Inception

Inception begins as one of the strongest science-fiction concepts to come along in some time, descends into action yet emerges out the other end an intriguing film. In this world, it’s possible to steal information from an individual’s dreams. This requires the skills of an “extractor” as talented as Dom Cobb (Leonardo DiCaprio) to force that information from the fortresses of well-trained minds. Corporate espionage is the most profitable application of his talents.

Cobb awakens to find himself on the shores of the subconscious—whose? The matter is open to debate. In a sprawling fortress on a craggy hill, he meets an old, Japanese man, Saito (Ken Watanabe). He ominously recalls how they last met, “In a half-remembered dream.” Cobb’s past appears to us as fractured dreams. Mol (Marion Cotillard), his wife, repeatedly penetrates the various layers of his subconscious. Wanted for her murder, he cannot return to the United States to see his two children.

Saito, the CEO of a major energy conglomerate, recruits Cobb and his partner, Arthur (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), to plant a concept into the mind of their competitor’s heir, Robert Fischer, Jr. (Cillian Murphy) This act of faking true inspiration is called “inception.” In consideration, the very powerful and influential Saito will have the charges against Cobb cleared so he may return stateside. As most people in their world tend to agree, Arthur declares that inception isn’t possible. The subject being implanted, he argues, would trace the concept back to the person who put it there; any attempt to get one to not think about something invariably focuses him on that thing. However, what if you were to reposition the statement as a positive?

Others are recruited into the team. Eames (Tom Hardy) specializes in social engineering and infiltration. Ariadne (Ellen Page) is a student of Miles (Michael Caine)—Cobb’s mentor and father. She, Miles informs, is a better architect than Cobb ever was. While the support team provides the background for the operation, the architect designs the dream as a maze such that the target isn’t likely to gain awareness of any boundaries and thus the nature of the illusion. Lastly, the confidence scam involves a dreamer whom they commission to link all parties to, so that the connection between the dream, the design and the extraction are concealed. Further concealment involves creating dreams within dreams, which leads to its own share of complications.

Cleverly explained, an individual in peril of death wakes up just in time—as we tend to in real life. However, under heavy sedation one might not immediately wake up, and be stuck in the dream for what seems like ages. The effect, we’re told, worsens the deeper the layer in which the individual’s mind becomes trapped. In each subsequent level, time passes differently. What may be a day in the first level is a week in the second, ten years in the third and fifty years in the fourth. If one becomes stuck, they find themselves in limbo—similar to purgatory, or more accurately the underworld (Hades).

It’s very difficult to analyze the film without revealing significant plot points or being overwhelmed by its sheer density. The process employed in extraction is called “shared dreaming,” a concept which writer/director Christopher Nolan introduces in fragments until we have (what may or may not be) an understanding of it. Some years ago, I bemoaned Mr. Nolan’s Memento as a gimmick—an otherwise uninteresting story if told in the proper chronology. Here, Mr. Nolan perfects his storytelling, furnishing us with an engaging, suspenseful story regardless of the chronological order in which it is told.

Suspension of disbelief is always a challenge to maintain in these types of stories. Leaning too heavily on the science fiction often produces a technobabble-laden script the actors themselves have trouble believing. But steering entirely clear of fanciful ideas alienates the intended audience. Mr. Nolan deftly avoids explaining the magic away. We aren’t told how shared dreaming works, or given lengthy exposition about technology that runs it. This would obfuscate the human story from view.

The film has some weaknesses. At 148 minutes, there is a significant amount of time devoted to the third layer, in which a chase sequence on skis reminds me of the 1970’s James Bond films—minus the ski bunnies and acrid disco synths. While all of the characters present interesting scenarios, we learn little about them beyond a basic framework. Perhaps this suits the film’s ambiguous ending, but if we are going to be ruminating in Cobb’s subconscious for 2.5 hours, you would think lopping off some of the lengthy chases would give us plenty of time to learn more about Arthur, Saito or Eames who, played so skillfully by Tom Hardy, is easily the best performance.

The actors absorb this fantastical story to varying degrees—the staccato Mr. Gordon-Levitt seeming to have the most difficult time withholding our disbelief (and his own). Mr. Hardy, on the other hand, ably glides through his dialogue. When the camera is focused on the insouciant Eames, the story is relaxed and immersive. Mr. Levitt and Ms. Page are lost, stiffly reciting clunky dialogue about pseudo-scientific concepts—yanking us out of the dream and into pre-production rehearsals.

Earlier in the film, the team’s chemist/anesthesiologist, Yusuf (Dileep Rao), takes them to an underground dream sharing operation in which twelve elderly men stay connected for hours on end. The scene establishes how he managed to keep them under for such long periods of time, which Saito’s job requires. However, as an old man notes, the dream has become their reality. Whichever layer of subconsciousness or consciousness one chooses to accept is ultimately that individual’s reality. Are we going to get a satisfying resolution? Is that the point?

There appear to be many layers of mythological subtext to the film. The layers of Cobb’s subconscious seem to represent a elaborate maze of guilt, over the loss of his wife, in which he remains trapped. Ariadne, in Greek mythology, helped Theseus defeat the Minotaur who resides in… the Cretan Labyrinth. Ariadne provides Theseus with his “clew” (clue)—a woven thread—which helps him trace the way out. In this film, it’s a totem, a familiar object which acts as a psychological thread connecting them to reality. But what if you were dreaming when you made the totem? How would you know?

Note: It is not without coincidence that Mr. Nolan chose the model of a classical labyrinth, as it happens to resemble the human brain.

Inception • Dolby® Digital surround sound in select theatres • Aspect Ratio: 2.39:1 • Running Time: 148 minutes • MPAA Rating: PG-13 for sequences of violence and action throughout. • Distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures

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