Seedust

Saw Inception yesterday and I’m rather speechless, obsessed and disturbed at the same time. I have too many post-movie questions and thoughts rambling in my head to even comment. This movie, Christopher Nolen, is a genius. I have to wonder his complex state of mind in creating Inception, which makes his first psychological thriller, “Momento”, seem diluted. Dare to enter his mind; like being caged in a ten folds of M.C. Escher.

There is a flood of discussions on the interpretation of the movie’s ending. After skimming through about 70 comments, I picked three from this site and Janus explained one of the best:

“Cobb was in a dream and stuck. He never returned. His kids were his totem and by not seeing his face, he could keep himself in the belief that he was not yet out. So he planted an an inception in his own subconsciousness so that he could believe that he had escaped. Once his totem was revealed to his subconscious state he was doomed and lost the ability to go back to reality. This explains why the kids had finally turned around and had the same clothes on. Remember, he had been gone for a long time so how coincidental would it be that they didnt age and had on the same clothes?

His subconscious knew that he was trying to plant an unreal reality in his own mind and therefore was out to get him but could never capture him. It was because he knew the maze that he created. If he realized that he created the world that he was in, he would again be trapped in an infinite loop. Was it coincidental that a suspected murder was able to get into France without a hitch? He was able to travel everywhere except home in his dream because this was his escape. However after he planted the inception in his mind, he tricked himself into believing that he was home when he wasn’t.”

From Martin:

“I think Cobb loved or was stuck being in limbo and his wife got out by killing herself from a free fall bringing her back to reality. The rest of the movie was a way for Cobb to construct/implant an idea for himself so he can truely believe that his limbo state of mind was actualy reality.

So really the ending wasn’t about was he still dreaming or awake but that he finally believed that he was in reality. The biggest issue when you know you are dreaming is that you know things are not real. That is the most painful part of his dreaming, that he knows that his kids are not real. So the whole movie was about finding a way for him to make himself believe that he was in reality instead of being in limbo. Basically, his dreams are no longer dreams, his dreams are now thought to him as being reality.

Once he planted the idea he was finally able to see the face of his children which of course are the same age and wearing the same clothes. It seemed real, he was happy, he was at peace. That was what the whole movie was about. Being stuck in limbo but making yourself believe through your subconcious that you are in reality was the goal by Cobb.”

Here is the most creative and interesting theory yet from a guy named Mike:

The truth is that at the end Leo is still asleep, but just about to wake up. He has been asleep on the beach. When the totem stop’s he’ll be kicked into reality and back with his family.

The only “real” moments in the film are in the first few seconds of footage. Leo is at the beach with his wife and kids, who are building a sand castle. Leo has fallen asleep too close to shoreline, and is briefly awakened by a wave crashing upon him. In his waking vision, he sees his children from behind, but is too sleepy to awake. Click here for more.

Last night, I fell asleep for about 3 minutes and woke up thinking 6 hours had passed and that my falling asleep was a dream from the night before. And that’s creepy, thanks to the movie…

Btw, don’t expect a sequel in any of Nolen’s work. He’s a one time deal and doesn’t repeat nor recycle. Genius.