Christopher Nolan + DiCaprio = Inception

[sportsdude]

Re: Christopher Nolan + DiCaprio = Inception

Late to the party but had this to say/

Spoiler

I don't believe it is a dream, for several reasons, first of all, the wedding band theory. Every time he was in a dream he had the wedding band on. These are things I have read, not seen myself, but they've been confirmed by people so I roll with it.

Secondly, I think that the kids have aged, as two sets of actors portrayed them on IMDB, one older than the other, and they are wearing different clothes(I think).

I had read both theories and the first one is a very interesting one indeed.

The second one is not a legit theory. I'll have to find the article later because I have to go to a meeting here in a minute, but...

Spoiler

...if I remember right, having the two different sets of actors for the kids was born out necessity and not story-driven.

[WazzuRC]

Re: Christopher Nolan + DiCaprio = Inception

Saw it again last night and it was better the second time. I can't wait to pick this up on Blu-Ray. Christopher Nolan is an absolute genius.

[Blzer]

Re: Christopher Nolan + DiCaprio = Inception

Loved this movie. Surprisingly I've only seen it once so far but I still remember it very vividly.

Now time to read through the thread.

[Blzer]

Re: Christopher Nolan + DiCaprio = Inception

Okay, well I want to say two big things about this movie after reading this thread, the latter being more of a mind-twist than the former (which is more of a movie suggestion than anything else):

Spoiler

First of all, I do somewhat agree with what people said about this movie's character development and our feelings for Cobb as a protagonist. I think most of this stems from the issue that we don't have to care or concern ourselves with things just because they are a manifestation of one's dreams. There isn't really anything worth stressing over because Mal is simply Cobb's projection and if they die, they wake up (of course there is the plot twist later about dying in limbo, but it still doesn't seem to be as extreme of a causation as real death).

Therefore, I have strung up an idea which I think would have been great for this movie, and I want your opinions on it. What if, instead of Mal being dead for this movie and just being Cobb's projection, she was in a coma? What if she was in a coma, and she would appear in Cobb's dreams really as herself and not just as part of Cobb's latent memories? This way she would still be a real person with real emotions and influences. Or how about maybe her projection still pops up in Cobb's subconscious as a form of guilt for her falling into some sort of coma, but this would make the dilemma more difficult when it comes to staying with her in the dream world or returning to his kids in the real world.

I think this would have been a more stressful plot point instead of her just dying when she fell off the ledge. But I suppose it makes sense with her dying as well because then we question the ending, which I'm going to get to next.

Spoiler

Now as for the ending, I've really went back and forth on this. It seems that most of OS is in a "back-and-forth" mindset as well, but everyone seems to dodge one major concept. Here's what I think... I do not think the ending is a dream, that's for sure. I would prefer that if there is a definitive answer, that he was in reality. I mean who wouldn't? But I don't think it's that either. So most people turn to the "cop-out" answer and decide that the ending is open for interpretation, but I don't agree with that either. I think the answer is much grayer than that.

I truly think that Nolan created a "no answer" scenario. Bear in mind that is much different than "open to interpretation," because having an interpretive ending means that you are still concluding the ending for yourself in one way or the other. It means that although they didn't answer it for you, you can still answer it for yourself with enough supporting evidence. And the truth is, there is plenty of supporting evidence for the ending being a dream, but there is also enough supporting evidence for the ending being reality. But you can't have both! That's like saying that a tomato is either a fruit or a vegetable, but it is really just a fruit. It's like saying that zero is both a positive and negative number. You can't do that. To counter a single "reality" argument with a "dream" counter-argument nullifies the ending as being reality.

Therefore, Nolan created a paradox.

Twice in this movie, Nolan refers to the Penrose Staircase paradox, which is an impossible three-dimensional figure but passes off as acceptable in two-dimensional space in that it creates an illusion of something that cannot physically happen: No matter how high you climb up the steps, you never actually ascend at all.



So what I think that Nolan did at the end of the movie, instead of opening it up for interpretation, was that he created something impossible to answer. No matter whether you claim the ending is reality or a dream, you can attempt to back it up with evidence, but you will always be shot down by something that would contradict your claim. This debate will appear endless, because no matter what you say and support it with, you will always be brought back to start by somebody disagreeing with substantial counter-evidence.

