Inception is a typical Christopher Nolan film. There are parallel events taking place and different scenes keep jumping into each other. Having said that, Inception is probably the most linear film Nolan has made till date [unlike Memento, The Prestige, Batman Begins, etc]. Inception's strength is its story. It is about a thief, Dom Cobb, skilled at extracting ideas from the subconscious through dreams. He is given his toughest job till date… to plant an idea into the subconscious, Inception. The plot is so overwhelming and complex that it leaves little for the characters to develop and grow on the audience. Clearly, the story takes the cake and the novel idea of "dreams within dreams" is the killer. I will first talk about some technical aspects, before giving away my interpretation of Inception.
As far as characters are concerned, there are only two that stand out. One is Dom Cobb, enacted splendidly by Leonardo DiCaprio. And the other is Marion Cotillard's Mal. DiCaprio brings intensity to Cobb, who is guilty of his past and desperate to get back to his children. Cotillard is confused, melodramatic and haunting [and yeah, good looking as well]. The other character, whom we get to understand well, is Cillian Murphy's Fischer. Michael Caine, in spite of playing a cameo, makes his presence felt.
Background music by Hans Zimmer takes Inception to an altogether new level. It is easy to oversee its contribution to tension in the climax as all the kicks synchronize. Another simple scene is where Cobb, having accomplished his task, walks out of the airport in the climax. The only thing that conveys a sense of relief is the background music (of course even DiCaprio's acting is a contributing factor). The editing, as is in any Nolan film, is slick. And thanks to good cinematography, Inception is visually stunning. And yeah... the most talked about sequence is the one with anti-gravity stunts. Those stunts are highly gripping.
Nolan is a wonderful writer and there are some really intelligent dialogues. I can't hold off citing one of them. During the planning phase, the Inception team discusses logistic barriers for performing Inception. As they keep tossing one hurdle after another, Saito says how he can buy everything out to accomplish the task.
Eames: We need at least a good ten hours.
Saito: Sydney to Los Angeles. One of the longest flights in the world. He makes it every two weeks.
Cobb: He must be flying privately.
Saito: Not if there was unexpected maintenance with his plane...
Arthur: It would have to be a 747.
Cobb: Why is that?
Arthur: Because on a 747 the pilot is up top, and the first class cabin is in the nose, so no one would walk through. But you'd have to buy out the entire cabin. And the first class flight attendant.
Saito: I bought the airline.
[Everyone looks at him incredulously]
Saito:(awkward) It seemed neater.
Cobb: Looks like we have our ten hours.
In another scene, as a kiss does not help, Ariadne questions Arthur "They're still looking at us.". And Arthur quips "It was worth a shot". Inception is filled with wonderful dialogues and these are just samples.
With that, I will now give away my interpretation of Inception. The main point of contention stems from the very last shot where the top wobbles, but does not fall. So, there are two ways to interpret Inception: (a) One is to say that everything was a dream and (b) the other is to say that Cobb really gets back to his kids. I belong to the fraternity that wants to believe that Cobb got back to his kids in reality.
Let me say why. First is the kids. Cobb never sees the faces of his kids in his dreams. One explanation could be that he is guilty of having been separated from his kids and the fear that he might not be able to see their faces again. The kids' faces are revealed only when Cobb reunites with them in the end. The kids do seem grown up in the last scene in comparison to their projections Cobb has in his dreams. The second is the thing about the wedding ring. Cobb is wearing the wedding ring in only one particular scene: the scene where Mal commits suicide on their wedding anniversary. In all other scenes, including the time Cobb and Mal spend in limbo, Cobb does not wear the wedding ring. Effectively, Cobb's projection of himself does not wear the wedding ring. This confirms that there is a notion of reality in the film and that not everything is a dream. The third is the top itself. In one of the earlier parts of the movie, the top stops spinning and falls down. When Nolan shows the top spinning in the dream, the top spins with smoothness and hardly wobbles. In the very last shot, just before the darkness, we can see that top wobbles( as if it were about to fall ).
My take is that Nolan intentionally cut the last shot a little early in order to spur debate and discussion. Nolan has succeeded in exactly doing that and drawing the crowds to theaters for a second viewing. And that is a testimony that Inception is a spectacular film. It hardly allows the viewer to wink. To me, Inception is a film that kindles the mind, but not the heart. Almost a classic!!
[My cubicle mates have done a thorough analysis of Inception. Lots of trivia and information about Inception is available here.]
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