A Mutli-Layered Dream World

Rating: 8/10 (15 July 2010)

What drew me to watch this film on the very first day of theatrical showing was the cast, which was an incredible array of some of the most intense actors in Hollywood today. We have Ken Watanabe, Cilian Murphy, Marion Cotillard, Michael Caine, Tom Berenger, Pete Postlethwait, and in the lead, none other than Leonardo di Caprio. The director and writer Christopher Nolan also comes with a very impressive oeuvre behind him, with "Memento," "The Prestige," and most recently, "The Dark Knight."
This film is one of the most complicated films I have seen. A fair summary is almost impossible to put into words. It is challenging to follow all the jumping into and out of dreams, in dreams within dreams. I won't be surprised if you do not completely understand everything that was going on by the end. However, the visual experience of being in this multi-layered dream world is unmatchable in any recent films.
I thought of "The Matrix," and even Leo's latest (excellent) work "Shutter Island," as this film proceeds to disorient you about what is and is not reality. However, "Inception" goes several levels higher in the hierarchy of convolutions in film. There are at least four levels of simultaneous dream upon dream happening at one time at one point. Amazing film editing work!
Then there are technical aspects which were mind-boggling indeed, as Nolan's bizarre script required. The audience is brought inside buildings, rooms, elevators, even entire cities where you lose the sense of space, time, gravity and logic. It is a dream world--you need to see it to fully appreciate what I just wrote. The musical score of Hans Zimmer was strong and dramatic. These are definitely contenders by Oscar time.
This film is not for everyone. There are those who would dismiss this as impossibly pretentious and pointless. But for me, "Inception" was very stimulating and challenging -- a film well-worthy to spend two and a half hours of our valuable time. Be ready to face this challenge when you go watch it. I won't be surprised if you feel you need to watch it all over again.