Inception: Perceptions of Reality
Christopher
Nolan has created a body of work that's both enviable and also
exemplary. Exemplary not because he has tasted commercial success; but
exemplary because in spite of tasting big commercial success with movies
like Batman Begins and The Dark Knight; he is one film maker who has
gone ahead and given his most accomplished, most radical and most
original work. Rather than bowing down to the box office dictats, Nolan
has instead taken not just himself but also the audiences world-over on a
trip!
For people who have been following the filmography of Chris Nolan, they would be familiar with one recurring theme that he has embodied in all his films - Perceptions of Reality and Desire for Redemption. To that extent, Incepetion is again no different. This film again deals with both the issues mentioned above. However, the one area where Nolan and Inception score is that this film is the most fully realized documentation on these two themes.
What's known?
Leonardo DiCaprio plays Dom Cobb, a master extractor who, in the age of corporate espionage, has mastered the art of navigating through people's subconscious minds and steal ideas from there. However, the twist in the tale comes when instead of stealing an idea, he is offered the job of planting one in the mind of a leading corporate heir. This is called Inception.
To accomplish this, Cobb and his team comprising of Ariadne (Architect), Eames (Forger), Yusuf (Chemist), Arthur (The Kick guy) and Saito must go deeper into the "target's" subconscious. Simply put, they need to go dream within a dream within a dream.
What's not known?
Chris Nolan has used the format of an intriguing globetrotting thriller and a heist flick. But mind you, the dressing of it being a thriller is just that - a dressing!
Reality about Inception:
The movie uses the thriller format and the plot as a placebo. What Nolan, in effect, does is he makes a film which is deeply allegorical about the questions of dream, reality and perceptions of both by the human mind.
By leaving the end open-ended and by taking you on a subconscious journey of not just Cobb, but also of several other characters and by infusing the angle of guilt and redemption, Nolan has made this movie a deep statement about how we human beings sometimes are victims of our own trappings (pleasant or unpleasant) and how we choose to construct everything for ourselves - be it reality or dream...
Nolan further examines the concept of the search for the reason of one's own existence. Eventually situations may exist uniformly for everyone; but its how and what one chooses to believe dictates the outcome of the situation for the particular person.
I am sure that the review might leave a lot to be desired in terms what exactly is the ending or where does the movie end and stuff - but trust me, neither the director and nor the character of Cobb are interested in telling us whether the end is a dream or a reality - for they have moved on and chosen to create their own meanings and realities...
Inception forces you to probe and probe deep into the recesses of your own subconscious, sometimes to analyse and interpret the movie and take home your reading of it. And this alone is reason enough to hail it as perhaps the most original movie concept in a long time.
Techincal details:
Chris Nolan has once again teamed up with his usual team of Wally Pfister for cinematography, Lee Smith for editing and Hans Zimmer for the score. Inception emerges as a supreme surrealistic trip largely because of the synchronized efforts of all these guys... How can one not note the camera work of Pfister? The way he uses the light to heighten the mood and the way he controls the frame rate while shooting to heighten the time lapse in dream state is mesmeric. Also look at the pure energy in the chase sequences. Superb!
Lee Smith once again does tremendous justice to Nolan's vision. Editing scripts which bend the concept of time and space in the narrative structure is never easy; but Mr. Smith seems to have attained certain amount of mastery over doing the same. Editing of Inception is absolutely top notch. Intercutting between 4 levels of dream and still maintaining control is never easy but it looks so in Inception. And all of this because of Lee Smith.
Hans Zimmer's score takes the audience into the various levels of subconscious. As the characters are experiencing them, the audience experiences them. Need I say more?
Performances:
Leo is stupendous as Dom Cobb. Nothing can be said that hasn't already been said before. And the ensemble cast including Joseph Gordon Lewitt, Tom Hardy, Michael Caine, Ellen Page, Cillian Murphy and Marion Cotillard are all in top form with Tom Hardy and Joseph Lewitt vying for top honors in their constantly "at-each-others'-throat" performance...
As for what really makes this movie a masterpiece is of course Chris Nolan and his vision.
For people who have been following the filmography of Chris Nolan, they would be familiar with one recurring theme that he has embodied in all his films - Perceptions of Reality and Desire for Redemption. To that extent, Incepetion is again no different. This film again deals with both the issues mentioned above. However, the one area where Nolan and Inception score is that this film is the most fully realized documentation on these two themes.
What's known?
Leonardo DiCaprio plays Dom Cobb, a master extractor who, in the age of corporate espionage, has mastered the art of navigating through people's subconscious minds and steal ideas from there. However, the twist in the tale comes when instead of stealing an idea, he is offered the job of planting one in the mind of a leading corporate heir. This is called Inception.
To accomplish this, Cobb and his team comprising of Ariadne (Architect), Eames (Forger), Yusuf (Chemist), Arthur (The Kick guy) and Saito must go deeper into the "target's" subconscious. Simply put, they need to go dream within a dream within a dream.
What's not known?
Chris Nolan has used the format of an intriguing globetrotting thriller and a heist flick. But mind you, the dressing of it being a thriller is just that - a dressing!
Reality about Inception:
The movie uses the thriller format and the plot as a placebo. What Nolan, in effect, does is he makes a film which is deeply allegorical about the questions of dream, reality and perceptions of both by the human mind.
By leaving the end open-ended and by taking you on a subconscious journey of not just Cobb, but also of several other characters and by infusing the angle of guilt and redemption, Nolan has made this movie a deep statement about how we human beings sometimes are victims of our own trappings (pleasant or unpleasant) and how we choose to construct everything for ourselves - be it reality or dream...
Nolan further examines the concept of the search for the reason of one's own existence. Eventually situations may exist uniformly for everyone; but its how and what one chooses to believe dictates the outcome of the situation for the particular person.
I am sure that the review might leave a lot to be desired in terms what exactly is the ending or where does the movie end and stuff - but trust me, neither the director and nor the character of Cobb are interested in telling us whether the end is a dream or a reality - for they have moved on and chosen to create their own meanings and realities...
Inception forces you to probe and probe deep into the recesses of your own subconscious, sometimes to analyse and interpret the movie and take home your reading of it. And this alone is reason enough to hail it as perhaps the most original movie concept in a long time.
Techincal details:
Chris Nolan has once again teamed up with his usual team of Wally Pfister for cinematography, Lee Smith for editing and Hans Zimmer for the score. Inception emerges as a supreme surrealistic trip largely because of the synchronized efforts of all these guys... How can one not note the camera work of Pfister? The way he uses the light to heighten the mood and the way he controls the frame rate while shooting to heighten the time lapse in dream state is mesmeric. Also look at the pure energy in the chase sequences. Superb!
Lee Smith once again does tremendous justice to Nolan's vision. Editing scripts which bend the concept of time and space in the narrative structure is never easy; but Mr. Smith seems to have attained certain amount of mastery over doing the same. Editing of Inception is absolutely top notch. Intercutting between 4 levels of dream and still maintaining control is never easy but it looks so in Inception. And all of this because of Lee Smith.
Hans Zimmer's score takes the audience into the various levels of subconscious. As the characters are experiencing them, the audience experiences them. Need I say more?
Performances:
Leo is stupendous as Dom Cobb. Nothing can be said that hasn't already been said before. And the ensemble cast including Joseph Gordon Lewitt, Tom Hardy, Michael Caine, Ellen Page, Cillian Murphy and Marion Cotillard are all in top form with Tom Hardy and Joseph Lewitt vying for top honors in their constantly "at-each-others'-throat" performance...
As for what really makes this movie a masterpiece is of course Chris Nolan and his vision.
Comments
Post a Comment