Susan, I still owe you another review, but just saw this one last night, and couldn't contain my enthusiasm. ;-)
Inception, a sort of review
Once I told a snobby friend of mine that my favorite movies are preferably out of this existential reality that induce ethereal mind-altering experiences, while his is, he informed me in exact this word: "snobbish." I'd imagine he'd forgo the enjoyment of this brilliantly made movie after reading New York Times movie reviewer A.O.Scott's tract that is heavily wrapped around Freudian duct-tape in dream interpreting the film. (After Janet Maslin, Scott is a step down for my friend in terms of snobbity though.)
Others gave generally enthusiastic reviews including my favorite Roger Ebert, with one guy shooting off his mouth declaring whoever claims to have understood the twisting plot in just one go should be condemned to live in the limbo for all eternity. (I may have paraphrased him a bit, but you will understand my reference after seeing the movie. ) It does remind me of the Matrix 1 in its labyrinth of intersecting plot lines and nested layers of alternate realities. But the story itself can be easily understood: penetrating another person's innermost consciousness and planting seeds of ideas in this fertile virgin soil. I will not bother you with the details of this machination, for you can find a more general introduction in Ebert's review here: http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20100714/REVIEWS/100719997 .
What fascinates me is the technical aspect of building this alternate reality. For one thing, to enter one person's dream world with another person in tandem, they were shown being strapped on the same wizardry contraption. But to enter a second layer of dream, they obviously have to bring this machine into the first dream. Here we enter a philosophical paradox of blending reality and fantasy, physical and consciousness, (unless consciousness is physical.)
To awaken someone from this dream adventure one quick fix is to kill him in the dream. But within nested dreams you have to come out of it simultaneously. They devised an ingenious solution to synchronize the sensation of freefall, and if that doesn't work the hitting of ground will surely bring you out of the slumber. Who hasn't experienced that nightmare scenario many times?
Remember living one day in where all the Chinese gods live will encompass one hundred years of our world the mere mortals reside? Turns out dreamland is more transient: you can live an eternity in a deeply nested dream for just a snap of finger. On the surface this gives you a chance to live multiple fulfilling lives, in the wonderful (or torturous) worlds of your own construction, for a fraction of a second in real live. Yet there is a catch, you can only get there if they can't shake you awake (usually under drug influence), hence in limbo. Once in limbo I guess your soul is lost in there, until somebody find you and bring you back.
This movie is a breezing adventure and yet thought provoking in our existential quest for alternate reality. I can easily call it the best movie I've seen this year, by a mile and a stretch. There are flaws to be sure. Chief among them is the notion that you can create order amongst chaos in a dream, a logic conclusion from one scenario to another. That counters our own daily experience as well as the second law of thermal dynamics. But no matter. The intricacy of the plot lines carefully constructed by the filmmaker for a decade will be dissected by the fans for the years to come and a cottage industry a la Matrix fans will be sprung up in no time. And judging by the hanging clue at the end of the movie a sequel is probably already in the working, if not sooner.
- Re: Inception, a sort of reviewposted on 07/30/2010
个人意见哈,这片子可真烂。
尤其不能置信迪卡普里奥在一年的时间里演了两个几乎没什么分别的角色,Shutter Island里的和这里的。他真是不会演戏,永远只有一个表情。我想他是属于那一类演员,自觉自己特别有思想, 别人都跟不上他。
他还真是少年时的片子最好。Marvin's Room和Basketball Diaries里的演出我印象都挺深的。自从他开始成人,开始深沉,简直就完了。他现在在我心里简直连小毕都不如(小毕至少知道自己不是什么),连乔治克鲁尼都不如(老乔至少演过O Brother Where Art Thou那样的好片子)。
- posted on 07/30/2010
Hi Tar, sorry for the delayed response. I was travelling. (I went to Banff, the area where the mountain scene in Inception was shot.) I haven’t got a chance to see the movie yet, but I share your enthusiasm! It looks like my type of movie! And I am a Matrix 1 fan. (the movie that snobbish Touche sneers at ;-))
I will save Ebert's review for later and I tiptoed around your review, fearing you may reveal the plot too much, but I was relieved that you followed the ethical code of the movie reviewers! Now about the “freefall” solution --- it probably doesn’t work on me because, well, I typically fly in my dream. I can bring myself up before hitting the ground. I usually elevate myself only a few inches --- a few feet if nobody is looking. Higher than that, I have problem controlling where I am going. I can smash into some power lines and get electrified. (so power lines can be a better way to bring me back)
Injecting false memory is doable when you put someone in trance, and I think alternative reality as a form of entertainment can be achieved within our generation (something like the dream booths in “minority report”). I am doing it anyway in my day-dreams. Someone argues that the reality has intrinsic values and I used to believe the same, but I am not sure anymore since I realize that we don’t really get to see the reality --- only our interpretations of it.
