Dreams Never End

I really hate it when films are described as a cross between two renowned films. The cover of R-Point features a quote from 'Front Magazine': "Blair Witch meets Full Metal Jacket" - not even close. Inception has been summarised as The Matrix meets Ocean's Eleven.

The reviews of Inception have reiterated the need to pay close attention in order to understand the film. Neither myself or my brother had trouble following the themes even whilst whispering observations between ourselves (if you really want a film that confuses you, try Primer). The easiest way to follow it is to lay the groundwork with preceding films. In this respect comparisons with The Matrix aren't far off - Philosophy 101 with the Wachowskis popularised the idea of the brain-in-a-vat and philosophical scepticism via the action genre. Dark City is another which director Christopher Nolan cites (which the Wachowskis may or may not have ripped-off). Kathryn Bigolow's Strange Days was recommended to me along with Dark City, and the dream technology of Inception recalls that of the memory recorders in Strange Days, both raising issue with their effects on the (ab)user's mind.

Sticking with it's doppelgänger, Inception ups the scepticism we see in The Matrix. The ultimate flaw of Thomas Anderson's journey from slave to messiah was that he only questioned reality once. After he exited the matrix, the single layer of false consciousness, he readily accepted the bleak post-apocalyptic world Morpheus presented to him. Most likely that was to streamline the narrative for mainstream audiences and focus of the messianic themes. Where the Wachowskis were directing their second film, Christopher Nolan has been given free range after the billion dollar success of The Dark Knight. Undoubtedly it is this creative freedom that has allowed him to produce a more complex blockbuster, which is probably why I saw people walk out of the film.

9/10 (a great film)

»Spoilers Ahead«

Still, whilst you may be able to follow the themes of Inception, like Memento the chronology of events taxes your memory. Though the narrative is, excepting the introductory scenes, linear; the layers of locations as they enter into another dream stack up resulting in numerous cuts back through the locales. As Cobb is in limbo, Fischer talks to his father. As Fischer talks to his father, Arthur is in the hotel lift. As Arthur is in the lift, the minivan is falling into the river. At each level time is compressed, so in the time it takes the minivan to fall off the bridge and hit the water, hours can pass in L1, weeks in L2, months in L3, years in L4. Synchronicity is difficult to depict without a split-screen effect (used sparingly even in 24), which necessitates the cuts. Though the sets are differentiated, it's still easy to lose track narratively, though not thematically.

Visually, Inception is less memorable than The Matrix, which was steeped in cyberpunk and Gothic. Like The Dark Knight, Inception places a fantastical element into a realistic backdrop. I don't pay much attention to action (excepting Ronin), but Jason Gordon-Levitt's glorious hallway fight breaks physics more than any fight we saw in The Matrix. On characterisation, I think one viewing is too few to call it. Each character seems to fulfil their heist-film role, but I'm still unsure whether Cobb's backstory is fully developed. Nevertheless, highly conceptual and delightful in its intricacies. Do not go to the toilet during Inception.

The themes in Inception tie nicely into a post I started working on in December, concerning dreams and reality. A second viewing will be rewarding, and if I get another an analysis will appear soon...

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