He created a paradox because the ending is impossible to claim whether it's reality or a dream... not that it's open to interpretation and that we can decide for ourselves, but that it's impossible to conclude. There is evidence showing that the ending is a dream, but there is also evidence showing he's awake. But it can't be both. Much like the Penrose Staircase, this paradox can only create an illusion that something can be done when it really can't.

Even at the end of the movie we see the top spinning for a long time, and I mean a time longer than the centrifugal force of the top's physics can allot for it staying up for so long. Yet right before the screen cuts to black, we see the top wobble as if it's about to fall. Can someone tell me how the top can spin for a very long time as if it's a dream, and yet at the same time wobble and begin to fall as if it's reality? It can't do both, that's impossible. In the dream it will spin forever, and in reality the top will fall (in a much shorter time than we saw on screen). It's impossible to do both. It is, yet again, another paradox created in the world of Inception.

The answer is that there is no answer, which I think stems a long way for even a man like Nolan to achieve so impeccably. I think that dominates the "interpretive" ending in every way imaginable. It has taken me nearly a month to heavily think about these concepts, but I think I've finally grasped it after so much intense thought. Nolan truly did create a masterpiece with this film.

[ODogg]

Re: Christopher Nolan + DiCaprio = Inception

I saw it last night and my mind was blown. Can't wait to get this on Blu-Ray and see how they did some of the special effects.

[Brankles]

Re: Christopher Nolan + DiCaprio = Inception

Here's a cool theory I read (not my own idea):

Spoiler

NOT a dream: The WEDDING RING gives it away.

I have now seen this movie three times. The first time I saw it I thought it was not a dream and he was home. When I saw discussions to the contrary, I saw it again looking for any clues to tell whether he is dreaming the whole time, and questioned the ending thoroughly. It was not until I saw a post about someone saying he is only wearing a wedding ring when he dreams. Multiple people shot it down saying that they saw him wearing it in reality or that he was not wearing it in this dream or that one. My third viewing had me looking for the ring in almost every shot, seeing if his totem ever falls in a dream (Something someone said happened), looking at his children's faces to see if they are the same, etc.

My analysis as follows:

The Wedding Ring:

We start the movie with Cobb in limbo with Saito, he is wearing a ring. Step back to the beginning, he is trying to convince Saito to let him into his mind to help protect it, this takes place in a dream two layers down. He is wearing a wedding ring. Things go south and we wake up in the apartment, where we think an angry mob is really coming down the street. They threaten Saito's life with him thinking it is reality, only for him to discover otherwise. In this entire scene Cobb is wearing a wedding ring. Wake up on the train, NO WEDDING RING. In the hotel suite on the phone with his kids, NO WEDDING RING. On the roof talking to Saito, NO WEDDING RING. France, the architecture university, NO WEDDING RING. The coffee shop in Ariadne's first shared dream, Cobb is wearing his wedding ring, she freaks out. They wake up in the workshop, NO WEDDING RING. They go back under and Ariadne explores the physics of the dreamworld, again Cobb is wearing a wedding ring.

Cobb goes to see Eames, the entire time not wearing a ring. He meets the new chemist, still no ring. The chemist gives him a quick taste of his latest potion, in that scene we get a quick glimpse of his hand with a WEDDING RING. Wakes up, no ring. See the pattern?

So finally, the inception. We are on the plane, we clearly see is not wearing a ring. Level 1, WEDDING RING, Level 2, WEDDING RING, Level 3 WEDDING RING, Limbo he is wearing his WEDDING RING.

After he meets Saito as an old man, the conversation continues past what we saw in the beginning, yet even here he is wearing a WEDDING RING still. Then, when Saito reaches for the gun, we are on an airplane. He is not wearing a wedding ring here.

HERE IS THE KEY. As he is walking through the terminal, no ring, as he is greeted by father in law, no ring, when he gets home and spins his totem, no ring.

In his dreams he is married to Mul still, as she can still exist there. In reality, he knows she is dead and does not wear a wedding ring as he is no longer married. A simple yet easily unnoticed way to test which parts are reality.

Not done there, I investigated another thing, Cobb's totem:

I have seen many posts of people saying his totem falls when he is in others' dreams. This is simply not true. People say it wobbles and falls over in the beginning. I watched and listened closely, Saito spins the top and we hear it spinning as the scene cuts to the young Saito. Then, in the end when we see him old again, he looks down and it is still spinning, he knows he is not in reality and goes for the gun.

