Do you ever get up from a dream and wonder if you are really awake? This is what I first saw in inception. Still, years later, the film still plays the best way with my head. Directed by Christopher Nolan, Inception is not just a film that you watch. This is a puzzle that you try to solve while your brain tries not to explode.
The story follows Dome Cobe played by Leonardo Dicaprio. Cob is not a normal thief. He does not steal gold or cash. He steals secrets from people's minds. He does this secretly in his dreams. It feels good, right? But this is not easy. Cob and his team have to build the whole world inside a person's head and trick them to share what they are hiding.
But this time, Kob gets a new job. Instead of stealing an idea, he must plant a plant. This is called "Inception". It is super risky and almost impossible. To do this, Cob holds a team together: Arthur (Joseph Gordon-Levit) that keeps things in check, the Elliot page that designs Dream Worlds, EMS (TOM Hardy) that is good in cheating people, and Yusuf (Dilip Rao) who mixes them all sleeping.
They have to put an idea so deep that the target, Robert Fisher (Sylon Murphy), thinks that this is his own view. And to do this, they have to go deep and darker in the layers of dreams. A dream inside a dream inside a dream. The deeper they go, the more dangerous it is. If they die inside these dreams, they can be trapped in a place called Limbo forever.
While all this is happening, Cob is fighting his demons. He is haunted by the memories of his wife, feces (Marion Kotilad), who pops up in dreams and messes up things. He is not real, but Cob's crime makes him feel real. This part really hit me. This shows how powerful crime and regrets can be, and how our minds sometimes implicate us in our worst memories.
One thing that I like about incenation is how it treats the audience with respect. This does not answer your. You have to pay attention. You have to think Some people hate him. I love it. This makes me feel smart and stupid at the same time. Dream rules, kicks (which awakens you), the spinning top that may or may not stop - all of this keeps guessing you.
Visuals is another thing that makes the inception special. This is a scene where Ariadne bends Paris in half. Roads bends and meets the sky. Shift gravity in the hallway. A city breaks like sand. All these effects seem so real that you forget that you are seeing special effects. Nolan used practical effects and mixes of CGI, which makes the dream world feel more reliable. Music by Hans Zimmer is perfect. This loud "brrrmmm" sound that became famous? He is a zimmer. Their score makes every scene very big. Even quiet moments feel stressful due to that music. It is like another character in the film.
I also have to talk about the end. If you have seen the inception, you know about the spinning top. Cobe awakened his small totem to check if he was awake. If it rotates forever, he is still dreaming. If it falls, it is awake. Before the film ends, we see if it falls. I still argue about this with my friends. Some people say that he is awake. Some people say that he is still dreaming. Nolan left it open with purpose. This is the right mind game. What inception finals is not only science-fi plot or dream worlds. It is about ideas. How powerful thoughts can be. How they stick and grow in our mind. How crime, love, regrets and hope can shape our reality. Cob wants to return to his children, but first he has to face his mind.
If you haven’t seen Inception, I honestly think you should. Watch it when you can give it your full attention. No texting. No bathroom breaks. Just sink into it and let your mind wander. And if you have seen it, maybe it’s time to watch it again. Who knows? You might wake up to something new.
So, what do you think? Did the top fall or not? Or are we still dreaming?
All the image from here