Film Inception

[Feste]

Shutter Island was better, partly I think because it was more fun. Espeically if you've seen the types of films it's paying homage too (The Ninth Configuration, Session 9, Shock Corridor, etc)

Eon blue -

NSFW:

you seemed to miss the part when one of them does indeed get shot.

 

[eon_blue]

Shutter Island was better, partly I think because it was more fun. Espeically if you've seen the types of films it's paying homage too (The Ninth Configuration, Session 9, Shock Corridor, etc)

Eon blue -

NSFW:

you seemed to miss the part when one of them does indeed get shot.

It's still ridiculous, although taking into consideration what HisNameIsFrank posted above, I can maybe buy into it a little.

 

[Rated E]

I loved it.

 

[belarki]

I'm going to give this 4.5/5 and round it up to 5/5 Personally I'm with grimble crumble:

I dont see how anyone can't understand this movie. They basically held your hand throughout it explaining it two you.

I was expecting a bit more of a twist, there could have been more left to the imagination, and there were a couple of niggling little discrepancies but on the whole it was easily the most enjoyable film I've seen in a while. I'd definitely rate this above the matrix; but I'm not the most die-hard sci-fi/comic book fan out there...

 

[TheLoveBandit]

Couldn't agree more. I nearly burst out laughing in that early line about Leonardo diCaprio being an 'extractor' or whatever.
And I also think the choice of Ellen Page for Ariadne was crazy. She looks about 15 whilst all the others looks about 30 and has too much of the attitude-filled teenager thing going on from Juno for this one.

In some of the interviews I heard on the radio, Ariadne and Mal were key figures in Cobb's evolving mental state and the interpretations of their roles led me to see something different in this film than most others:

NSFW:

What I picked up in interviews was that Ariadne was something of a therapist for Cobb, so I went into the film with that already in my head. As such, I could watch the entire film and see her playing that role, in trying to get him to come to terms with his wife's death.

The kicker for me was that I viewed the entire film as having been a therapy session for Cobb, a dream of his if you will. The male characters all served purposes, such as Saito being his fear of growing old alone and needing a key to reconcile with himself. Arthur being the part of Cobb's personality that was always logical, dependable, looking out for him, but sometimes missing something...his conscious self, if you will. Eames being the hero, suave and slick whilst also able to fight off an army single handed...what a lot of men hope they have as part of their character. The Professor representing what he was taught (by his father? elders? someone) in terms of guilt and relationships, dealing with feelings - best of intentions, but "I'm just doing what you taught me". Fischer merely served as a distraction (Cobb is going after someone else, not himself) and a means of getting deep enough into himself to get this inception, this seed of self forgiveness, planted so he could move on. I viewed all the characters, and sub-stories, as a means of getting to this point of self-actualization ... however, Cobb couldn't do it on his own.

Enter Ariadne, a non-threatening, small, unestablished character introduced to his psyche who then proceeds to probe deeper into his own issues - to question him and push him deeper into facing himself in ways that none of the other characters have dared to do (perhaps, because they are projections of his sub-conscious? ). She's the one that forces him to face Mal, and tries to explore Cobbs inner secrets and memories, to coach Cobb in overcoming this issue for the safety of all the players (and by extension, himself).

There is a lot of metaphorical imagery to support this take on the film. There is the crumbling world Cobb and Mal built, the use of a 'long journey home' to return to his family, the obvious elevator of Cobb's memories which Ariadne takes to the basement for her real confrontation with Mal, the freighttrain that is Mal's unpredictable and unstoppable influence on Cobb's plans (in addition to being the echo of their lonely world), etc.

So there you have it, my interpretation where this was all Cobb's therapy session under Ariadne's guidance. Also supported by the ending

i'm actually pretty fucking upset with how such an epic cast was TOTALLY squandered and almost pushed out of the frame by all the fucking special effects. i was also upset at how it could have been an EPIC dream movie. i mean, dream heist? YA RITE! AMIRITE?! if it were more slick, character-driven action instead of leave-nothing-standing kind of action it could have been so so so freaking epic.

i mean come on, you can give all the characters guns and grenade launchers, C4 and zero gravity in just about ANY action movie plot. WHY waste the infinite potential of such a trippy concept with all the explosive bullshit? gordon-levitt's suaveness was literally the only reason i didn't walk out of the theatre 3/4s of the way through. the characters could have developed so much in all the time wasted blowing shit up and shooting people.

to add insult to injury, all the violence was dream violence making it completely fucking meaningless. basically it was just nolan on a visceral joyride visibly placing his ego on a mantle above the cast.

