This is Jacob from the Wisecrack channel and welcome to Film Legends
where we break down all the smart stuff in the most renowned films of our age
We'll be analyzing and awarding points for every single thing a movie does right.
Films will get scored in the categories of style, depth, context, and technique,
all to determine which movies really are Film Legends.
Today's Challenger - Christopher Nolan's Inception,
which will be scored against these rules here.
Let's get to it!
According to psychoanalyst Carl Jung, water is the commonest symbol of the unconscious,
so this opening image is completely on point.
We'll actually see a whole boatload of water shots throughout Inception,
further highlighting this focus on the unconscious.
The opening sequence nicely plays on the flashing to the end of the film trope.
Like the Usual Suspects and American Beauty,
Inception recontextualizes this opening ending later on.
What seems to be Cobb getting captured by an old man and his goons
is far more complicated than appearances suggest:
Cobb: "I've come back for you"
Major props for not flashing to one of those "x months earlier" cards.
Inception trust the audience enough to figure it out for themselves
Cobb: "Resilient. Highly contagious.
Once an idea has taken hold in the brain. It's almost impossible to eradicate."
Cobb here references Memetics which applies Darwinian evolution to thoughts and beliefs,
for Richard Dawkins a meme, aka an idea or belief, replicates like a gene but within culture itself.
Like Cobb, Dawkins even goes so far as to call ideas viruses.
In his essay "Viruses of the mind",
Dawkins traces how the idea of Religion has spread, virus like, throughout the world
Inception wordlessly establishes how reality physically impacts dreams and how slowly time moves between the two.
Who even needs exposition?
Mal: "If I jumped, would I survive?"
Mal's first line nicely foreshadows her later... I guess, earlier... demise
Mal is a french prefix for "bad",
fitting then that French actress Marion Cotillard plays the role of Cobb's malevolent wife.
Character names play an important role in Inception.
Cobb is actually a callback to Christopher Nolan's first feature Following
which also, well, followed a thief named Cobb
And Ellen Page's Ariadne is named after the daughter of Minos who in Greek mythology guides theseus out of the maze
Wow
oh
Sorry, just got a little carried away, but come on this hans zimmer score is awesome
Heck is pretty much used into every single movie nowadays
oh
Wait, they're all still dreaming Nolan intentionally confuses dreams in reality right from the start putting the audience immediately on their
toes
Do you want to take a leap of faith ?
Or become an old man
filled with regret
Another ironic bit of foreshadowing as from the opening we've already seen sato become an old man filled with regret
Oh, wait a second hype man, since we already know sato becomes an old man
Is it really foreshadowing? wouldn't it Just be like a flashback, or is it like foreshadowing flashback is that even possible? damn you Nolan!
Do you want to take a leap of faith? throughout inception characters implore Cobb to take a leap of Faith?
Nolan constantly places doubt on Tangible reality
That cup of coffee, the table it sits on, the people walking across the street, all of it could just be a dream
But simply you can't rely on just your senses and reason instead you need to
this doubt reflects Rene decarts
Dream argument where the Philosopher asks if our senses can't distinguish dream from reality then can they ever truly be trusted?
He taught me to navigate people's minds. ah the first bit of clunky Exposition
instead of taking the time to establish the relationship between Cobb and Stephen, the film just has Cobb blurted out
And this job this last job. That's how I get there. Oh the old last job trope
It seems like every film about a thief has this one. It's an easy way to establish the film stakes. It's almost too
Easy I expect something a little more original from you, nolan, that's gonna cost you
you have Two minutes to design a maze that takes one minute to solve.
according to psychologists Marie-Louise von Franz
Mazes are a symbol of the unconscious
The complicated structure of mazes Mimic our own winding often contradictory internal thoughts so it's not a surprise Noland constantly draws out
the parallels between the two
In Greek Mythology the journey through a maze has been
Associated with spiritual enlightenment the hero lost in the maze must confront his darker self represented by the minotaur
Similarly in inception Cobb Lost within his own dreams must confront his own minotaur Mal
Once the Hero has defeated the minotaur and navigated out of the maze he reaches an elevated plain of existence
Just as cobb reunites his children after defeating Maul and navigating out of his own dreams or does he?
