Christopher Nolan's Inception

[byte19]

??? the hell? quite funny that!

 

[Anita18]

What did you all learn from this film? Did it have any mind-blowing underlying commentary or point to make?

Or was it just an exploration of dreams vs reality?

In terms of telling us that dreams aren't real, that we can't escape from reality and that we have to let go of the past, those aren't groundbreaking ideas. We all know those things.

So what was Nolan's intention with the film? What amazing message does he have for us? Or is the amazement in the exploration of the ideas of the dreamworld?

This is gonna BLOW YOUR MIND!

Link to spoilerific article: [blackout]http://www.theawl.com/2010/07/the-key-to-inception-its-a-movie-about-making-movies[/blackout]

Although I disagree a little on semantics. Mal doesn't represent

Spoiler

artistic indulgence to me. Nolan has had at least some carte blanche for every movie he's worked on. Supposedly WB gave him absolutely no notes for TDK. What Mal represents is personal artistic pressure. Nolan has his idea of a perfect movie, but inspiration won't get you anywhere without actually getting to work and facing the possibility of failure. Many artists I think can attest to this.

I'm a perfectionist myself and it's really hard to get me to start a project, because I'm afraid of failure. But then I really have nothing to be perfect on, I still have to get to work.

 

[TNC9852002]

It's a temporary thing for the Survivor game over in Community chat. Some of the players will PM a lot of people they know, to change their username for a few days, whoever gets the most people wins that round I think.

It's stupid.

 

[DCW]

I have a question, not about the levels of dreams but:

Spoiler

When did Dicaprio's character actually do inception on his wife? Was is when they were both in Limbo for 50 years or was it after they had killed themselves on the train tracks and come back to reality?

My wife and I only saw the movie once and had different opinions about it.

 

[redfirebird2008]

What did you all learn from this film? Did it have any mind-blowing underlying commentary or point to make?

Or was it just an exploration of dreams vs reality?

In terms of telling us that dreams aren't real, that we can't escape from reality and that we have to let go of the past, those aren't groundbreaking ideas. We all know those things.

So what was Nolan's intention with the film? What amazing message does he have for us? Or is the amazement in the exploration of the ideas of the dreamworld?

Read this:

http://www.theawl.com/2010/07/the-key-to-inception-its-a-movie-about-making-movies

As far as the dream/reality aspect, that was less interesting to me within the plot itself than Cobb being able to overcome his past.

 

[redfirebird2008]

Estimates for Wednesday's gross is at $8,855,000.

I'm not a BO expert but for a movie that wasn't a full on mindless action film and being on a weekday, I think it's holding up pretty well.

It's doing incredibly well. I think there is a pretty decent chance that it reaches $300m domestic, possibly as high as $350m domestic. I posted this at NolanFans...

Inception is looking very good in comparison with Pirates 1 ($305m total), which had a 2-day head start with a Wednesday release:

Pirates after 8 days - $92.5m
Inception after 6 days - $91.5m

Inception is gaining around $1.9m to $2m per day on Pirates, meaning after tomorrow they will be very close.

Pirates after 9 days - $98.97m
Inception after 7 days - needs just $7.48m on Thursday to pass Pirates or a 15.6% drop from Wednesday's number.

It will likely drop around 5-10% on Thursday, so it should be ahead of Pirates after 7 days compared to Pirates' 9-day total. $300m is starting to look a lot more likely. Pirates had a $7.8m lead after the first Sunday due to the Wednesday release and Inception will likely be around $7m ahead after the second Sunday, which is incredible. Pirates had amazing legs, so this really puts things into perspective about how well Inception is doing. It will likely make around $40m on the second weekend.

 

[Solidus]

I hope it continues doing well. I'm sure the Blu Ray sales will be good with it as well. I figure that a film like this with it's Blade Runner like depth and multiple interpretations and themes will get people to buy it so they can analyze it more themselves. I have a feeling that Inception will be quite a surprise of a hit. Not super Blockbuster money but do quite a good job.

