Both The Matrix and Fight Club hit theatres in 1999, making The Wachowski Brothers and David Fincher household names. Two years later, in 2001, Christopher Nolan made a name for himself with Memento and Richard Kelly released Donnie Darko to an unnoticing public. If you were inclined, you could even add M. Night Shyamalan to that list with his one-two punch of The Sixth Sense and Unbreakable in 1999 and 2000.
There are more that come to mind, but more than a decade later, these are films that people still hold up as prime examples of mind bending cinema. If these movies share only one common thread, it’s that they absolutely have the ability to make you doubt the world you find yourself in. It helps that they are expertly crafted and precisely executed by very, very talented people. Yes, once upon a time, M. Night was talented.
I remember seeing The Matrix in theatres, knowing nothing about it and sitting in the theatre absolutely transfixed. I felt exactly the same way watching Inception unfold before my eyes. Neither of them are perfect films, for sure; once you begin to understand the world they’re playing in, once you have the rules down, the expository scenes can seem to go on forever, but they are necessary evils. Besides, both the Wachowski’s and Nolan use the visual element to great effect during a good bit of the exposition, something to distract the eye while the brain is trying to understand it all.
Truthfully, though, I’ve seen Inception three times now, twice on te big screen the week it premiered, and I’m still not certain I know EXACTLY what’s going on the entire time. Don’t misunderstand me, I very much grasp the plot, I know WHY they’re doing what they’re doing, I’m just not sure HOW they’re doing it. Which, of course, is part of the fun.
The first time I watched it on DVD was with my sister. Before it started I asked her if she even knew what it was about, and like anyone who hasn’t seen it and managed to avoid the bigger plot elements, all she knew was that they could go into other people’s dreams. The first and only spoiler I gave her was that the technology behind this is never explained, only utilized, something I think Nolan was wise to leave by the wayside. The movie is already full of explanations, cramming in ten more minutes to explain the science would have been far past overkill. And besides, it’s not even remotely important, and neither is the plot really.
The most direct interpretation is, of course, that Inception is a heist film, only instead of stealing something (an idea) they have to plant something that was never there to begin with. It’s simply stated, but complex in execution. Planting an idea inside someone’s mind and making them think it was not only theirs to begin with, but something that they should act on, it’s an almost impossible task. You can lose yourself in thought for hours just trying to unravel the whys and hows (I have).
The characters are easily the driving force of the film though, not broader plot. But, they’re also my biggest problem with the film. Working as a whole they’re almost flawless, I love every bit of the team dynamic, but individually I thought some of them were kind of vapid. Two in particular, Cobb (Leonardo DiCaprio) and Ariadne (Ellen Page).
First, let me say that Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Tom Hardy are the stars of the show. JGL’s Arthur gets, hands down, one of the best fight scenes in maybe the last decade. And Hardy’s Bond-gone-rogue portrayal of Eames is so fun and charismatic (not to mention his own moments of bad-assery) that I’m going back through the man’s filmography to check out his other work. But, neither character gets the amount of screen time they deserve. Most of Arther’s time is spent looking over Cobb’s shoulder (sometimes literally) and a portion of Eames’ is played by someone other than Hardy.
But, they got more time in front of the camera that Michael Caine, whose two scenes feel like a waste of talent, ditto for Pete Postlethwaite (who sadly died not too long ago). Cillian Murphy spends his scenes being duped, kidnapped and shot at, making him sympathetic, but not exactly fun to watch. But, he does get a very nice moment at the end. Ken Watanabi is fun, except when he’s spouting Yoda-like dialogue, so is Dileep Rao, and it was nice to see Lucas Haas and Tom Berenger, even if it was pretty brief. As for Marion Cotillard? Well, she’s one of those people I’d pay to see read the phonebook. She’s beautiful and warm one minute, violent and intense the next. She’s perfect.
Which brings me back to Cobb and Ariadne. I like both actors, I do. The first time I saw Ellen Page was in Hard Candy, and while she’s not done anything quite that edgy since, I think she’s extremely talented. But, she brings nothing to the character of Ariadne, and maybe that’s intentional. When she’s introduced she’s essentially a stand-in for the audience, a person who needs an explanation, so that we can almost understand what’s happening. She’s Neo. And that would be fine, except she’s never the central focus of the film (unlike Neo), and once they’ve dumped all info onto her (us), she’s pretty much relegated to standing around. She does have a great scene at the end, which I won’t spoil, but it just isn’t enough.
Then there’s DiCaprio. I’m one of the few who will admit to hating the guy in his younger years (outside of Gilbert Grape, of course) and coming 180 degrees in the last ten years or so. A lot of that has to do wit the projects he’s associated himself with, especially the directors, Scorsese in particular. Seeing him work with Nolan was definitely fun, and knowing that Nolan is the type to keep utilizing the same talent makes me hopeful that we’ll see hm in another film after he finishes his Batman trilogy. But, I just didn’t love Cobb, or even like him really. I understand him, but I never really cared about how his story (and it’s mostly his story) unfolded. Having seen Shutter Island several times before viewing Inception, I couldn’t help but feel that Cobb was DiCaprio re-hashing Teddy, just with a happier ending. The two characters are so similar, as are their arcs (through no intention of the directors I’d imagine), that I can’t help but transpose them.
All of that makes it sound as if I didn’t like Inception, which is far from true, I enjoyed it, immensely. I had my problems with the characters, but they are very interesting to watch, and while I think they do drive the movie, they aren’t the most important part of the movie. Most important are the themes, the truthof the movie. And, behind it’s semi-sci-fi, action-y character drama, Inception is about what drives us. Why do we do the things that we do? Do we push ourselves, or are we merely guided by the desires of others? The life we have, is it the one we settled for, or the one we dream about?