There were some aspects of this 'dream' which didn't quite set right with me. I could look past the missed shots (especially given the explanation above), but it irked me that it was a dream and people weren't taking advantage of that. They laid down the ground rules that all parties are in one person's dream, and that person is generally kept unaware that it is a dream - however, if you have an 'architect' why not have some imagined weapon or other problem solution pop out of a pocket? It might cheat the audience...but it's a dream, and even if the person hosting the dream saw something that didn't normally fit....how much of your dreams make sense and play by the rules? Hell, last night my wife got a secret message, rode a horse across town, and shot the uncle of my good friend....and the uncle was a twin! How much sense does any of this make? It's a dream!

I will differ from you, however, on the statement of meaningless violence because of a dream state. Dream or not, the audience is watching a film and looking for violence....I'm fine with that. I can't see where dream violence is any less meaningful than real world...particularly in a film. But maybe that's just me. i do think there was plenty of character driven action IMO - the 'kick' that Arthur employs to wake everyone up whilst dealing with his reality of a van flipping over - cool special effects and a point to it, IMO.

I was expecting a bit more of a twist, there could have been more left to the imagination, and there were a couple of niggling little discrepancies but on the whole it was easily the most enjoyable film I've seen in a while. I'd definitely rate this above the matrix; but I'm not the most die-hard sci-fi/comic book fan out there...

Perhaps my nsfw info up there gives you the additional twist you were looking for, or perhaps that's just my twisted take on things and it will only suite me. I will join you though in not liking the niggling little discrepancies:

NSFW:

In the snow fortress, there is an exchange between Ariadne and Cobb that quickly sends them into another dream to save Saito.....I completely missed the logic of how that was supposed to work - at least within the logic of the film. Also, when Yusef is driving the van to avoid the security forces....the forces that are part of the dreamscape....and he quickly eludes them all by rolling down a hill? There were a few similar scenes where I either found the logic wasn't making sense (within the film's rules) or characters jumped to certain actions without a decent explanation.

Overall I enjoyed the film's special effects, I thought the actors were quite enjoyable for their roles, and the storyline itself was refreshingly different....though a bit frustratingly laid out. I'd recommend the film, and there is a chance I'd watch it again someday on DVD to try and iron out some of the bumps to my own satisfaction.




EDIT - I always read IMDB before seeing a film, just to get more insight on what to expect. However, there are some idiots contributing to that site.

NSFW:

References
On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969) - The mountain headquarters in the third level dream is modelled on the one from OHMSS - okay, yeah, I got that myself...was it really intentional?
Batman Begins (2005) - In the first level dream when Robert Fischer is bundled into the van, a bag is placed over his head, referencing The Scarecrow character - Oh COME ONNNN!!! like that is an intentional reference...puh-leazzeee!!!

 

[belarki]

...

Perhaps my nsfw info up there gives you the additional twist you were looking for, or perhaps that's just my twisted take on things and it will only suite me. I will join you though in not liking the niggling little discrepancies:

....

Nah I had a similar train of though in the back of my throughout the film as well, having seen shutter island pretty recently and, as you mentioned, Ariande really seeming to fill that potential role. Nice review/comments though LoveBandit , haha I agree the imdb comments are a bit far-fetched 8)

if you have an 'architect' why not have some imagined weapon or other problem solution pop out of a pocket?

Didn't they at one stage? With Eames practically pulling that grenade launcher out of thin air and making some tongue-in-cheek comment about "dreaming bigger" to Arthur, or did I miss something and they had all of those weapons to start with?

Speaking of the violence I thought the zero-gravity fight in the hotel was done pretty well!