 

[Maximus One]

I'm seriously getting so f'n pissed off. A friend of mine was supposed to go see this with me and then went and saw it with his gf, which is cool, but now all he says to me when I tell him I'm tryna find someone to go see Inception with me he says "I'll go see Predators with you." Maybe I'm just weird but I can't stand going to the movies alone but I'll be damned! The next movie I am seeing is Inception damnit! Predators can wait! But now I can't find anybody to go with me lol. Am I weird in not wanting to go to the movies alone?? It just seems, sad to me. Lol

 

[miltonh]

Spoiler

Am I the only one who thinks Mombasa is the key? When the totem falls down...

 

[Crook]

I'm seriously getting so f'n pissed off. A friend of mine was supposed to go see this with me and then went and saw it with his gf, which is cool, but now all he says to me when I tell him I'm tryna find someone to go see Inception with me he says "I'll go see Predators with you." Maybe I'm just weird but I can't stand going to the movies alone but I'll be damned! The next movie I am seeing is Inception damnit! Predators can wait! But now I can't find anybody to go with me lol. Am I weird in not wanting to go to the movies alone?? It just seems, sad to me. Lol

Think of it this way, it reeks of insecurity to not be able to enjoy a leisure activity whose main purpose does not involve social interaction. You're there to watch a film, not converse with friends sitting next to you. Grow a spine and watch the damn thing.

 

[Dark Knight]

It's doing incredibly well. I think there is a pretty decent chance that it reaches $300m domestic, possibly as high as $350m domestic. I posted this at NolanFans...

Inception is looking very good in comparison with Pirates 1 ($305m total), which had a 2-day head start with a Wednesday release:

Pirates after 8 days - $92.5m
Inception after 6 days - $91.5m

Inception is gaining around $1.9m to $2m per day on Pirates, meaning after tomorrow they will be very close.

Pirates after 9 days - $98.97m
Inception after 7 days - needs just $7.48m on Thursday to pass Pirates or a 15.6% drop from Wednesday's number.

It will likely drop around 5-10% on Thursday, so it should be ahead of Pirates after 7 days compared to Pirates' 9-day total. $300m is starting to look a lot more likely. Pirates had a $7.8m lead after the first Sunday due to the Wednesday release and Inception will likely be around $7m ahead after the second Sunday, which is incredible. Pirates had amazing legs, so this really puts things into perspective about how well Inception is doing. It will likely make around $40m on the second weekend.

I go to Nolansfans.com also....

Yeah, I don't see Salt beating Inception this weekend.

Fandango is offering 2 for 1 Salt tickets this weekend for crying out loud!

That means the studio is worried about selling tickets for Salt this weekend.

 

[Maximus One]

Think of it this way, it reeks of insecurity to not be able to enjoy a leisure activity whose main purpose does not involve social interaction. You're there to watch a film, not converse with friends sitting next to you. Grow a spine and watch the damn thing.

See thats exactly what I was thinking. I should feel confident enough to go see a movie alone. But still, ya gotta admit, its always better to go enjoy a movie with a friend than it is alone. Like at least then you have someone you can immediately start talking to about it. I dunno but I do see what your saying

 

[LostSon88]

I have a question, not about the levels of dreams but:

Spoiler

When did Dicaprio's character actually do inception on his wife? Was is when they were both in Limbo for 50 years or was it after they had killed themselves on the train tracks and come back to reality?

My wife and I only saw the movie once and had different opinions about it.

Spoiler

He performed Inception on her while they were in limbo. After being there for 50 years, he eventually came to realize that this world wasn't real. Mal however, at this point had accepted it as their reality. So he performed inception on her to essentially make her realize that its all a dream.

What he didn't count on was that, that idea would stick with her...even after they did in fact come back to reality.

 

[Van Petrol]

Yusef isn't the dreamer of van chase, Fisher jr is...

