Brilliant, insightful, substantial intellectual thriller

Rating: 10/10 (4 August 2010)

Saw it last night and it was wonderfully satisfying. This morning it occurred to me that one of the films it has absorbed into the plot was a Robin Williams vehicle, "What dreams may come". In that film a man seeks to find his lost wife, who has descended to the depths of "hell" all of which she directed herself there as a form of punishment. The husband seeks to go and find her, at great personal (spiritual) peril, knowing the risks, to try and convince her to come away from the dark corner (of her soul) that she has condemned herself to, all in the name of love. Sound familiar? If you have seen Inception then it has more than a solid resemblance.
The other film that immediately came to mind was the Matrix (trilogy). In fact, half way through this dazzling film I had made a mental note of calling this "Matrix 4"; although they run on different premises, the influences of the Matrix films are all over this new one. And this is a good thing as far as the overall film is concerned.
This is a thought provoking film. How far removed from reality is the premise of this film? Considering how the mechanics of hypnosis works, with how a mind can be taught to think certain thoughts, all through soft suggestive words should make us consider the plausible successes that dream manipulations might entail. The sci-fi aspects of the film are of course just that, not really within our (current) grasp. That does not mean that it is impossible to be developed or is within striking distance now. I have read stories of how mind washing techniques are supposed to work and one could do well by reading up on the Manchurian Candidate types of techniques. The problem with this type of material is that so much of it (in print) careens off into super conspiratorial side roads and before you know it, you've lost the original premises. Suffice it to say that mind manipulations exist today, the most commonly used ones (that will reach the unconscious or preconscious mind) are hypnosis. Also remember that hypnosis can be self applied with behaviour modification as the objective. People who seek to loose weight or stop smoking have used mind altering techniques for years.
What is fascinating about this film is the idea that not only can we reach into a persons first layer unconscious mind but that doors can be opened at that level to reach even further down into deeper layers of the mind. What this implies, for me, is the dual aspects of our minds capacity. Our minds, even if one argues existentially, have the innate and potential capacity for an (almost) limitless expansion outwards and the same is probably true for reaching the unconscious aspects of our minds total capacity. One could even argue that the overall total capacity our minds ALL sits in the unmanifested and always hidden unconscious state, just waiting for direction. Some would reverse the direction and say that all of our conscious mind is entirely directed by the unconscious, which again is always hidden from our conscious consideration. In this myriad of considerations this film gives us adequate reasons to pause and consider our own capacities.
This film, like all modern action films, has wonderful special effects, many of which will have you saying out loud 'matrix' inspired. They are delightful to watch. The actors all play off the nervous and edgy vibes of the action. The plot is confusing and circuitous but the writer is smart enough to throw in just a small handful of very funny bits to ease us through the long periods of tense moments. This is really a film to watch several more times, with so much going on and quite a bit of dialogue spoken one needs several viewings in order to digest the meaning. Highly recommended and certainly a career highlight for the always powerful Mr. Di Caprio. This will be high on my must own list.