Nolan Is An Architect

Rating: 9/10 (6 May 2019)

Nolan helms and pens a sublime science fiction thriller. This film has outstanding direction, cinematography, screenplay, settings, score and acting. The score plays just as an important role as the characters as it creates a thrilling and intense tone to the film. All of the artists involved deliver superlative performances. In particular Page, Gordon-Levity, Murphy, Hardy, Watanabe, Cotillard and Caine are superb. However it is DiCaprio who commands the screen. The plot is so complex, but I'll try to sum it up concisely keeping in mind I'll be leaving out intricate details. A powerful Japanese business man Saito wants an idea planted in the mind of the heir, Robert, to his competitor's energy conglomerate so that Robert will dissolve the company when he takes over control. Saito bribes Cobb who is an extractor to do the job. Typically an extractor is part of a team that performs corporate espionage by infiltrating the subconscious through a shared dream world and then stealing valuable information. Basically they are thieves for hire. Cobb has a criminal past which prevents him from entering the U.S. to see his children which Saito can fix with his powerful influence, so Cobb accepts the job. Cobb and his partner Arthur enlist the help of a conman Eames, a chemist Yusef who creates a sedative to create a stable dreamworld and Ariande who is an architect that builds the puzzle of the dream's landscape. In order to wake up from a dream a member from the team must stay behind at each level to set up a kick which awakens the remaining sleeping members. If a dreamer does not wake up from the kick they are stuck in Limbo which is nearly impossible to escape from and the dreamer doesn't even realize they are still in a dream. A dreamer has an object called a totem which distinguishes the dream world from reality. Cobb and his team are going to try to do what has never been done before successfully. Plant an idea in Robert's mind during a 10 hour flight which requires planting an idea by invading a dream within a dream within a dream. This will also require a simultaneous kick to awaken the team members from the multi-level dream at the same time. Cobb reveals that he and his wife Mal had been stuck in Limbo when first experimenting with dream technology and built a world which she refused to leave and come back to reality. She is stuck in Cobb's mind as a projection. The team is pulling off the mission with Mal attempting to subterfuge it at every angle. Saito ends up getting injured and death in a dream results in Limbo. The team members all awake from the simultaneous kick except for Cobb who stays behind to find an aged Saito. He uses his totem to remind Saito of their agreement. The plot is intense, thrilling, mind-blowing, intelligent, duplicitous, ingenious, cathartic and has an ambiguous ending. I had to watch this mind- bending labyrinth film a few times to truly understand and appreciate it's brilliance. In this viewer's opinion it is Nolan's masterpiece and is at the very top if not the best film in it's genre.