Spoiler

No. The dreamer is always the one that has to stay awake.

Spoiler

Fischer's subconscious is what's populating the dream, but it's not his construct.

Remember - spoiler tags until the weekend's over.

Spoiler

Agree with Boom and scifiwolf, the van chase is Yusef's dream. The fact it is raining in the dream is explained by Yusef drinking too much champagne before going in, and having the thought of taking a number 1 in the back of his mind. This is referenced by the team just after Yusef gets into the car.

 

[Infinity9999x]

Okay, don't know if it's been brought up, but this concerns the top

Spoiler

In the film, we're only told that totems are important to tell you that you're not in someone else's dream. It never says anything about totems in your own dream.

So, going off that, the entire film could have been a dream, because Cobbwould know the exact weight of his top, and what's to stop him from subconsciously, or even on some conscious level, controlling the top. He could make it stop spinning, because he doesn't want to wake up.

 

[Tony Stark]

Okay, don't know if it's been brought up, but this concerns the top

Spoiler

In the film, we're only told that totems are important to tell you that you're not in someone else's dream. It never says anything about totems in your own dream.

So, going off that, the entire film could have been a dream, because Cobbwould know the exact weight of his top, and what's to stop him from subconsciously, or even on some conscious level, controlling the top. He could make it stop spinning, because he doesn't want to wake up.

I have to go back and watch again because I was thinking the same thing. Does anyone know:

Spoiler

Do we ever see at any point in the movie Cobb's totem stop spinning?

Also with the ending it's not so much that we don't know wheather or not the top stops spinning, but that Cobb walks off before it stops spinning because he sees his children's faces for the first time in the movie, and he doesn't care if it stops.

 

[DCW]

Spoiler

He performed Inception on her while they were in limbo. After being there for 50 years, he eventually came to realize that this world wasn't real. Mal however, at this point had accepted it as their reality. So he performed inception on her to essentially make her realize that its all a dream.

What he didn't count on was that, that idea would stick with her...even after they did in fact come back to reality.

Thanks for that.

 

[Anita18]

Think of it this way, it reeks of insecurity to not be able to enjoy a leisure activity whose main purpose does not involve social interaction. You're there to watch a film, not converse with friends sitting next to you. Grow a spine and watch the damn thing.

And sometimes having someone there isn't a huge help when they don't have quite the same insight as you do. The first thing my bf asked me was something plot-related, and that's what we talked about for the next half hour.

Chatting with you guys and reading articles online is how I've come to appreciate Inception as a metaphorical film.

I go to Nolansfans.com also....

Yeah, I don't see Salt beating Inception this weekend.

Fandango is offering 2 for 1 Salt tickets this weekend for crying out loud!

That means the studio is worried about selling tickets for Salt this weekend.

IIRC they did the same thing with Sorcerer's Apprentice when it came out.

I have to go back and watch again because I was thinking the same thing. Does anyone know:

Spoiler

Do we ever see at any point in the movie Cobb's totem stop spinning?

Also with the ending it's not so much that we don't know wheather or not the top stops spinning, but that Cobb walks off before it stops spinning because he sees his children's faces for the first time in the movie, and he doesn't care if it stops.

I think we do.

Spoiler

After the first training dream with Ariadne, he goes off to spin the top while Arthur explains the concept of a totem to her. It stops and he picks it up. This scene is in the trailer.

Also, IIRC there's a scene of Cobb in his hotel room after the failed job on Saito. He spins the top and holds a gun in his hand. Presumably if it doesn't stop spinning, he'll shoot himself so he'll wake up. I don't remember if it stops, the scene ends when he gets a call from his kids.

 

[jacobed]

Spoiler

Yeah you see it stop twice, the first in the hotel when he has the gun to his head, and secondly after his dream with Ariadne.

 

[Infinity9999x]

I have to go back and watch again because I was thinking the same thing. Does anyone know:

Spoiler

Do we ever see at any point in the movie Cobb's totem stop spinning?