 

[EFC18]

Memento is still Nolan's best.
Some things I really liked about this film, others I did not... 4/5

 

[EFC18]

She's kinda too short to be an actor. I dunno how Ellen page gets roles

because she is superb

 

[TheLoveBandit]

Didn't they at one stage? With Eames practically pulling that grenade launcher out of thin air and making some tongue-in-cheek comment about "dreaming bigger" to Arthur, or did I miss something and they had all of those weapons to start with?

Speaking of the violence I thought the zero-gravity fight in the hotel was done pretty well!

I had the same thought for a moment when that happened, and figured a) it was in there so they could crack a joke, and b ) it was already in their arsenal as opposed to dreamed up on the spot because they failed to dream anything else up when required.

Like you, I appreciated the zero-G scenes such as the fight. What clicked through my mind at that part of the film was "They spent all this money to just have this guy float around?" ... "OH! Their also using it to do some fighting and create a problem-solving situation....much better."

 

[malakaix]

Maybe i've taken far too much DMT in the past, but i could relate to so much of this film on so many different levels.. i absolutely loved it. It's refreshing to once in a while come across an intelligent plot that wraps itself around so many layers of thought.

Good stuff.

 

[Fawkes]

i absolutely loved it.

me too! i don't often consider seeing a movie again in the theater, but this was definitely one of them. the film was both beautiful and interesting. i gave it 4/5.

 

[JayJohnson]

because she is superb

Hard Candy is a great movie, it's why I love Page, but has she done anything else worth while? Juno was retarded, IMO. Not to knock Page, I'm just waiting for another movie with the bite of Hard Candy.

 

[mariacallas]

I read nothing about this movie. I purposely stayed away from this thread for a long time.
Finally saw it tonight. What a mindfuck. I really really enjoyed myself. It was like Vanilla Sky in the Matrix in the Vanilla Sky in the Matrix...hahahaha!!! Bad analogy but you get my drift
I completely lost myself in it from beginning to end. LOVE!

 

[mariacallas]

In some of the interviews I heard on the radio, Ariadne and Mal were key figures in Cobb's evolving mental state and the interpretations of their roles led me to see something different in this film than most others:

NSFW:

What I picked up in interviews was that Ariadne was something of a therapist for Cobb, so I went into the film with that already in my head. As such, I could watch the entire film and see her playing that role, in trying to get him to come to terms with his wife's death.

The kicker for me was that I viewed the entire film as having been a therapy session for Cobb, a dream of his if you will. The male characters all served purposes, such as Saito being his fear of growing old alone and needing a key to reconcile with himself. Arthur being the part of Cobb's personality that was always logical, dependable, looking out for him, but sometimes missing something...his conscious self, if you will. Eames being the hero, suave and slick whilst also able to fight off an army single handed...what a lot of men hope they have as part of their character. The Professor representing what he was taught (by his father? elders? someone) in terms of guilt and relationships, dealing with feelings - best of intentions, but "I'm just doing what you taught me". Fischer merely served as a distraction (Cobb is going after someone else, not himself) and a means of getting deep enough into himself to get this inception, this seed of self forgiveness, planted so he could move on. I viewed all the characters, and sub-stories, as a means of getting to this point of self-actualization ... however, Cobb couldn't do it on his own.

Enter Ariadne, a non-threatening, small, unestablished character introduced to his psyche who then proceeds to probe deeper into his own issues - to question him and push him deeper into facing himself in ways that none of the other characters have dared to do (perhaps, because they are projections of his sub-conscious? ). She's the one that forces him to face Mal, and tries to explore Cobbs inner secrets and memories, to coach Cobb in overcoming this issue for the safety of all the players (and by extension, himself).

There is a lot of metaphorical imagery to support this take on the film. There is the crumbling world Cobb and Mal built, the use of a 'long journey home' to return to his family, the obvious elevator of Cobb's memories which Ariadne takes to the basement for her real confrontation with Mal, the freighttrain that is Mal's unpredictable and unstoppable influence on Cobb's plans (in addition to being the echo of their lonely world), etc.

So there you have it, my interpretation where this was all Cobb's therapy session under Ariadne's guidance. Also supported by the ending

FTMFW. Love your interpretation of it all.

