"Inception" (Christopher Nolan, 2010)

Rating: 9/10 (21 July 2010)

"INCEPTION" (2010)
In a non-descript time period, Dom Cobb (Leonardo DiCaprio) is a skillful Extractor...a man who has been taught the methodologies and techniques of utilizing a breakthrough technology to enter and navigate the human mind using dreams as a catalyst doorway. As an Extractor, Cobb's forte is entering the mind of a target and stealing vital, valuable information in the form of memories or secrets. Given the illegal nature of his profession, Cobb has become an estranged ghost to his children...When proposed with the idea of being allowed safe passage to return home, Cobb decides to accept one final mission...albeit an all but impossible one.
I feel comfortable saying it's arguably the greatest motion picture of the last ten or eleven years.
To me, Nolan brought the same principal to the film that he did to Batman. And no, it's not 'realism.' The proper word, from my point of view, is 'logic.' Another could be 'grounding.'
Because when you're dealing with the subject matter of the human mind and dreams (just like comic books in a lesser way), anything is up for grabs. You could get pretentiously bogged down in cerebral symbolism...or just go gratuitously and absurdly nuts like the "Nightmare on Elm Street" series. But Nolan's 'logic' of how dreams are handled...from the idea of 'projections' that represent your subconscious to deeper and deeper layers and recesses to represent the complexity of the mind is visually inventive.
I think, overall, the film is a message on how dangerous the concept of dreams and ideas can truly be.
Throughout history Inception has occurred...though maybe not as flamboyantly as the film portrays. Even so, take a look...you have individuals like Che Guevara or Adolph Hitler...Malcolm X or The Pope or the Ku Klux Klan. Each of these practices has impacted the world and history in ways that are built upon their ability to plant ideas into the minds of several people...for either positive or negative ends.
As a film, I look at "Inception" as a representation of what "Blade Runner" would've been had it been successful upon its release and not a cult classic that was discovered later.
In fact, both films seem quite similar in many ways; the most apparent of which is the method of speculation.
Just like Ridley's approach to Deckard being or not being a replicant, the question of whether or not Cobb is still dreaming in the end is posed but never resolved. And that's because it's the question itself that's truly interesting. It's the question that makes you leave the theatre with the film still transfixed in your thoughts hours or days later. To actually have an answer to that question would defeat the purpose of the question in the first place which is why I absolutely refuse to answer it...even for myself.
The cast of the film is a very inspired assembly to say the least.
Leonardo DiCaprio has certainly come a long way since "Titanic" hasn't he? DiCaprio, having been of sound mind and in good company with the likes of Steven Spielberg and frequent collaborator Marty Scorsese always garnishes my respect by making the conscious choice to work with the absolute best filmmakers...finally adding Chris to his repertoire. He brings a quality to Cobb that makes the character much more than a simple thief or action star role...it's an existential sense of soul and charm that makes me grateful that he's on screen most of the time.
His partner in crime Arthur is given a wonderful turn by Joseph Gordon-Levitt who, exactly like DiCaprio, has grown into his own with films like "Miracle at St. Anna" and "(500) Days of Summer"...a far cry from the goofy twerp of "3rd Rock from the Sun . While his charm is a bit less emotional as the Cobb character, I think that almost cynical edge is what allows Arthur to both level out the balance with Cobb and even give him a run for his money as Levitt repeatedly manages to pull scene focus from everyone else onto himself.
Last but certainly not least is my third favorite performance after Cobb and Arthur in the form of Mal...Beautifully and tragically portrayed by Marion Cotillard. Marion reminds me almost of an Ingrid Bergmann in the role with this sense of beauty that isn't forced and a vulnerability that doesn't drift into obnoxious territory. That final scene with her and Cobb in limbo as he reveals to Ariadne what really happened to them is just heartbreaking and breathtaking at the same time and for all the chaos that's going on around them in that limbo, you are focused on that discourse between Cotillard and DiCaprio so intently and you're so wrapped up in the emotion of their history that the dreamscape isn't even a factor.
When all is said and done, I truly believe that the film lives up to all expectations and is a more than worthy successor to "The Dark Knight."
Nolan has established himself as the forefront of filmmakers who're making the effort NOT to take the audience for granted and provide them with thoughtful material that isn't served on a silver platter for you to merely digest and walking away from.
Its dynamic filmmaking at is best...filmmaking that IS very reminiscent of Stanley Kubrick or David Lynch or take your pick. Nolan is shoulder to shoulder with those filmmakers that dare to dream...and take us on incredible adventures into the power of the psyche and the will of the human condition.
And much like Cobb himself, as daunting a task as it might seem, I think Nolan is on the fact track to planting an idea into audiences.
An idea that we CAN expect intellectually stimulating yet visually entertaining motion pictures within the Summer Blockbuster vernacular.
It's about time, I'd say.