When Cobb uses inception on Mul, it continues and never stops. In the hotel after the failed Saito mission, it falls. A funny thing to note is that every scene in which the top spins endlessly he is wearing a WEDDING RING. In the scenes in which it topples, he is not.

Now, the awakening scene. Looks an awful lot like a dream right? Not really. He wakes up on the plane surprised, but everyone is smiling. They woke up from the sedatives, but Cobb and Saito were down in limbo. When they got back, everyone is happy to see he made it, Saito looks just as stunned only backing up the fact that he really snapped back to reality. They are all getting bags, going through customs, etc. Everyone looks at each other with a grin because they know inception worked and that Cobb is finally home. Not very dream-like except that it seems like a dream come true. Had the scene after he and Saito with the gun been him in his home, him on his way to his home, etc, I would think it is a dream. No, he awakens in EXACTLY the place he went to sleep to start inception. You never really know how you get to where you are in a dream do you? Then how does he know he is on a plane and just successfully completed inception on Robert Fischer, the man in front of him?

Finally, the home scene. Looks like a dream? In this case, yes it does. we see the children exactly where they were, doing the same thing, wearing the same clothes. They appear the same age. On my second viewing this was red flag that it was a dream. But on my third viewing I noticed slight differences, such as the kids looking slightly older. The cast list has two sets of kids listed, ones slightly older than the others. They are not voice casts but actual actors in the film. I especially noticed a difference as the camera pans towards the totem, I chose to focus on the back door with the kids. The girl is seen throwing herself on her father, in this scene she looks clearly older than the memory he has of her.

And of course, the totem itself. I watched each spin my third time through. It spun flawlessly for a while, began to wobble slightly, then started a hard wobble then fall. In the final scene it appears to be spinning smoothly for a long time, he probably gave it a lot of power. It starts to slightly wobble, and the screen goes black after it begins a HARD WOBBLE as if it is about to topple, not correct itself.

Conclusion: The movie isn't a dream, Cobb isn't caught in some "limbo that looks a lot like reality." Cobb spends the entire movie trying to get to his kids in reality, why would he settle for shades in a limbo? What proof is there that he is dreaming the whole time? If he is dreaming at the end, where is he dreaming? Limbo? So he goes from talking to Saito to just waking up on a plane, all as a part of a dream in limbo? Really? Think about it.

Nolan would never take the "eeet was aaaaalll a dreeeeaaaammmmm" cliche way out. But the fact that he cut the film before the top falls over does have a meaning. He is planting a seed of doubt in your mind. He uses inception on the audience to have them question the ending. The concept of the movie thus becomes reality to the viewer, a heavy thing to think about and something that hasn't been done before.

But all the evidence points to reality.

[The GIGGAS]

Re: Christopher Nolan + DiCaprio = Inception

Okay, well I want to say two big things about this movie after reading this thread, the latter being more of a mind-twist than the former (which is more of a movie suggestion than anything else):

Spoiler

First of all, I do somewhat agree with what people said about this movie's character development and our feelings for Cobb as a protagonist. I think most of this stems from the issue that we don't have to care or concern ourselves with things just because they are a manifestation of one's dreams. There isn't really anything worth stressing over because Mal is simply Cobb's projection and if they die, they wake up (of course there is the plot twist later about dying in limbo, but it still doesn't seem to be as extreme of a causation as real death).

Therefore, I have strung up an idea which I think would have been great for this movie, and I want your opinions on it. What if, instead of Mal being dead for this movie and just being Cobb's projection, she was in a coma? What if she was in a coma, and she would appear in Cobb's dreams really as herself and not just as part of Cobb's latent memories? This way she would still be a real person with real emotions and influences. Or how about maybe her projection still pops up in Cobb's subconscious as a form of guilt for her falling into some sort of coma, but this would make the dilemma more difficult when it comes to staying with her in the dream world or returning to his kids in the real world.

I think this would have been a more stressful plot point instead of her just dying when she fell off the ledge. But I suppose it makes sense with her dying as well because then we question the ending, which I'm going to get to next.

Spoiler

Now as for the ending, I've really went back and forth on this. It seems that most of OS is in a "back-and-forth" mindset as well, but everyone seems to dodge one major concept. Here's what I think... I do not think the ending is a dream, that's for sure. I would prefer that if there is a definitive answer, that he was in reality. I mean who wouldn't? But I don't think it's that either. So most people turn to the "cop-out" answer and decide that the ending is open for interpretation, but I don't agree with that either. I think the answer is much grayer than that.

