Excellent Blending of Two Stories with the same Concept

Rating: 10/10 (28 February 2014)

Christopher Nolan did an excellent job of intertwining two stories together that contained the same concept - Inception. The first story is Leonardo's experience with Inception and the second story is about how a Team facilitates Inception in Robert Fischer, who is the Target.
During the movie, DiCaprio (Dom Cobb) knows full well, that Inception is possible. However, he hides this fact for most of the movie. The meat of the first story is how Leonardo deals with the consequences and ramifications of planting an idea in his wife's mind.
The second story discusses the strategy that the Team will use to plant an idea in the Target's mind and then the second story actually shows them doing it. In a nutshell, the goal of the Team is to plant a pinwheel into a safe which is owned by Robert Fischer's father. Since Robert Fischer treasured a specific photograph which contained the pinwheel, the Team uses this as a means of validating the moment of Inception which they worked so hard to facilitate.
The two stories run parallel with each other throughout the movie and then at the end of the movie both stories present major revelations. In the first story, Inception has already taken place. In the second story, Inception is revealed. In other words, the audience finally comes to understand how Inception influenced DiCaprio throughout the entire film and the the audience also gets to see exactly how the Team architects an elaborate plan to manifest Inception in Robert Fischer - the Target.
The Dream within a Dream within a Dream is a sophisticated metaphor. Don't get overly concerned with trying to track every little movement throughout the layers. And, don't spend too much time worrying about the logic or possible conundrums that this metaphor presents. Enjoy the action and special effects, however, concentrate on the main thrust of the movie which is the notion of how Inception can radically affect and change a person's psyche.
Also, as the movie concludes, contemplate DiCaprio's involvement in the second story. In other words, you will come to appreciate how Nolan used DiCaprio's character to guide the Team with his specific knowledge, while at the same time, coming to grips with his own demons as a result of having already implemented a variation of the ongoing Team strategy in the first story.