Inception is an Exceptional Mindf**ck
Posted on | July 28, 2010 | No Comments
It’s been more than a week since I’ve seen Inception, and I still haven’t felt this mindf**ked since watching, well, Memento. Not surprisingly, those two movies share the same writer/director: Mr. Christopher Nolan.
Inception is the reason why I watch movies. It’s the reason why I write screenplays. And it’s the reason why I feel that cinema can be not only entertainment, but also a sophisticated (if expensive) expression of art.
Inception is quite simply one of the best movies of the year.
On the surface, it’s a thriller. But it’s also an action movie, a crime caper, a psychological drama, a mystery, and a contemporary sci-fi flick.
An outstanding Leonardo DiCaprio stars as Dom Cobb, who is a master of extraction – the crime of entering people’s dreams to steal valuable secrets. But his skills have also made him one of the most wanted men on the globe. His only path to redemption is to accept an offer from Japanese tycoon Saito (Ken Wantanbe) to enter into the dream of a corporate rival — not to steal an idea, but rather to plant one. This dangerous process is called inception, the act of planting an idea so deep into a mark’s subconsciousness that he will wake up believing the idea was his own and, therefore, more likely to act on it.
Most screenwriters would stop at the “stealing ideas in dream” premise and be pretty proud of themselves. But Nolan doesn’t settle for just “good;” he aims for brilliant, and pulls it off by adding the ingenious twist of inception.
Fortunately, Inception’s heady sci-fi themes are grounded by Cobb’s emotional character arc. His highly touted talents belie the fact that he’s actually estranged from his kids and wracked with guilt from holding a deadly secret about his wife.
In this way, Inception is a classic man-vs.-himself conflict, as much as it is a crime caper set in the mind. Without revealing any spoilers, I just have to say that this type of subgenre is usually handled pretty poorly (think The Hulk or The Wolfman), but Nolan makes Cobb’s internal battle pay off in spades.
Cobb’s characterization doesn’t come at the expense of the supporting characters, either. Nolan makes sure each of Cobb’s allies is given a little something to chew on. I could go on and on about Watanabe’s Saito or Tom Hardy’s Eames or Marion Cotillard’s Mal or, especially, Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s Arthur — but I won’t. Suffice to say, every character brings his or her own intricate piece to the puzzle that is Inception. No wasted faces, no wasted words. Their dialogue rings true, with each person having his or her own cadence and rhythm.
Inception’s screenplay does have one minor flaw, though: there are one too many flashbacks. Actually, they can’t be considered flashbacks; they’re Cobb’s subconscious projections based on his memories that pop up into various people’s dreams.
Um, yeah.
Kinda hard to explain without spoiling the magnificent subtleties. Just know that some of the scenes and images are repeated one too many times.
Audiences these days are so movie-savvy that a flashback (or pseudo-flashback in this case) only needs to be used once or twice to have them get the idea (no pun intended). More than that and it just gets redundant and slows down the pacing. At two and a half hours, Inception could probably endure some trimming and still retain much of its emotional and intelligent complexities.
I could write more about Inception’s cinematography, action, stunts, music, production design, and special effects, but I’d just be slathering on the same type of praise that I have been heaping on Nolan.
In today’s empty movie landscape of mindless remakes and retread sequels, Nolan has written something that is wildly unique, extremely creative, hyper intelligent, and most of all edge-of-your-seat exciting. If you haven’t seen Inception yet, just know that you’re going to come out of it feeling utterly mindf**ked.
Or maybe that’s just the idea that Nolan will plant in your mind….
Tags: Christopher Nolan > dream > dreams > Ellen Page > extraction > Inception > Joseph Gorden-Levitt > Ken Watanabe > Leonardo DiCaprio > Marion Cotillard > Memento > Tom Hardy
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