I truly think that Nolan created a "no answer" scenario. Bear in mind that is much different than "open to interpretation," because having an interpretive ending means that you are still concluding the ending for yourself in one way or the other. It means that although they didn't answer it for you, you can still answer it for yourself with enough supporting evidence. And the truth is, there is plenty of supporting evidence for the ending being a dream, but there is also enough supporting evidence for the ending being reality. But you can't have both! That's like saying that a tomato is either a fruit or a vegetable, but it is really just a fruit. It's like saying that zero is both a positive and negative number. You can't do that. To counter a single "reality" argument with a "dream" counter-argument nullifies the ending as being reality.

Therefore, Nolan created a paradox.

Twice in this movie, Nolan refers to the Penrose Staircase paradox, which is an impossible three-dimensional figure but passes off as acceptable in two-dimensional space in that it creates an illusion of something that cannot physically happen: No matter how high you climb up the steps, you never actually ascend at all.



So what I think that Nolan did at the end of the movie, instead of opening it up for interpretation, was that he created something impossible to answer. No matter whether you claim the ending is reality or a dream, you can attempt to back it up with evidence, but you will always be shot down by something that would contradict your claim. This debate will appear endless, because no matter what you say and support it with, you will always be brought back to start by somebody disagreeing with substantial counter-evidence.

He created a paradox because the ending is impossible to claim whether it's reality or a dream... not that it's open to interpretation and that we can decide for ourselves, but that it's impossible to conclude. There is evidence showing that the ending is a dream, but there is also evidence showing he's awake. But it can't be both. Much like the Penrose Staircase, this paradox can only create an illusion that something can be done when it really can't.

Even at the end of the movie we see the top spinning for a long time, and I mean a time longer than the centrifugal force of the top's physics can allot for it staying up for so long. Yet right before the screen cuts to black, we see the top wobble as if it's about to fall. Can someone tell me how the top can spin for a very long time as if it's a dream, and yet at the same time wobble and begin to fall as if it's reality? It can't do both, that's impossible. In the dream it will spin forever, and in reality the top will fall (in a much shorter time than we saw on screen). It's impossible to do both. It is, yet again, another paradox created in the world of Inception.

The answer is that there is no answer, which I think stems a long way for even a man like Nolan to achieve so impeccably. I think that dominates the "interpretive" ending in every way imaginable. It has taken me nearly a month to heavily think about these concepts, but I think I've finally grasped it after so much intense thought. Nolan truly did create a masterpiece with this film.

Holy ****. That's deep. I'm going to have to digest that.

[HotSauce2k3]

Re: Christopher Nolan + DiCaprio = Inception

Here's a cool theory I read (not my own idea):

Spoiler

NOT a dream: The WEDDING RING gives it away.

I have now seen this movie three times. The first time I saw it I thought it was not a dream and he was home. When I saw discussions to the contrary, I saw it again looking for any clues to tell whether he is dreaming the whole time, and questioned the ending thoroughly. It was not until I saw a post about someone saying he is only wearing a wedding ring when he dreams. Multiple people shot it down saying that they saw him wearing it in reality or that he was not wearing it in this dream or that one. My third viewing had me looking for the ring in almost every shot, seeing if his totem ever falls in a dream (Something someone said happened), looking at his children's faces to see if they are the same, etc.

My analysis as follows:

The Wedding Ring:

We start the movie with Cobb in limbo with Saito, he is wearing a ring. Step back to the beginning, he is trying to convince Saito to let him into his mind to help protect it, this takes place in a dream two layers down. He is wearing a wedding ring. Things go south and we wake up in the apartment, where we think an angry mob is really coming down the street. They threaten Saito's life with him thinking it is reality, only for him to discover otherwise. In this entire scene Cobb is wearing a wedding ring. Wake up on the train, NO WEDDING RING. In the hotel suite on the phone with his kids, NO WEDDING RING. On the roof talking to Saito, NO WEDDING RING. France, the architecture university, NO WEDDING RING. The coffee shop in Ariadne's first shared dream, Cobb is wearing his wedding ring, she freaks out. They wake up in the workshop, NO WEDDING RING. They go back under and Ariadne explores the physics of the dreamworld, again Cobb is wearing a wedding ring.

Cobb goes to see Eames, the entire time not wearing a ring. He meets the new chemist, still no ring. The chemist gives him a quick taste of his latest potion, in that scene we get a quick glimpse of his hand with a WEDDING RING. Wakes up, no ring. See the pattern?

