dear Mr. Nolan & Mr. DiCaprio, thank you for blowing my mind.
With movies like Memento, The Prestige, and The Dark Knight to his credit I think it's safe to say that Christopher Nolan knows what he's doing. That said; Inception blows them all out of the water (with the possible exception of Memento [which is better than excellent]).
Everything about this movie is great, the story, the writing and dialogue, the special effects, the acting; everything! I was very pleased with the novelty and originality of Inception; the concept of being able to consciously enter an unconcious state is in itself mind boggeling, as if that wasn't enough this movie delves into dreams within a dream within a dream within a dream and so on and so forth. Then, as if to put the icing on the cake while our heros are layers down into all these dreams their mission is to plant the seedling of an idea in the subject's subconscious! By now you might be thinking "what the hell, this is confusing!" but it's not, I promise. One of the great things about the film is that it's deep and interesting without being confusing to the average viewer!
Another great thing is the effects, the special effects are fun and cool without being over the top (ie: Matrix, I Am Legend). The movie utilizes subtle special effects in an interesting way, it doesn't become unbelievable or fake looking. My favorite scene(s) effects-wise is the scene with Joseph Gordon-Levitt in the hotel alone, specificall when the hotel loses gravity and Gordon-Levitt has to fight some projections in that rumbling, rip roaring, gravity losing hotel of fun; those are some of the most fun scenes in a movie I've ever seen!
Now it's time for me to spoil the ending for you.
As with DiCaprio's last mind-fuck, Shutter Island, the ending is a bit vague, perhaps intended to confuse the viewer or to let you draw your own conclusion. Lucky for you I'm here to clear things up for you.
The final scene of the film has DiCaprio's character, Cobb, leaving the L.A. airport with his father, and returning to his home, he spins the top to see if he is indeed in reality, but before he can see it drop his children run to him & welcom him home. The camera focuses on the top still spinning and just before it might topple over cut to black. the end.
Clearly Cobb is still in his dream-reality, and here's why: 1) His father meets him at the airport, this doesn't make any sense because it's already been established that his father lives/works in Paris, why would he be in L.A.? 2) The children are at Cobb's old house, when it has already been established that they live with their grandmother. 3) The children have not aged. 4) The children are in the exact same clothing and position as we have seen in Cobb's dreams/memories. 5) By the time the camera pans back over to the top it has already been spinng for over a minute; that is, in my opinion, too long for a top to spin without falling.
What I find interesting about this ending is that Cobb abandons the top before waiting for it to fall, this to me said that he no longer cared about true reality; he resolved to remain in the reality his mind had created. Cobb abandoned reality in order to be with his children, which is both heartening and heart breaking because, in doing so he has ensured that he will never see his real children again.
Post Script: After seeing this film a 2nd time I feel the need to come back and clarify that in the end it is irrelevant wether or not Cobb is dreaming. The story is concluded regardless of wether he is awake or not. The discussion over how much of the film is reality and how much is Cobb's dream is just an interesting conversation topic.
Five Stars
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So I'm not 100% convinced that he was dreaming in the end. I think it's possible he was in reality and actually awake. My counterpoints to your points:
ReplyDeleteHe visited his dad early in the film and gave him something to take back to his children. So that's why his dad was in LA.
It never actually says how much time has passed between him leaving the children and then coming back. Considering the exponential growth of time when you enter a dream, he could have done all kinds of operations and built up reputation in a month. Maybe sooner.
And I know i'm sort of stretching it here, but maybe with his dad knowing he was potentially coming home, he took the kids to the house which he still owned and got it ready for him. Maybe his dad dressed them in the same clothes to please Dicaprio's character because maybe he told his father all about that moment many times. Maybe.
The top. I think the last shot of the top isn't there at all to prove anything but rather to make you question any sort of a definite answer you think you have. the top spinning for a long time proves it may have been a dream, but it's wobbling just before the cut to black suggests that it might have been reality. There's no sure answer, the top is only there to say, "Hey, don't be so sure you know what's up. Think about it some more."
Now, all that being said, I dont think it matters one bit whether he was dreaming or if he was actually awake. All that matters is that he overcame his demons and got to see his children's faces again. He's happy and he gets to spend time with them. the main point of the movie, for me, was that everything is how you percieve it in your mind. If DiCaprio's character thinks it's reality and he's happy, that's all that matters. What more does he need? If he thinks it's reality than it IS his reality. So no matter where he was, it doesn't change what the point of the movie was and how it ends. At least not for me.