 

[ColtDan]

complete mind fuck of a movie. i give it 4/5

 

[vegan]

I thought it was pretty dumb

another possibility would be : it was damn intelligent

and some people are frustrated because they couldn't get everything in one view
so they call it dumb instead of taking a few extra minutes to think about it


many people like instant gratification and cannot appreciate a film while accepting that it will require added thought and that they will have to put the puzzle together later


i thought the same about the people who didn't like mulholland drive
every person who didn't like it also said "it makes no sense / etc'"
that's obviously not a coincidence


inception was amazing
and i'm pretty sure that a good part of the PD posters must have felt that it was like "especially written for them"

 

[L2R]

and i'm pretty sure that a good part of the PD posters must have felt that it was like "especially written for them"

too much so. this film really fucked with my reality, i had to take a breather and i almost didn't go back in. seriously, the conversation at the start about creativity was basically identical to the conversation i had with ebola the day before i saw the film (i saw it last night, so on friday).

this film hurt me quite a lot and i kinda wish i didn't see it. this comment is actually more on myself than the film, so don't take this as being critical of it. the high quality film making is beyond doubt.

 

[thujone]

i had to go for a breather myself but that was mainly because i was seeing it in imax and all the 140dB gunfire was pissing me off.

i thought the idea of being stuck in a limbo state for an illusory 50 years while only being out of it for half an hour in reality was cool but like TLB said the premise promised more than nolan was capable of delivering and indeed would have taken a very talented filmmaker a long time to write it. i think nolan had the idea for this movie in his head for a while and just spent like a month writing it and thought it looked cool on paper then realized halfway into filming there was no way he could wrap the heist laden to the brim with philosophical undertones up in less than 3 hours so it was easier to just let it all degenerate into fucked-up violence akin to what you'd find in any old action flick.

TLB, i said the dream violence felt meaningless because in most action movies the plot is driven BY the action. hero must get to point B and the only way there is through armies of bad guys. it's like watching a really good player play a really difficult video game. entertaining, but shallow. in the dream world, they could have used genuine intellect to solve problems but i'm guessing that was either too difficult for nolan to wrap his head around or maybe he thought his target audience would never be able to get their head around it so he decided it'd be easier to just have the protagonists shoot their way through every problem.

it's entirely nonlinear logic, and i don't buy the excuse that "that's ok because it was all in dreams" considering there were other flaws as well like...

NSFW:

in regards to the part where cobb and ariadne strapped themselves to the suitcase to go after saito and scaryface murphy, it didn't make sense why saito and murphy had to die to get stuck in limbo but cobb and ariadne could retrieve scaryface via the suitcase instead of by suiciding in the third layer. maybe i'm remembering it wrong but that was a big WTF moment.

i'll admit the dream within a dream within a dream concept was cool; to watch them dive deeper and deeper then get yanked out, but nolan could have kept a two dream maximum and used all the time wasted on that snow fort bullshit to develop the characters instead of leaving them all shallow as a kiddie pool. the cast was talented enough to present the illusion of character depth but since we don't actually learn anything about any of them after the first fifteen minutes it comes back to remind you how much it sucked after the wonder wears off.

to add insult to that injury, the only twist is that cobb inceptionized his wife but it wasn't really much of a fucking surprise since it was foreshadowed in the first fifteen minutes anyway. boo.

 

[AmorRoark]

i think nolan had the idea for this movie in his head for a while and just spent like a month writing it and thought it looked cool on paper then realized halfway into filming there was no way he could wrap the heist laden to the brim with philosophical undertones up in less than 3 hours so it was easier to just let it all degenerate into fucked-up violence akin to what you'd find in any old action flick.

Nolan worked on the script for nine to ten years.

http://www.collider.com/2010/03/25/...-cameras-they-used-pre-viz-wb-and-a-lot-more/

 

[Fawkes]

did anyone else read this article? Inception Costume Designer Reveals All

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The costume designer reveals that the children's clothing was different in the final scene.

Upon reading the comments on this article someone pointed out that Cobb was wearing his wedding ring only during the dreams, but not while awake; and, in the final scene, he was not wearing it. i need to see it again so i can pay closer attention to these little details!