So finally, the inception. We are on the plane, we clearly see is not wearing a ring. Level 1, WEDDING RING, Level 2, WEDDING RING, Level 3 WEDDING RING, Limbo he is wearing his WEDDING RING.

After he meets Saito as an old man, the conversation continues past what we saw in the beginning, yet even here he is wearing a WEDDING RING still. Then, when Saito reaches for the gun, we are on an airplane. He is not wearing a wedding ring here.

HERE IS THE KEY. As he is walking through the terminal, no ring, as he is greeted by father in law, no ring, when he gets home and spins his totem, no ring.

In his dreams he is married to Mul still, as she can still exist there. In reality, he knows she is dead and does not wear a wedding ring as he is no longer married. A simple yet easily unnoticed way to test which parts are reality.

Not done there, I investigated another thing, Cobb's totem:

I have seen many posts of people saying his totem falls when he is in others' dreams. This is simply not true. People say it wobbles and falls over in the beginning. I watched and listened closely, Saito spins the top and we hear it spinning as the scene cuts to the young Saito. Then, in the end when we see him old again, he looks down and it is still spinning, he knows he is not in reality and goes for the gun.

When Cobb uses inception on Mul, it continues and never stops. In the hotel after the failed Saito mission, it falls. A funny thing to note is that every scene in which the top spins endlessly he is wearing a WEDDING RING. In the scenes in which it topples, he is not.

Now, the awakening scene. Looks an awful lot like a dream right? Not really. He wakes up on the plane surprised, but everyone is smiling. They woke up from the sedatives, but Cobb and Saito were down in limbo. When they got back, everyone is happy to see he made it, Saito looks just as stunned only backing up the fact that he really snapped back to reality. They are all getting bags, going through customs, etc. Everyone looks at each other with a grin because they know inception worked and that Cobb is finally home. Not very dream-like except that it seems like a dream come true. Had the scene after he and Saito with the gun been him in his home, him on his way to his home, etc, I would think it is a dream. No, he awakens in EXACTLY the place he went to sleep to start inception. You never really know how you get to where you are in a dream do you? Then how does he know he is on a plane and just successfully completed inception on Robert Fischer, the man in front of him?

Finally, the home scene. Looks like a dream? In this case, yes it does. we see the children exactly where they were, doing the same thing, wearing the same clothes. They appear the same age. On my second viewing this was red flag that it was a dream. But on my third viewing I noticed slight differences, such as the kids looking slightly older. The cast list has two sets of kids listed, ones slightly older than the others. They are not voice casts but actual actors in the film. I especially noticed a difference as the camera pans towards the totem, I chose to focus on the back door with the kids. The girl is seen throwing herself on her father, in this scene she looks clearly older than the memory he has of her.

And of course, the totem itself. I watched each spin my third time through. It spun flawlessly for a while, began to wobble slightly, then started a hard wobble then fall. In the final scene it appears to be spinning smoothly for a long time, he probably gave it a lot of power. It starts to slightly wobble, and the screen goes black after it begins a HARD WOBBLE as if it is about to topple, not correct itself.

Conclusion: The movie isn't a dream, Cobb isn't caught in some "limbo that looks a lot like reality." Cobb spends the entire movie trying to get to his kids in reality, why would he settle for shades in a limbo? What proof is there that he is dreaming the whole time? If he is dreaming at the end, where is he dreaming? Limbo? So he goes from talking to Saito to just waking up on a plane, all as a part of a dream in limbo? Really? Think about it.

Nolan would never take the "eeet was aaaaalll a dreeeeaaaammmmm" cliche way out. But the fact that he cut the film before the top falls over does have a meaning. He is planting a seed of doubt in your mind. He uses inception on the audience to have them question the ending. The concept of the movie thus becomes reality to the viewer, a heavy thing to think about and something that hasn't been done before.

But all the evidence points to reality.

Spoiler

I've seen this movie 8 times now (not to figure things out, only because I enjoy it that much) and never thought to look at the wedding ring. Nice catch.

I always wanted to believe it was reality only because a dream ending would be ridiculously stupid.

[trobinson97]

Re: Christopher Nolan + DiCaprio = Inception

I caught this the other day and thought it was a pretty good movie.

[VanCitySportsGuy]

Re: Christopher Nolan + DiCaprio = Inception

Nolan hits another HR. Outside of Ellen Page (never been a big fan of hers), everything else about this movie was good.