Now in a dream our mind continuously does this we
Create and perceive our world
Simultaneously and our mind does this so well that we don't even know it's happening
Cobb here describes Edmund Husserl Philosophy phenomenology, which focuses on how we construct our own reality through consciousness both awake
and in dreams
Arthur will later visualize this concept as he alters the makeup of the penrose staircase just by becoming conscious of its infinite loop
Heyö
Inceptions gained so many philosophical points. It's unlocked the thinking man token
inception mirrors the filmmaking process
Cobb is the director, Saito the Producer, Ariadne the writer, eames the actor, and arthur is well just joseph Gordon-Levitt
you never really remember the beginning
Of a dream do you you always wind up right in the middle of what's going on?
Just look at how each dream sequence opens always in medias Res
Exactly as Moody scenes work. Oh
My goodness no one's never gonna be able to top this awesome image
Holy moly, I'm sorry
I ever doubted you Chris inception city bending imagery is so influential that less than six years later films are already copying it wholesale
Eams the forger is first seen forging poker chips a smart visual way to establish the supporting character with minimal dialogue
the dream has become their reality
who are you to say otherwise sir?
this push and pull between reality and dreams embodies the philosophy of Joan baudrillard who stated
The simulation of reality like a dream has replaced actual reality
Later Mal will repeat this line of thinking telling Cobb, "don't believe in one reality anymore" "so choose"
Look at you inception getting all Matrix-y
Trains appear throughout, inception used as a metaphor for life itself
You don't know for sure
Just as in life you hope you'll be able to achieve your dreams or in cobbs case get out of them
But these goals aren't certain. It doesn't matter
How can it not matter to you? What a train will take? Oh, I got ya Mal in the end
It doesn't matter where life takes you. It's the people you meet and travel along with you that do
And here's where inception runs into an exposition wall when it was just comics planing dreams to ariadne
The exposition worked because it set up the rules of the film but at this point
We're already neck deep in the action and yet still everything stops dead for this exposition
Heck Tom Hardy even repeats all this info again
just in case anybody wasn't paying attention the first time
special shout-out to cinematographer Wally Pfister he even makes Tom hardy staring into a mirror visually stunning and
Father-son issues a Christopher Nolan Trademark from Batman begins through interstellar
Holy plot twist Mal Committed suicide because Cobb accidentally incepted the idea in her head
This is another Nolan trademark as the hero his films are often indirectly responsible for the death of their loved ones
Leonard in Memento, Alfred in the Prestige, heck even Batman is indirectly responsible for the death of Rachel Dawes
Tom hardy kills this line play it again
mustn't be afraid to dream with a bigger darling a
A brilliant hommage to fred astaire dancing on the ceiling in Royal wedding
Followed up by another great homage this time to James Bond's on her majesty's secret service. No one sure does know his movies
Nice payoff to the Penrose staircase scene from the beginning of the film
Nolan masterfully pays off early images and lines the, two children, the spinning top,
mal's train riddle and leap of Faith all come back to play an important role by the end of the film
Nolan's Longtime Editor Lee Smith really outdoes himself effortlessly intercutting between the different dream levels without once confusing the audience
The central question of inception seems to be what's real and what's a dream at first there is a clear delineation between the two
But then everything begins to blur to the point where maybe the entire film has been a dream
yet by the end of the film it doesn't matter if cobb is stuck in a dream or not if
If the top spins or falls. What matters is that Cobb believes hes made it out
Has been reunited with his children thus the central question of inception isn't dream versus reality
But objective versus subjective truth
And what a last shot to end on you may have grown as the top kept spinning and wobbling
But hey, it kept everybody talking about inception way after the credits rolled that's a win
Alright inception. Let's see. How you did nice technique and depth not a surprise considering. This is Chris Nolan
We're talking about after all and we factor in all the multipliers and streaks
Those scores sure look like a dream to me and all those is it real or not philosophical points earned inception a special bonus
But will it be enough to put the rest of the competition to bed let's head over the leaderboard and find out inception rising rising
Settling in at number 4. Oh sorry inception, but it's a little too much exposition to take that top spot still though
That's one heck of a score
Be sure to come back next time as another competitor fights for the title of film legend. Oh wait
I wasn't supposed to say that was I
Hey theorists if you've missed any of the other episodes of film Legends click here to check out the film Legends
Playlist and be sure to check out our other episode on the Matrix here. Catch you guys next time toodles
*Music plays in background*