The movie of my dream

Rating: Null/10 (30 July 2010)

Temporarily putting aside this movie's mystifying elements (dreams, subconscious etc), let's take an earthly look – the pragmatic motivation of the key characters – what makes them click.
As the world's top expert in his special field (entering people's dreams to steal ideas, for an astronomical fee), Cobb (Leonardo DiCaprio) has everything except the fulfilment of one wish – to be with his two small children back home in the States. He is an exiled legal fugitive (reminds you of Polanski?). Super-rich Saito (Ken Watanabe) offers fixing his case (never mind how) in exchange for his attempt of an almost impossible feat of planting an idea (i.e. "inception") rather than stealing one. Saito's motivation is altruistic – to save the world from a threat of monopoly of the world's energy resources, which can only be prevented if second generation business tycoon Robert Fischer Jr. (Cillian Murphy) can be "persuaded" (through "inception") to break up the corporate empire that he will inherit upon his father's imminent death. For Ariadne (Ellen Page), the brilliant IQ-160 (or whatever) young architectural designer Cobb hired for the project, the main motivation is not so much the money as the challenge and complete freedom of pure creative design, in the environment of a dream.
The basic premises of the plot are therefore quite familiar, even banal, for a movie. So is the process of assembling the team. It starts with chief and deputy, Cobb and loyal associate Arthur (Joseph Gordon-Levitt). Depending on your generation, you will conjure up images of either Yul Brynner and Steve McQueen or George Clooney and Brad Pitt. But the number of people in the "inception" team is smaller, not 7 or 11 but only 5. In addition to Adriadne, they recruit Earnes (Tom Hardy) and Yusuf (Dileep Rao), respectively expert forger and chemist. With Saito wanting to go into the dream with the team to oversee, it makes 6. Add to that the subject of their manipulation Robert Fischer Jr., there is a total of 7 people interacting in the dreams.
The delicate operation in the dream world is governed by a set of comprehensive rules created by director Christopher Nolan. The passage of time in dreams is very different from reality e.g. 2 hours in a dream in reality is only ten minutes' worth of sleep (or whatever the numbers are). When you die in a dream, you just wake up normally, unless you are in a state of heavy sedation, in which case you are in danger of waking up with your mind completely lost. To facilitate the protagonists' manipulation of other people's dreams they have to specifically design the space for it to take place, hence Adriadne's service.
When it comes to planting the idea, the biggest obstacle is that the subconscious of the subject has a defence mechanism that is very similar to antibodies that attack foreign intruders. In the dream, these "antibodies" manifest themselves as gunmen chasing down and shooting at the team members. The more complex aspects involve "a dream within a dream" to a maximum of three layers. This requires the heavy sedation mentioned above. All these wouldn't be as baffling when you see them unfold in the movie, through Nolan's skillful handling, by alternating thought-stimulating explanations with thrilling action, all seamlessly well paced.
DiCarprio keeps getting better with troubled, anguished characters, such as the one in "Shutter Island". Page is also maturing, from cheeky pregnant teenage or roller skating kid to a role here that would have been a shoo-in for Jodie Foster had the movie been made twenty years ago. Watanabe, Gordon-Levitt and Murphy all fill their roles admirably. Most talked about, however, is Marion Cotillard's portrayal of Cobb's enigmatic wife Mal who, while deceased, continues to live in his dream world. That the mere appearance of Cotillard on any scene is enough to keep the audience from taking their eyes of the screen is so axiomatic that I need not belabour the point. Another iconic figure is Michael Caine who in recent days has come to be the personification on screen of everything reliable, comforting, wise and sensible. No, he doesn't quite play Cobb's butler, but as his father, may just as well be Bruce Wayne's Alfred here.
"Inception" does not seem to have much by way of romance at first glance. The early romance in the relationship between Cobb and Mal is completely overshadowed by the ensuing warped passion for the "alternate reality" and the consequent guilt and remorse. The true romance is between Cobb and Adriadne. However, the scene that suggests this to the empathizing audience is dominated by stunning artistic visual achievement. This is when Cobb first draws her into his dream, and we the audience do not even realize this until he tells her that this elegant Parisian sidewalk café is not reality but rather her introduction to the dream world of his design. What follows is arguably the best GCI effect witnessed to-date, as he demonstrates to her how the entire city disintegrates, then folds upon itself. She in turn impresses him by "how fast she learns" (his comments later) and her brilliant talent in designing by adding her own touches. This is the initiation class held between a brilliant student and a superb teacher. But it is also the clicking of two extraordinary minds with mutual admiration and appreciation. It also cements a mutual relationship shared only by the two of them. Later, she becomes the only person in the team who really understands him while his protective concern for her is all too evident. This is romance at once tantalizingly subtle and clearly palpable.