A-

[Kanobi]

Re: Christopher Nolan + DiCaprio = Inception

Thinkin about seein this in IMAX...best option? or should I save some $$$ and see it standard?

[Blzer]

Re: Christopher Nolan + DiCaprio = Inception

Thinkin about seein this in IMAX...best option? or should I save some $$$ and see it standard?

See it standard. If a movie isn't shot in IMAX, it isn't worth the extra 60% cost to watch it in an IMAX theater.

[Jonesy]

Re: Christopher Nolan + DiCaprio = Inception

Here's a cool theory I read (not my own idea):

Spoiler

NOT a dream: The WEDDING RING gives it away.

I have now seen this movie three times. The first time I saw it I thought it was not a dream and he was home. When I saw discussions to the contrary, I saw it again looking for any clues to tell whether he is dreaming the whole time, and questioned the ending thoroughly. It was not until I saw a post about someone saying he is only wearing a wedding ring when he dreams. Multiple people shot it down saying that they saw him wearing it in reality or that he was not wearing it in this dream or that one. My third viewing had me looking for the ring in almost every shot, seeing if his totem ever falls in a dream (Something someone said happened), looking at his children's faces to see if they are the same, etc.

My analysis as follows:

The Wedding Ring:

We start the movie with Cobb in limbo with Saito, he is wearing a ring. Step back to the beginning, he is trying to convince Saito to let him into his mind to help protect it, this takes place in a dream two layers down. He is wearing a wedding ring. Things go south and we wake up in the apartment, where we think an angry mob is really coming down the street. They threaten Saito's life with him thinking it is reality, only for him to discover otherwise. In this entire scene Cobb is wearing a wedding ring. Wake up on the train, NO WEDDING RING. In the hotel suite on the phone with his kids, NO WEDDING RING. On the roof talking to Saito, NO WEDDING RING. France, the architecture university, NO WEDDING RING. The coffee shop in Ariadne's first shared dream, Cobb is wearing his wedding ring, she freaks out. They wake up in the workshop, NO WEDDING RING. They go back under and Ariadne explores the physics of the dreamworld, again Cobb is wearing a wedding ring.

Cobb goes to see Eames, the entire time not wearing a ring. He meets the new chemist, still no ring. The chemist gives him a quick taste of his latest potion, in that scene we get a quick glimpse of his hand with a WEDDING RING. Wakes up, no ring. See the pattern?

So finally, the inception. We are on the plane, we clearly see is not wearing a ring. Level 1, WEDDING RING, Level 2, WEDDING RING, Level 3 WEDDING RING, Limbo he is wearing his WEDDING RING.

After he meets Saito as an old man, the conversation continues past what we saw in the beginning, yet even here he is wearing a WEDDING RING still. Then, when Saito reaches for the gun, we are on an airplane. He is not wearing a wedding ring here.

HERE IS THE KEY. As he is walking through the terminal, no ring, as he is greeted by father in law, no ring, when he gets home and spins his totem, no ring.

In his dreams he is married to Mul still, as she can still exist there. In reality, he knows she is dead and does not wear a wedding ring as he is no longer married. A simple yet easily unnoticed way to test which parts are reality.

Not done there, I investigated another thing, Cobb's totem:

I have seen many posts of people saying his totem falls when he is in others' dreams. This is simply not true. People say it wobbles and falls over in the beginning. I watched and listened closely, Saito spins the top and we hear it spinning as the scene cuts to the young Saito. Then, in the end when we see him old again, he looks down and it is still spinning, he knows he is not in reality and goes for the gun.

When Cobb uses inception on Mul, it continues and never stops. In the hotel after the failed Saito mission, it falls. A funny thing to note is that every scene in which the top spins endlessly he is wearing a WEDDING RING. In the scenes in which it topples, he is not.

Now, the awakening scene. Looks an awful lot like a dream right? Not really. He wakes up on the plane surprised, but everyone is smiling. They woke up from the sedatives, but Cobb and Saito were down in limbo. When they got back, everyone is happy to see he made it, Saito looks just as stunned only backing up the fact that he really snapped back to reality. They are all getting bags, going through customs, etc. Everyone looks at each other with a grin because they know inception worked and that Cobb is finally home. Not very dream-like except that it seems like a dream come true. Had the scene after he and Saito with the gun been him in his home, him on his way to his home, etc, I would think it is a dream. No, he awakens in EXACTLY the place he went to sleep to start inception. You never really know how you get to where you are in a dream do you? Then how does he know he is on a plane and just successfully completed inception on Robert Fischer, the man in front of him?

