Dreams are a way for a film to manipulate the audience. In a horror movie dreams are used as an easy way to scare the audience. Dreams are also a way to provide information for a character without being too obvious. Inception is a movie based entirely on dreams and it destroys any clichés surrounding dreams in film.
Director Christopher Nolan has cemented himself as one of the great modern directors with this film. He was able to take an original script, get blockbuster funding for it, and deliver a masterpiece of a final product. He was also able to create one of the coolest movies of the year. The characters, story, and setting are all the epitome of cool. When watching this movie you will actually feel like a cooler person. That is an impressive feat for a movie that will confuse most of its audience.
The story of Inception is as confusing as waking up in the middle of a dream. The basic premise is that technology has advanced far enough that entering another person's dreams is now possible. There are rules on exactly what is possible while in the dreams, but it would be easier to just go see the movie then for me to try to explain them. Originally I thought that I would be hung up on trying to keep track of all the rules, but a half an hour into the film I just accepted the world the film had created and went with it. The second time I saw the movie I didn't even think about the rules. That is the greatest success for this movie, creating a very complex world that the audience can accept with little to no struggle. That is not to say that the film will make sense to a viewer. Just that you will be able to except it's not making sense. There is definitely something to be said about "enjoying the mystery" and Christopher Nolan knows this and exploits it.
In a way he is a lazy filmmaker, and I mean that with the up most respect and appreciation. See Nolan only does fifty percent of the work in this film. Everything looks beautiful, the story is compelling, and the action is breathtaking. Ask any one and he has created a film, but something is missing. Nolan requires his audience to fill this missing space. The viewer must use how they perceive things to figure out and understand the movie. This perception is created through life experiences and each is unique to the individual. It is a glass half full, half empty kind of thing. This is what I love about cinema. My opinion is that a great film will always require a lot of its audience. As an audience member I get to create as much as the filmmaker does, if only in my own head. I applaud how well Christopher Nolan does this in his films.
There is a lot to applaud in this film and I can't stress how much this movies needs to be seen, and deconstructed. I guarantee that there will be many different and conflicting theories surrounding this movie and that is a great gift that Inception has given us.
I would like to touch on the cast for a moment because this is a dream cast for me. The cast isn't very big, but every single person is superb. I think each one of these actors has been in one if not more films that I would consider my favourites. I am worried that I will gush too much over how much I love this cast so I am going to just list my favourite movies that the actors involved have done. You are not going to find a better cast anywhere in my opinion. My Leonardo DiCaprio favourites are The Quick and the Dead, Catch Me If you can, and Shutter Island. Some Joseph Gordon Leavitt films I love are Brick, The Lookout, and (500) Days of Summer. Ken Watanabe is in The Last Samurai, Batman Begins, and Letters from Iwo Jima. Dileep Rao hasn't been in many films yet but he has given some great performances in Drag Me to Hell and Avatar. Cillian Murphy is great in 28 Days Later, Red Eye, and Sunshine. Ellen Page is awesome in this as she has been in Hard Cady, Juno, and Whip It. Tom Hardy who looks different in every role he does is in Bronson, a movie I have seen around fifteen times as well as in Layer Cake and RocknRolla. Marion Cottilard my least favourite actor of the bunch has been in a couple movies I enjoy those being A Good Year and Public Enemy. Last but not least we have Michael Caine working with Christopher Nolan for the fourth time in Inception. I see no need in listing off his great films, as they are all great. That includes Jaws: The Revenge.
It may have been boring to read that least of movies from the great actors in Inception, but it made me realise something. Each one of these actors (except for Ken Watanabe) has been in a film over the last year that I would consider a favourite. This really is a dream cast for me.
I love Inception. I am not saying that I understand the movie completely, but there are a lot of things I don't understand that I love. What excites me about this film is that I will be able to watch it over and over again to try to understand it. That makes me very happy.
A Gold Banana
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