Inception - Complete mindfuck of a film

Best movie in 2010 so far!! Followed by "180 degrees south".

For those who are still confused:

inceptionexplained.jpg


This is my first post btw, not what I had in mind, but Nolan's a genius and deserves my appreciation ;)
 


i tht the movie just had an ending mindfuck like shutter island. Now that i have gone through this thread , im mindfucked completely
 
S M W said:
F*#! the interpretations I have questions!

- How about when the van went over the side of the bridge and the guy asks 'if that was the kick why aren't we waking up?' And Cobb says "that was just the first kick, we'll wake up when we hit the water." HTF did he know there was any water coming up?? That was in a different level and he was out cold...
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Seriously? I'd have to say it was a fair assumption that if they planned to crash off a bridge they would be aiming for water and not land....
 
HardSale said:
If you're reading this far I assume you couldn't give a shit about spoilers but for the record, spoiler alert.

First, anyone looking for the "right" interpretation is going to be looking for a long time. There is no right answer. Just like a dream, the movie means what you want it to mean. Like an MC Escher picture, it's a never ending mind fuck that has no answer. Reality is what the viewer wants it to be.

My interpretation is that Cobb is a man flying home from a trip and has fallen asleep and dreaming. He's missed his kids. He's a single father who's lost his wife. His misses her.

All of the characters in the movie (his dream) are people he's seen on his flight or people in his life. His flight lands, he wakes up. He walks through baggage claim and we notice that all of the characters in the movie we just watched are nothing more than passengers on his flight getting their luggage.

He goes home, spins a top on the table and sees his kids. The top is just a top. Maybe one his kids' toys he keeps as a memento while he's away. Maybe one of the kids put it in his luggage before he left.

As Freud said, "Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar". It's fun to dig deep and analyze the simplest of things for deeper meaning but sometimes a cigar is just a cigar. Sometimes a top is just a top.
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When you think about it, it's impossible to dream about so many things in such detail and length (the movie). It's hard enough to be self-aware in your dreams and imagine all that detail...

I like your interpretation, but I doubt it. I do agree with your first sentences though. Reality is whatever you want to make of it. Perception = reality.

Supporting your interpretation is the fact that those sleeper devices don't exist in reality, so the whole thing could be a dream. Then again, it's a movie, anything goes in a movie.

Mindfucking eh?
 
I was under the impression the water was all part of the plan. I thought they discussed it briefly when there was a montage of them planning out the mission. I could definitely be wrong though; I'll have to see it again.

I've thrown in a couple of philosophy courses over the last couple of semesters, and I kept hearing different philosophical phrases thrown around throughout the movie. Like "Leap of faith:" isn't that from Heidegger? All the talk of projections was someone else, possibly Hume.

Anyway, ya I'll have to watch again. I haven't really discussed it thoroughly with anyone, but I read some interesting points on here. I thought it was a great movie though. I definitely recommend it.
 
So I was thinking about it a little more, and here's my interpretation... spoiler alert

From the very first scene, we see Cobbs eating porridge with old Saito. We assume they're in Limbo. Saito touches Cobbs' totem, rendering it useless for Cobbs. Cobbs will no longer be able to distinguish dream from reality. However, now that Saito knows the weight and feel of the totem, he can perform inception on Cobbs (planting an idea).

Then it cuts to the next scene where Saito is young and Cobbs is in his mansion trying to steal his secrets. From the start it's old Saito telling the Story, in a flashback.

Then we get to the end of the movie. Cobbs eating his porridge and old man Saito sitting there with the totem and a gun. The flashback is over and we're back in the "present."

Saito presumably shoots Cobbs with the gun, thus getting Cobbs out of Limbo. Saito gives Cobbs the happy ending; Cobbs reunites with the kids. This is the inception part. Saito planted the happy ending idea into Cobbs' mind, and Cobbs would never know if it's real or not because his totem is now useless after Saito touched it. In the end, everything comes together because Saito honored his part of the agreement, Cobbs gets the happy ending.

Remember, Cobbs never told Saito that he wanted reality or dream, he just wanted to be with his kids.

Some may argue against my interpretation that if Saito knew how to do inception and performed inception on Cobbs, then why did Saito even need Cobbs and the team in the first place?

Here's the thing. Saito couldn't do it alone, he needed a team. That's where the auditioning part comes in. He auditioned Cobbs' team to see if they were capable, and of course they were.

You could say Saito was the mastermind of the group, but he couldn't do it alone. I like how the "teamwork" maxim comes into play.

In the end, it's a dream. Saito planted the idea of a happy ending into Cobbs' mind. Sorry team reality.

/end mindfuck
 
just saw it and not to sound like one of those "no movie is any good but i see a lot anyway" type of guy but it didn't live up to what i thought.

they were always in a dream.

they on that next level shit, bro!
 
You guys keep comparing it to the Matrix like the Matrix is the gold standard.

Have you gone back and watched the original Matrix lately?


I mean its a damn good film... but i think nostalgia is getting the better of some of you.

((not to mention the train wrecks that were the last 2 films of the series))

.
 
Movie was unreal.

Best rumor I have heard about it is that Cobb says that in a dream you never know how you got there and the movie basically starts in the middle of a scene with no explanation.

If it was all just a dream that is pretty lame, but worth going to see regardless.
 
Hav3n said:
((not to mention the train wrecks that were the last 2 films of the series))

.
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I was very disappointed with Matrix 2 & 3 too when I walked out from the theather, I thought they were horrible because I didn't understand what was happening at that time..

BUT after I read about the explanation here - The MATRIX 101 - Understanding The Matrix Reloaded - Meaning And Interpretations

Everything made sense to me and I thought it was brilliant!!

We can't help comparing Inception to the Matrix because they're very similar...

Was Inception good? Yea, but was it better than the Matrix? I don't think so.

Also, I don't like the whole Christopher Nolan's 'heart pumping music' style.. it's noisy and disturbing, just like the dark night. I mean it's okay if you do that in just a few scenes, but imho he's over doing it.
 
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