LinhInception; drama fantasy thriller film review
July 22nd 2010 13:22
Subconscious Scenes by Linh
Director Christopher Nolan (The Dark Knight, Memento) has spent ten years creating the mind-bending thriller Inception and it is worth the wait. Inception delves into psychoanalytical and philosophical realms that inhibit the human mind, where a person can extract or implant ideas, memories or knowledge by entering into another person’s subconscious during a dream. The special effects are spectacular and the performances from the ensemble cast are excellent.
The film’s plot is simple but the execution and strategies involved in successfully completing the mission is complex and requires highly sophisticated skills. A Japanese businessman, Saito (Ken Watanabe) hires troubled dream thief Dom Cobb (Leonardo DiCaprio) to perform inception (insert an idea into someone’s subconscious while they are dreaming) on his rival Robert Fischer (Cillian Murphy). After successful completion of the job, Saito will ensure Dom’s name is cleared of an alleged crime and he will get to see his children again. Dom assembles a top-notch team including mind-mapper Arthur (Joseph Gordon Levitt), famed forger Eames (Tom Hardy) and dreamscape architect Ariadne (Ellen Page) to tunnel into the depths of Fischer’s mind while they are all heavily sedated.
Cinematographer Wally Pfister creates a wildly believable series of landscapes in reality and in dreams that implicitly become characters of the film and are sometimes scene stealers. The visuals look familiar but soon become unfamiliar thereby disrupting the viewers’ gaze as they are presented with scenes that represent perceptions of realities belonging to more than one character. There are dreams within dreams as well as distortions of reality and perception to capture the complexities of the mind’s subconscious during the dream-state. Numerous dream scenes mimic the characters’ actual experience while they sleep, with gravity-defying stunts, disorientating manoeuvres and clever dialogue that explains the technical workings behind the art of inception and extraction (removal of information in a dream-state). The most intriguing aspect of entering another person’s subconscious is the presence of ‘projections’ created by the dreamer to protect against any emotional or physical harm. Projections can appear in any form and can sense someone who is not supposed to be in the dream and destroy them, the way white cells attack foreign substances as part of the immune system. Memories are the bane of dream thieves because they overlap and blend the real world and dream world, making it difficult to tell if you are dreaming or wide awake.
The cast is led by Leonardo DiCaprio in his best performance so far, as the guilt-ridden Dom Cobb, whose determination to complete the job hides a darker secret; the beautiful and talented Ariadne, whose curiosity makes her the bearer of Cobb’s secret, is wonderfully performed by Ellen Page of Juno fame; Joseph Gordon-Levitt has risen to fame from one indie film to the next and Inception enables him to utilise his dramatic acting skills for the nerdy but nice dream navigator Arthur; Irish actor Cilllian Murphy is naturally attracted to the bizarre and otherworldliness of films such as Inception, following his extraordinary double performance in the psycho-drama Peacock, and brings his quiet and stoic charm to the unsuspecting victim Robert Fischer; Ken Watanabe is superb as Saito, who features earlier in the film as a decrepit “old man living with regrets” under copious layers of prosthetic makeup, and holds the key to Cobb’s escape from a “prison of memories”; Oscar winner Marion Cottilard is gorgeous and seductive as Cobb’s deceased wife, Mal, who sabotages his missions; and Dileep Rao is fabulous as the humourous and risk-taking Yusuf, the team’s sedative guru and driver.
The supporting cast includes the always reliable and fantastic Michael Caine as Cobb’s father-in-law, Miles, who appears briefly in a few scenes as the Professor who recommends Ariadne to help Cobb construct dreamscapes; Tom Berenger as Robert Fischer’s godfather, Peter Browning and Pete Postlethwaite as the bed-ridden Maurice Fischer, father of Robert Fischer.
Director Christopher Nolan chose the song ‘Non, je ne regrette rien / No, I regret nothing’ sung in French by Edith Piaf, to be a crucial part of the film’s plot and it explains the dream invaders’ outcome if they are mortally wounded and cannot wake up in time. Composer Hans Zimmer provides a myriad of sounds to mirror or lift the visuals making them seem more compelling or sinister.
Inception is a genre-busting thriller with intricately designed visuals to captivate and confuse, with scenes including scaling down a mountain after speed skiing through heavy snow, a car chase in heavy rain while dodging bullets or a zero-gravity floating fight scene. Inception is a fantasy film that needs to be seen more than once to fully appreciate the infinite possibilities of the human mind and the architecture of dreams.
Director: Christopher Nolan
Cast: Leonardo DiCaprio, Ellen Page, Ken Watanabe, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Tom Hardy, Cillian Murphy, Marion Cotillard, Dileep Rao, Tom Berenger, Michael Caine, Pete Postlethwaite, Lukas Haas, Tai-Li Lee, Claire Geare, Taylor Geare, Magnus Nolan, Johnathan Geare, Miranda Nolan, Earl Cameron, Tohoru Masamune, Ryan Hayward, Yuji Okumoto
Screenplay: Christopher Nolan
Producers: Thomas Tull, Chris Brigham, Emma Thomas, Christopher Nolan, Thomas Hayslip, Jordan Goldberg, Zakaria Alaoui
Cinematographer: Wally Pfister
Original Music Composer: Hans Zimmer
Film Editor: Lee Smith
Production Designer: Guy Dyas
Languages: English, Japanese with English subtitles
Running Time: 2 hours and 28 minutes
MIND MASTERS: Araidne (Ellen Page) and Dom (Leonardo Di Caprio) avoid detection in the film Inception. Image: Warner Brothers.
