Inception
Release: 22nd of July
Length: TBA
Rating: M (TBA)
"Just enjoy the movie. It has Tom Berenger!" – Principal Seymour Skinner
Inception, the seventh film from Christopher Nolan, a pommy purveyor of psychological thrillers, is a grand, sprawling adventure that stars Tom Berenger, as well as some more obscure thespians such as Leonardo DiCaprio, Ellen Page, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, and Marion Cotillard. It is a film that concerns dreams and dreaming, the realm of the subconscious, re-purposed to serve as the backdrop of a broadly entertaining heist film. Or is it a heist film that uses the dreamscape as its backdrop? Both descriptions are apt after a single viewing, but the work is so imaginative, so dense, and so layered, that it is perhaps something else entirely.
The film concerns Dom Cobb (DiCaprio), a thief who, aided by a crack team, enters the dreams of others and steals ideas. On a more personal level, Cobb is forced to live in exile, and cannot return to America and see his children – to reveal more would be to spoil key elements of the film. Most importantly, we come to a point where Cobb is enlisted by corporate titan Saito (Ken Watanabe) to plant an idea in the head of a business rival, Fischer (Cillian Murphy). The process, called “inception,” plays out in a highly complex manner that artificially resembles a heist film.
It’s best to know as little as possible going into the film – attentive viewers will be rewarded for paying attention, while others who can’t keep up will likely still be wowed by the amazing set pieces on offer. A lot of the film is dedicated to exposition, which is justified by the fact that Nolan’s dreamworld is multi-faceted, complex, and immense. This perhaps hampers progression a few times in the second act, where the goings on are so utterly thrilling that it feels a bit disappointing that we have to take a breather. Furthermore, given the fact that the film has the basic framework of a heist film, many of the characters are more “types” than fully realized beings – the counterpoint to this being that the performances across the board are so adept and engaging that you don’t really notice until the whole experience is over.
The film’s emotional core rests with DiCaprio and Cotillard. His story is a touching but disturbing one, that at times is reminiscent of Shutter Island on some levels. The character of Dom Cobb is one of Nolan’s finest inventions – a tormented maverick who, like Batman in The Dark Knight, acquits himself with dubious morality. Also of particular note is Cillian Murphy, whose character goes through a profoundly affecting experience that is initially cathartic, until we pull back and realize the full scope of just what is happening to the character, which gives the film as a whole an entirely different colour.
On a technical level, the film is impeccable. Wally Pfister somehow manages to get better and better with each outing with Nolan, and every frame is immaculately shot. Hans Zimmer’s score is bombastic and barnstorming as per usual, but it’s quite distinct, unique, and for the most part effective (considering that portions of it were composed before Zimmer had even seen a second of footage). The production design by Guy Dyas manages to outstrip that of the modern Bond films.
Ultimately, although Nolan has drawn a variety of influences, from the Bond films themselves to Stanley Kubrick, he has created an entirely unique and individual work, that will polarize viewers for decades to come. Its ambiguity will allow unlimited interpretations, with no single opinion being the empirical truth. It demands a second viewing – it has been stated elsewhere that it is somehow irresponsible to provide an opinion on the film after seeing it just once. Although that is a ludicrous demand, obviously, I can’t help but feel that there is some truth to it. I know that this is a film that can’t wait to return to.
Perhaps most importantly, for the time being at least, we should appreciate the fact that a major Hollywood studio has financed an original, intelligent, and confronting work that is also massive in scale. Of course, this is Warner Bros. way of patting Nolan on the back for bringing the goods big-time with The Dark Knight, and potentially even down payment on a third Batman instalment, but the fact that this “pat on the back” is such an excellent product in itself is nothing short of a miracle (although perhaps not given Nolan’s flawless track record). The fact that you can pay the same amount for a ticket to Inception as you would a ticket to any other major Hollywood blockbuster suddenly feels like a cheat. Why pay that amount of money for an inferior product when you can be treated to something as imaginative and bold as Inception for the same price? I know that I’ll certainly be thriftier with my hard-earned cash when it comes to processed studio junk from now on…
High Distinction
Conflict-of-interest note: Timothy Maddocks received a free choc-top (mint) at the screening of this film. He pronounced it "excellent".
