People like to look back on the 1960s. The 60s were a pivotal decade in history, at least in the US. Culturally, politically, economically, creatively. It was a decade where drugs inspired people. Or so we sometimes say. The question often becomes, "Are drugs the cause of creativity in a person, or does creativity in a person cause the desire for drugs?" I guess I don't really know the answer to that. I do know one thing though. There is absolutely no way that Inception was written by a person who does not use drugs.
I know that there's a word out there to describe this film, I just can't quite put my finger on it. It's just beyond my grasp. Unique. Groundbreaking. Creative. I feel like a 4th grader taking a standardized writing test mixed with a movie trailer writer.
I've just never seen anything quite like it. The story involves this concept called shared dreaming. As one person dreams, other's can enter into his subconscious and exist in that same dream. It's a real concept, actually, but I'm pretty sure the same people who believe in telepathy are the same ones who are touting the reality of shared dreaming. So do with that what you will. You know what, I don't think I can really go into a detailed synopsis and do it any justice. The IMDb synopsis starts out really detailed and ends with short sentences and storyline gaps. And that's what I'm afraid mine will do. And I don't want that to happen. Lets run down the characters and go into some themes and see where that leads us.
Leonardo DiCaprio, The Departed, Catch Me If You Can, Titanic, etc, plays an expert at what's called extraction. The process of sharing a dream, and convincing the person who's dream you're in to tell you their secrets, be that personal, financial, or otherwise. Joseph Gordon-Levitt, (500) Days of Summer, Angels in the Outfield, plays DiCaprio's partner in the extraction business. Ellen Page, Juno, plays a young "Architect", a person who creates the fictional, subconscious realities in which shared dreaming takes place. Ken Watanabe, one of the 3 Japanese guys in pretty much every movie you've ever seen that had a Japanese guy in it, plays a powerful businessman named Saito who hires DiCaprio and his team to, instead of extract a thought from someone's subconscious, place a thought in their head. Cillian Murphy, Scarecrow from the Batman movies, plays the man into whose head Saito wants the thought placed.
This film is about reality. And perception. And confidence that you know what is real. We find that DiCaprio is in some ways trapped in a dream world with his wife, played by Marion Cotillard, Nine, Public Enemies. She lost touch with reality, after living 50 years with DiCaprio in a dream. Because for every minute of time in the real world, much more time takes place in the dream. She was convinced that reality was not real. And it wasn't, to her. She was so convinced that she took her own life, hoping that, by dying, she would "wake up" and be back in her own reality. DiCaprio's guilt over his wife's death, drives him to pursue her in the dream world. To recreate her in his own mind and dream that he is there with her. It's almost as if he's trying to convince himself that the dream world is real, he just can't do it.
Reality is a complicated thing for something that should be so straightforward. I mean, what's real is real. Right? Surely one can distinguish fact from fiction. Right? But post-moderns like us don't believe in absolute truth. We're relativists. Existentialists. Fools. The notion that everything is relative, is just that. Foolish. If everything is relative, then why believe in anything? Why believe in God, or heaven, or even your 5 senses or love? That notion should be absurd. But to most, it's not. This film is a masterful treatise on the necessity of reality. The necessity of truth. Some things have to be real. Some things have to be true. Because if they're not, we'll go crazy. Imagine if your entire world was suddenly all a lie. Remember The Truman Show? Remember how after you saw that for the first time you spent a week looking for cameras in your mirror? Think about really believing that everything you've ever know was fabricated. You wouldn't be able to take it. You'd spiral into depression. You'd kill yourself. I guarantee it. That's why people become suicidal when they have existential breakdowns. Pretty much everyone knows someone who's experienced some sort of crisis like that. I do. When people start disbelieving reality, things gets scary. You have to trust your eyes, your ears, your mind. You have to put your faith in what you know to be true. That's the only way to live.
This film is an absolute must see. It's the best movie out right now, and it's the best new release I've seen this year. An instant Oscar front-runner. And don't worry, I haven't nearly given enough away to ruin anything. You're still safe. Take your non-jackass friends (because your jackass friends will either complain about it or pretend they understood any of it) and see it as soon as possible. See it in IMAX too, it'll be worth it.
