528491 by Don Jaucian and Jay Santiago Inception...

528491
by Don Jaucian and Jay Santiago

Inception (2010)
D: Christopher Nolan
C: Leonardo DiCaprio, Joseph Gordon Levitt, Ellen Page, Michael Caine, Ken Watanabe, Marion Cotillard, Cillian Murphy, Tom Hardy, Dileep Rao, Pete Postlethwaite

While the concept of dreams thwart any explanation, Christopher Nolan’s latest film Inception attempts to explore the human subconscious. There are Michael Bay explosions, folding cityscapes, zero gravity sequences and chases. It’s enough to warrant it a film that will delight many, but it isn’t. The architecture of the dream metropolis is a striking maze with paradoxical complexities. These are representations of reality, but the physics can also be bent at will to suit the needs of the operation. Treading the dream world is a terrible business, with its shifting logic and mechanisms. But to actually penetrate and implant an idea is another thing. And this process is called “inception”.

For its lengthy running time, this film doesn’t waste a single minute. As soon as the first frame fills the screen, we are thrust into the engaging and at times confounding concepts that took Nolan a considerably long development process. The basic premise seems simple enough: a sci-fi heist movie where the vault is the human mind, and the prized payoff is an idea that has been tucked away in the labyrinth of the subconscious—accessible only in the dream state.

To discuss the narrative of Inception would be to divulge many of the secrets that lurk underneath the layers of the film. This might actually be a cloaking device that Nolan uses to disguise the simplicity of the story at hand. But he doesn’t make it easy for us. Explanations are piled over explanations, leaving you no time to absorb the surroundings and the ongoing action. Symbols are scattered throughout: totems (objects that an agent uses to determine whether it’s his dream or not) such as tops and chess pieces, pinwheels and photographs. These objects add an ominous presence, representing the solidity of reality and the ambiguous nature of dreams.

Nolan’s eye for detail is a trait that makes him one of the most engaging auteurs of the blockbuster age, even provoking a shift in superhero franchise films from fluffy spectacles to substantial tour de forces. Indeed, rebooting the Batman franchise was the perfect exercise for handling films of this scale, while Memento and The Prestige now seem like practice runs at mastering conceptual complexity with an elegant aesthetic intact. However, it is in this intricacy that his latest feature both flourishes and flounders. In presenting a piece that relies more heavily on intellect, you may feel a certain emotional disconnection from the events that unfold.

Of course, that’s not to say that this isn’t one of the most engaging big budget films this year, thanks to its gifted cast and richly realized visuals. Chances are, like the two authors who share this review, you will find yourself still reeling from the experience long after you’ve left the theater, continuing to grasp what you’ve just witnesssed. In that respect, this is one film that actually fulfills its promise of planting ideas in the viewers’ minds that slowly take a life of their own. Ideas that foster a collective experience and encourage discussion. Perhaps this was the real dream behind Inception, and for that alone, this is one celluloid dream worthy of dissection.