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Inception (*spoilers*)
- Thread starter longball11
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I saw it a week or two ago, and it was way too confusing for my taste. At one point, there was a dream within a dream, within a dream, within a dream. I was lost until the end of the movie.
I am fairly certain that I saw his ring two, maybe three, times in the bathroom scene. In the end it seemed impossible to see any hint of the ring. I am convinced he made it back to reality.
I can't believe I just saw this film. Totally amazing!
Firstly, I think Leo was incepted by Miles (Michael Caine) and Ariadne.
Cobb tells Miles that he has to do one last job to get himself back to the US, since Saito has offered to help him if he's successful. Miles, on the other hand, knows how to get Cobb to the US without him ever needing to do anything stupid........get him to complete the job in his own mind, and then let him see his own kids in Limbo. Cobbs will finally have peace.
At some point, Cobb is put into a dream. This probably happens under one of Yusuf's drugs, when they're planning the heist at their headquarters, and Ariadne was around to do the dirty work for Miles. Cobb never really wakes up, and is dreaming from that point forward. Ariadne helps Miles "incept" Cobb by essentially playing a psychiatrist for Cobb so that he can go through these scenes in Cobb's mind "elevator" again, but viewed from a more objective point of view (Ariadne's POV).
Why do I think this? Well, the dreamer of each level needs to stay behind in order for everyone else to delve further into another dream. Yusuf has the 1st dream, and stays behind to drive the truck (and instigate "the kick") while everyone else goes to the hotel. In the hotel, Joseph Gordon-Levitt's character is the one who's having the dream, so he has to stay behind and instigate the kick. Who's dream was the 3rd? It was Fischer's dream. However, when the kick worked, and Fischer was out of there, how the hell did Leo get to stay and enter Saito's dream while Fischer was already gone? The dreamer needs to be in his own dream. Otherwise, there is no environment!! That's because the "rules" I mentioned before are, while true in reality, do not apply when the entire plot is actually happening in Cobb's mind! All the levels are Cobb's, and the only other person in the film who's real is Ariadne.
Near the beginning, when Saito was in the helicopter (which happens in reality), he said something to Cobb like, "Do you want to become an old man, filled with regret?" Uh.....the answer is obviously "No thanks". However, that quote lingers in Cobb's mind, even in his dreams, so that even in a dream state, where Cobb is planning the inception on Fischer (while in that dream), all the events are just ways to jog his memory so that he realises that Mal's death does not mean that Cobb broke his promise to her that they would grow old together. They did grow old together.......when they were in Limbo. It just seems like the memory was buried deep amongst his own guilt.
Anyway, when Cobb confronts Mal in the Level 4 dream, near the end of the movie, he tells her that they did grow old together, and he had kept his promise. He asks her if she remembers this. Of course, Mal isn't really there, and Cobb is just struggling with his own memories, trying to overpower his negative feelings (i.e. his guilt) with a positive thought that while she did kill herself, he shouldn't feel continuous guilt for a broken promise.
He always knew they grew old together, but apparently, this memory was so well buried inside his mind that he had to delve many levels deep for him to convince himself that he could move on.
Now, Saito did offer Cobb a ticket home if he was successful, but since Cobb told Miles about this, and Miles had essentially incepted Cobb, the only way Miles could honour the agreement (since the real Saito wouldn't have due to him not completing the job), was to put Cobb into limbo again, but one where he had his children.
Firstly, I think Leo was incepted by Miles (Michael Caine) and Ariadne.
Cobb tells Miles that he has to do one last job to get himself back to the US, since Saito has offered to help him if he's successful. Miles, on the other hand, knows how to get Cobb to the US without him ever needing to do anything stupid........get him to complete the job in his own mind, and then let him see his own kids in Limbo. Cobbs will finally have peace.
At some point, Cobb is put into a dream. This probably happens under one of Yusuf's drugs, when they're planning the heist at their headquarters, and Ariadne was around to do the dirty work for Miles. Cobb never really wakes up, and is dreaming from that point forward. Ariadne helps Miles "incept" Cobb by essentially playing a psychiatrist for Cobb so that he can go through these scenes in Cobb's mind "elevator" again, but viewed from a more objective point of view (Ariadne's POV).
Why do I think this? Well, the dreamer of each level needs to stay behind in order for everyone else to delve further into another dream. Yusuf has the 1st dream, and stays behind to drive the truck (and instigate "the kick") while everyone else goes to the hotel. In the hotel, Joseph Gordon-Levitt's character is the one who's having the dream, so he has to stay behind and instigate the kick. Who's dream was the 3rd? It was Fischer's dream. However, when the kick worked, and Fischer was out of there, how the hell did Leo get to stay and enter Saito's dream while Fischer was already gone? The dreamer needs to be in his own dream. Otherwise, there is no environment!! That's because the "rules" I mentioned before are, while true in reality, do not apply when the entire plot is actually happening in Cobb's mind! All the levels are Cobb's, and the only other person in the film who's real is Ariadne.
