Review of the Cinematography of Inception

Rating: 9/10 (23 October 2016)

Imagine you are dreaming, and you know it. You are an architect and have the power to do anything you want to your landscape. You can build skyscrapers or farm houses, you can make oceans appear out of nothing, and you can defy the laws of physics. You can go into the deepest spaces of your subconscious and see all of your fears, secrets, and desires. You can dream voluntarily and even bring other people along with you. This is Inception. Leonardo DiCaprio acts as Cobb, a thief who steals much more than everyday material items. He has the capability to steal secrets from the minds of other people through their subconscious, by invading their dreams without them knowing. While this sounds amazing, it is an enormous power to have, and with great power comes great responsibility. Cobb gets involved in a dangerous mission and is asked to plant an idea into another person's mind. He has already lost his family to his career, but if he completes this task, he could get it all back. However, he is not prepared for the emotional baggage he's kept to appear at work. Inception is a complete and total enigma. It is anything and everything that one could ever possibly imagine, but never think of themselves. It is so original in itself that there is nothing remotely close to being like it. It deserves every accolade and testimonial it is given, and while director Christopher Nolan is very responsible for that, he was not alone in creating this masterpiece.
Wally Pfister is a cinematographer and director who is well known for his work with Christopher Nolan. In Inception, he uses cinematography to tell a story. It's not just about getting the perfect shot, it's about connecting the audience to the picture and the actors. With pristine clarity from every angle, viewers are immediately immersed in their surroundings. He draws them in by giving each shot a unique look from the next. Because of Inception's complicated plot line, he uses color, lighting, and shot types to his advantage in differentiating environments from one another. The component of the film that is most obvious to the viewer is lighting. In the first scene, the audience sees waves on the beach crashing into the shore. Pfister uses natural light to portray the outdoors and create a bright environment. In the next, viewers see Leonardo DiCaprio being led inside a dark building. Here, Pfister uses a dim palette with warm colors to show both the change of environment as well as the different emotions of each scene. This pattern continues as the plot unravels throughout the film.
One particularly great shot Pfister uses to engage his audience is an aerial view of the environment. For the majority of the film, when the characters move into a new setting, viewers are graced with a breathtaking overhead shot of their surroundings. These wide pans show a boundless space, but usually always have a focal point. For example, while the audience sees a large, urban city that becomes the next setting of the story, they can't help but to be focused in on a small, bright helicopter flying over top of it. After seeing these wide shots viewers are drawn in once again through medium shots and close ups. Pfister also knows the importance of camera movement in the story. He constantly uses shaky camera movement when characters are walking, running, or fighting. He also uses it to make experience more real for viewers. For example, when Leonardo Dicaprio and his supporting cast are in a helicopter, the camera is gently moving, not so much to distract people from what is happening in the scene, but to enhance what is happening in the film. This strategy makes it easy for the audience to get lost in the story and connect to feel like they are in the film themselves.
Another important component of the cinematography that directly relates to the story is the use of cuts. In the story, one of the ways characters realize that they are dreaming is if they cannot figure out how they have gotten to where they are. It seems as if they appear there out of thin air. Each cut pertains to this aspect of the film because they rarely offer information on how characters end up in certain places. This leads the audience to wonder if the characters are really dreaming, or if that is just the way the story is laid out. Overall, Pfister does an amazing job of joining the viewers to the visuals of Inception. He uses cinematography to portray emotion and allow his audience to feel everything going on in the film. He has the power to make people feel something, and without his amazing camera work this never would have happened. Without Pfister, Inception would not be the masterpiece that it is today.