Also with the ending it's not so much that we don't know wheather or not the top stops spinning, but that Cobb walks off before it stops spinning because he sees his children's faces for the first time in the movie, and he doesn't care if it stops.

Spoiler

We do. Once after the very first job in the movie. He's alone in his hotel, spins the top and holds a cocked gun near his head, but the top stops spinning and he puts the gun down. Again in the chemist's bathroom after he wakes up from taking the stronger solution. He spins the top rather harshly and it bounces on the counter, spins a bit, and then kind of falls off the counter in an out of control tumble

However, the point is, the spinning doesn't mean anything. The totem only alerts you if you're in someone ELSE'S dream. Because they wouldn't know how to recreate the exact feel/weight of your totem. Or apparently stop the top from spinning (which is a bit odd, but we'll get to that).

If it was all Cobb's dream, he would know the feel of the top. And he could subconsciously make it stop spinning, thus never being able to alert himself to the fact that he's been in his OWN dream the whole time.

The only issue is, with others totems, we can understand how they work. Arthur's totem is a loaded die. Only he knows the exact weight and feel of it. No one else can replicate that. The whole top thing...I don't exactly know why someone wouldn't be able to stop Cobb's top from spinning. I understand why they wouldn't be able to get the feel and weight of it right, but they would surely still make it abide by the laws of physics. So the spinning top is the one totem that seems odd to me.

 

[FaT_tONle]

Think of it this way, it reeks of insecurity to not be able to enjoy a leisure activity whose main purpose does not involve social interaction. You're there to watch a film, not converse with friends sitting next to you. Grow a spine and watch the damn thing.

Been telling myself the same thing the past year. A new GF will come soon enough...

 

[Anita18]

Been telling myself the same thing the past year. A new GF will come soon enough...

Women like men with spines.

 

[General Vulcun]

Think of it this way, it reeks of insecurity to not be able to enjoy a leisure activity whose main purpose does not involve social interaction. You're there to watch a film, not converse with friends sitting next to you. Grow a spine and watch the damn thing.

I personally could go to a movie by myself and be completely fine and have a great time. But I perfer to go with other people because I want to share the experience of seeing a great movie with people I care about.

 

[Mr. Para-Normal]

Saw the movie last Friday and was BLOWN AWAY! I wanted to see it again last weekend but got busy. I am going to see it for the second time this weekend though! The best way I can explain this movie to someone is Matrix meets Shutter Island meets Heist Action movie. 10 out of 10!

P.S I missed some things in my first viewing because the guy siting next to me smelled like raw fish! It was sooo gross everytime he moved the smell would hit everyone in the row lol.

 

[DACrowe]

Spoiler

Fischer's subconscious is what's populating the dream, but it's not his construct.

Remember - spoiler tags until the weekend's over.

Spoiler

Afraid not. It is Fischer's dream. He goes to sleep first and then they all populate his dream. The reason the subconscious projections are so intense (what with a train!) and gun-happy immediately is because Fischer has had personal training to prepare for this. The entire point and/or concept is that they're in Fischer's mind to plant an idea and you cannot do that from Yusuf's mind.

At the end they achieve Inception because Fischer thinks his father wants him to break up the company and be his own man. He thinks this because while he is in Eames' dream, that dream is in JGL's dream which is ultimately still a dream within Fischer's original one--thus that is his own dream there that he is having, but has been severely manipulated by the team into thinking it is not.

If we were in Yusuf's mind from the beginning, they could never have achieved inception because they never were really in Fischer's head and he would realize that he was dreaming (as they all do, as they are jumping into his head) and known from the start that he shouldn't be there and his projections would not be there. Otherwise Adriane's projections would have attacked Cobb's projections when they were in his head.

Thus Level 1 is Fischer's dream--making it all really his dream with the other levels being the other characters manipulating his other dream.

'Tis confusing.