Finally, the home scene. Looks like a dream? In this case, yes it does. we see the children exactly where they were, doing the same thing, wearing the same clothes. They appear the same age. On my second viewing this was red flag that it was a dream. But on my third viewing I noticed slight differences, such as the kids looking slightly older. The cast list has two sets of kids listed, ones slightly older than the others. They are not voice casts but actual actors in the film. I especially noticed a difference as the camera pans towards the totem, I chose to focus on the back door with the kids. The girl is seen throwing herself on her father, in this scene she looks clearly older than the memory he has of her.

And of course, the totem itself. I watched each spin my third time through. It spun flawlessly for a while, began to wobble slightly, then started a hard wobble then fall. In the final scene it appears to be spinning smoothly for a long time, he probably gave it a lot of power. It starts to slightly wobble, and the screen goes black after it begins a HARD WOBBLE as if it is about to topple, not correct itself.

Conclusion: The movie isn't a dream, Cobb isn't caught in some "limbo that looks a lot like reality." Cobb spends the entire movie trying to get to his kids in reality, why would he settle for shades in a limbo? What proof is there that he is dreaming the whole time? If he is dreaming at the end, where is he dreaming? Limbo? So he goes from talking to Saito to just waking up on a plane, all as a part of a dream in limbo? Really? Think about it.

Nolan would never take the "eeet was aaaaalll a dreeeeaaaammmmm" cliche way out. But the fact that he cut the film before the top falls over does have a meaning. He is planting a seed of doubt in your mind. He uses inception on the audience to have them question the ending. The concept of the movie thus becomes reality to the viewer, a heavy thing to think about and something that hasn't been done before.

But all the evidence points to reality.

Great read. Thanks for posting that.

[sportsdude]

Re: Christopher Nolan + DiCaprio = Inception

spoilers about "the ring theory" and please note these are not mine, I found these elsewhere:

Spoiler

when he is explaining to ellen page the whole story about moll.. about he performed inception on her and how it went wrong.. the scene where they are back in "alleged" reality.. in the kitchen.. they are arguing.. and leo is grabbing the kids to get them out of there so the dont have to listen to them argue.. he says "if this is a dream, how come i cant control this?" thats suppose to be reality - he has his ring on

so you think.. well he has his ring on cuz its a memory of when they were actually alive and together.. so of course he would have his ring on

the very next scene.. is when he walks into the hotel room where she is waiting for him on the opposite ledge... moll tells him to get out on the ledge or she jumps...so he does..he goes to put his left hand down on the ledge.. guess what?? no ring?? so if thats suppose to be a memory of reality.. why wouldnt he have his ring on during their anniversary??? the ring theory isnt valid

Also, I can't find the link right now, but I remember reading an article that said the reason the movie had two sets of actors for the children was NOT for the ending, it was for a completely different, non-plot driven reason. When I find the link, I'll post it.

[Blzer]

Re: Christopher Nolan + DiCaprio = Inception

Spoiler

Also, I can't find the link right now, but I remember reading an article that said the reason the movie had two sets of actors for the children was NOT for the ending, it was for a completely different, non-plot driven reason. When I find the link, I'll post it.

Spoiler

Maybe it was for the phone conversation between Cobb and his kids when he was still in Hong Kong or wherever he was.

Though as far as I recall, people who are saying the kids are in the exact same position and wearing the exact same clothes, same age, etc. are incorrect. They look similar, but it's not perfect.

I don't know how to best expound on the theory of "sense of familiarity" for the audience's sake, but that was what Nolan wanted to convey. I don't believe it was strictly meant to confuse people, but rather to familiarize people. This is kind of how Cobb had always seen his children engraved in his subconscious, and it wouldn't really feel quite as impacting if they were just sitting at the table eating some Frosted Flakes and watching Spongebob. We had to feel what he felt, and so the scene had to feel similar in our eyes to get that emotional impact.

But then again, you could also make a conjoining argument that Nolan wanted to imply trickery for us, more of the "is it a dream or reality" kind of thing. Like when Cobb was being chased in Mombasa and he has to get through the wall which seems to be closing in on him, even though its stage is set in reality. Nolan is just good at this kind of thing I guess.