Director Christopher Nolan (The Dark Knight, Memento) has spent ten years creating the mind-bending thriller Inception and it is worth the wait. Inception delves into psychoanalytical and philosophical realms that inhibit the human mind, where a person can extract or implant ideas, memories or knowledge by entering into another person’s subconscious during a dream. The special effects are spectacular and the performances from the ensemble cast are excellent.
The film’s plot is simple but the execution and strategies involved in successfully completing the mission is complex and requires highly sophisticated skills. A Japanese businessman, Saito (Ken Watanabe) hires troubled dream thief Dom Cobb (Leonardo DiCaprio) to perform inception (insert an idea into someone’s subconscious while they are dreaming) on his rival Robert Fischer (Cillian Murphy). After successful completion of the job, Saito will ensure Dom’s name is cleared of an alleged crime and he will get to see his children again. Dom assembles a top-notch team including mind-mapper Arthur (Joseph Gordon Levitt), famed forger Eames (Tom Hardy) and dreamscape architect Ariadne (Ellen Page) to tunnel into the depths of Fischer’s mind while they are all heavily sedated.
MARITAL MEMORIES: Mal (Marion Cotillard) and Dom (Leonardo Di Caprio) share a dream together in the film Inception. Image: Warner Brothers.
Cinematographer Wally Pfister creates a wildly believable series of landscapes in reality and in dreams that implicitly become characters of the film and are sometimes scene stealers. The visuals look familiar but soon become unfamiliar thereby disrupting the viewers’ gaze as they are presented with scenes that represent perceptions of realities belonging to more than one character. There are dreams within dreams as well as distortions of reality and perception to capture the complexities of the mind’s subconscious during the dream-state. Numerous dream scenes mimic the characters’ actual experience while they sleep, with gravity-defying stunts, disorientating manoeuvres and clever dialogue that explains the technical workings behind the art of inception and extraction (removal of information in a dream-state). The most intriguing aspect of entering another person’s subconscious is the presence of ‘projections’ created by the dreamer to protect against any emotional or physical harm. Projections can appear in any form and can sense someone who is not supposed to be in the dream and destroy them, the way white cells attack foreign substances as part of the immune system. Memories are the bane of dream thieves because they overlap and blend the real world and dream world, making it difficult to tell if you are dreaming or wide awake.
DREAM DEMONS: Saito (Ken Watanabe) and Mal (Marion Cotillard) disrupt a dream invasion in the film Inception. Image: Warner Brothers.
The cast is led by Leonardo DiCaprio in his best performance so far, as the guilt-ridden Dom Cobb, whose determination to complete the job hides a darker secret; the beautiful and talented Ariadne, whose curiosity makes her the bearer of Cobb’s secret, is wonderfully performed by Ellen Page of Juno fame; Joseph Gordon-Levitt has risen to fame from one indie film to the next and Inception enables him to utilise his dramatic acting skills for the nerdy but nice dream navigator Arthur; Irish actor Cilllian Murphy is naturally attracted to the bizarre and otherworldliness of films such as Inception, following his extraordinary double performance in the psycho-drama Peacock, and brings his quiet and stoic charm to the unsuspecting victim Robert Fischer; Ken Watanabe is superb as Saito, who features earlier in the film as a decrepit “old man living with regrets” under copious layers of prosthetic makeup, and holds the key to Cobb’s escape from a “prison of memories”; Oscar winner Marion Cottilard is gorgeous and seductive as Cobb’s deceased wife, Mal, who sabotages his missions; and Dileep Rao is fabulous as the humourous and risk-taking Yusuf, the team’s sedative guru and driver.
The supporting cast includes the always reliable and fantastic Michael Caine as Cobb’s father-in-law, Miles, who appears briefly in a few scenes as the Professor who recommends Ariadne to help Cobb construct dreamscapes; Tom Berenger as Robert Fischer’s godfather, Peter Browning and Pete Postlethwaite as the bed-ridden Maurice Fischer, father of Robert Fischer.
Director Christopher Nolan chose the song ‘Non, je ne regrette rien / No, I regret nothing’ sung in French by Edith Piaf, to be a crucial part of the film’s plot and it explains the dream invaders’ outcome if they are mortally wounded and cannot wake up in time. Composer Hans Zimmer provides a myriad of sounds to mirror or lift the visuals making them seem more compelling or sinister.
Inception is a genre-busting thriller with intricately designed visuals to captivate and confuse, with scenes including scaling down a mountain after speed skiing through heavy snow, a car chase in heavy rain while dodging bullets or a zero-gravity floating fight scene. Inception is a fantasy film that needs to be seen more than once to fully appreciate the infinite possibilities of the human mind and the architecture of dreams.
SUBCONSCIOUS SECURITY: Dom (Leonardo Di Caprio) covinces Robert (Cillian Murphy) that he will protect him from inception in the film Inception. Image: Warner Brothers.
Director: Christopher Nolan
Cast: Leonardo DiCaprio, Ellen Page, Ken Watanabe, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Tom Hardy, Cillian Murphy, Marion Cotillard, Dileep Rao, Tom Berenger, Michael Caine, Pete Postlethwaite, Lukas Haas, Tai-Li Lee, Claire Geare, Taylor Geare, Magnus Nolan, Johnathan Geare, Miranda Nolan, Earl Cameron, Tohoru Masamune, Ryan Hayward, Yuji Okumoto
Screenplay: Christopher Nolan
Producers: Thomas Tull, Chris Brigham, Emma Thomas, Christopher Nolan, Thomas Hayslip, Jordan Goldberg, Zakaria Alaoui
Cinematographer: Wally Pfister
Original Music Composer: Hans Zimmer
Film Editor: Lee Smith
Production Designer: Guy Dyas
Languages: English, Japanese with English subtitles
Running Time: 2 hours and 28 minutes
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