Near the beginning, when Saito was in the helicopter (which happens in reality), he said something to Cobb like, "Do you want to become an old man, filled with regret?" Uh.....the answer is obviously "No thanks". However, that quote lingers in Cobb's mind, even in his dreams, so that even in a dream state, where Cobb is planning the inception on Fischer (while in that dream), all the events are just ways to jog his memory so that he realises that Mal's death does not mean that Cobb broke his promise to her that they would grow old together. They did grow old together.......when they were in Limbo. It just seems like the memory was buried deep amongst his own guilt.
Anyway, when Cobb confronts Mal in the Level 4 dream, near the end of the movie, he tells her that they did grow old together, and he had kept his promise. He asks her if she remembers this. Of course, Mal isn't really there, and Cobb is just struggling with his own memories, trying to overpower his negative feelings (i.e. his guilt) with a positive thought that while she did kill herself, he shouldn't feel continuous guilt for a broken promise.
He always knew they grew old together, but apparently, this memory was so well buried inside his mind that he had to delve many levels deep for him to convince himself that he could move on.
Now, Saito did offer Cobb a ticket home if he was successful, but since Cobb told Miles about this, and Miles had essentially incepted Cobb, the only way Miles could honour the agreement (since the real Saito wouldn't have due to him not completing the job), was to put Cobb into limbo again, but one where he had his children.
Inception does not get talked about very much. It's always Avatar this or Avatar that. Avatar is the movie people try to if the picture is "amazing". Maybe it's just that Inception is not out on bluray yet. But Avatar is the most overrated movie of all time. Good thing it didn't win best film at the oscars...
I love all the theories to explain the plot. I think that the reason that all of the nameless faceless pursuers couldn't shoot straight is that it's one of the rules, i.e., the nature of the "movie extras" the characters find in their dreams.
The DVD is out. I got it last week from Netflix but haven't gone through it scene by scene.
Update: I've now looked at the scene in slow motion but I couldn't convince myself that I saw a ring.
You missed the key words - the top was his wife's totem, not his. As you say, you're not supposed to tell anyone what your totem does, so as others can't dream it, yet he tells Ariadne exactly what the top is supposed to do. Because it wasn't his.
His own totem was never revealed, or was it... Right at the end, literally - his kids' faces, revealed. When he sees them, his face lights up because he knows he's not dreaming any more. So he makes it back to reality.
When he's showing Ariadne his kids in the garden, he says that whatever he does he 'can't change this moment' and he'll ony see their faces when he gets back to reality, so he's as good as saying he's in a never-ending dream and they are his totem.
He spins the top on a couple of occassions I reckon to see if it's still *her* dream he's in, a dream within a dream, ie after she stabs Ariadne on the bridge for instance, or right at the end too. The spinning at the end is a red herring because it cuts to the credits exactly where it starts wobbling.
My rating: overall, more interesting to analyze afterwards than actually watch it.
PS. Then again, how can he relive that moment and have a different outcome where he sees his kids' faces? Must still be a dream...
I disagree. The scene immediately preceding it down in the hotel room before he goes up to the helipad, while he speaks to his kids on the phone = he spins his wife's top and it eventually topples - so not her dream. But we see flashes of his kids running from the garden without seeing their faces - so still his own dream.
Ergo, the whole movie is a dream except for waking up on the plane and going home at the end. Maybe even that too... The helicopter scene jumps like the rest of it, one second he's standing on the tarmac, the next breath they're both sitting inside the helicopter and it's airborne. Either it's a dream or it's really bad directing/editing!
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The screenplay was great and it earned Christopher Nolan a Best Original Screenplay Oscar nomination, but he didn't get a nomination as Best Director. Did he deserve one for direction?
Nope, way too many continuity errors and goofs like one of the crew's hand in shot etc - http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1375666/goofs
Er I don't think continuity errors goofs come into it. I personally think he should have been nominated because of his meticulous formation of the story. The growing sense of dread towards the end as the van falls into the water, Joseph Gorden-Levitt does his thing the rest ... er ... happens (can't say much more because of spoilers) and the way the plot is controlled and presented in a way that is both interesting and not overtly simplistic show this film is pieced together beautifully. It's not a film by numbers, and there is a flair in evidence.
question: If all he wanted to do is get home to his kids and his kids were in the US, why not just fly his kids to where he was?
He, ah, kinda was wanted by the police since his wife said he killed her before killing herself.
I liked this movie but was far less "mind blown" than most people. Perhaps because I think about these sorts of things on a daily basis (reality, what is real, etc).
I love this movie, and watch it semi-regularly despite it’s flaws. Recently stumbled across this, an explanation or an attempt at one that tries to explain if Cobb was awake at the end of the film. There is so many aspects of what is being described that I did not even realize, such as him wearing his wedding band only in dreams.
I always assumed he was awake because of the behavior of the top just before the scene was cut on purpose to toy with us.
I always assumed he was awake because of the behavior of the top just before the scene was cut on purpose to toy with us.
^ Excellent analysis! Sometimes we need a little help like that. Another example.