Hopefully I will go see the movie this weekend. Later.
- Re: Inception, a sort of reviewposted on 07/30/2010
小麦, who is 小毕?
小麦 wrote:
他还真是少年时的片子最好。Marvin's Room和Basketball Diaries里的演出我印象都挺深的。自从他开始成人,开始深沉,简直就完了。他现在在我心里简直连小毕都不如(小毕至少知道自己不是什么),连乔治克鲁尼都不如(老乔至少演过O Brother Where Art Thou那样的好片子)。
- Re: Inception, a sort of reviewposted on 07/30/2010
Susan wrote:
小麦, who is 小毕?
小苏,小毕是Brangelina里B哥A姐中的B哥。 - posted on 08/01/2010
People have questioned his selection of roles lately. They are certainly more demanding than his earlier films required. You can argue if he's up to it or not. To me though, these kinds of movies rarely need a Shakespearean acting to make it good. A clever premise that stimulates imagination is the reason that draws me to the genre. Like Matrix, people don't seem to care too much about acting. ;-)
BTW, 小麦=小蜜蜂?
小麦 wrote:
个人意见哈,这片子可真烂。
尤其不能置信迪卡普里奥在一年的时间里演了两个几乎没什么分别的角色,Shutter Island里的和这里的。他真是不会演戏,永远只有一个表情。我想他是属于那一类演员,自觉自己特别有思想, 别人都跟不上他。
他还真是少年时的片子最好。Marvin's Room和Basketball Diaries里的演出我印象都挺深的。自从他开始成人,开始深沉,简直就完了。他现在在我心里简直连小毕都不如(小毕至少知道自己不是什么),连乔治克鲁尼都不如(老乔至少演过O Brother Where Art Thou那样的好片子)。
- posted on 08/01/2010
Banff! A coworker went there last year and she can't stop raving about it. She did show me some great pictures and I'd like to go there some day too.
So in your dream you can actually float in the air huh? Lucky you. In my dreams I can fall in about two seconds and than wake up sweat drenched.
I will talk to you about this film after you see it. ;-)
Susan wrote:
Hi Tar, sorry for the delayed response. I was travelling. (I went to Banff, the area where the mountain scene in Inception was shot.) I haven’t got a chance to see the movie yet, but I share your enthusiasm! It looks like my type of movie! And I am a Matrix 1 fan. (the movie that snobbish Touche sneers at ;-))
I will save Ebert's review for later and I tiptoed around your review, fearing you may reveal the plot too much, but I was relieved that you followed the ethical code of the movie reviewers! Now about the “freefall” solution --- it probably doesn’t work on me because, well, I typically fly in my dream. I can bring myself up before hitting the ground. I usually elevate myself only a few inches --- a few feet if nobody is looking. Higher than that, I have problem controlling where I am going. I can smash into some power lines and get electrified. (so power lines can be a better way to bring me back)
Injecting false memory is doable when you put someone in trance, and I think alternative reality as a form of entertainment can be achieved within our generation (something like the dream booths in “minority report”). I am doing it anyway in my day-dreams. Someone argues that the reality has intrinsic values and I used to believe the same, but I am not sure anymore since I realize that we don’t really get to see the reality --- only our interpretations of it.
Hopefully I will go see the movie this weekend. Later.
- Re: Inception, a sort of reviewposted on 08/02/2010
阿塔,你说是就是哈。:) - posted on 08/02/2010
- posted on 08/07/2010
*** Spoiler Alert! ***
I’ve finally watched the movie and really like it. It was not as confusing as I expected. Each dream level has its distinctive setting and the movie has a well defined narrative structure. However the devil is in the details. I have since been trying to figuring out how particular dream rules work. Some rules make more sense than others.
Come to think of it, the inception of the minds has been done by all cultures, religions and governments. The U.S. is no exception. My kid knows her Pledge of Allegiance since age 3. I do believe the ideas that are planted into the young mind can grow and define a person. These are very simple ideas: Am I capable? Am I lovable? What is my position in the society? What does my relationship with the opposite sex look like? These ideas form a basic self-identity --- a setting of one’s dream. Life's circumstances may change later on but people are often confined in this setting that their parents or their society have designed for them, unable to break away from it.
I agree this movie is more plot-driven than character-driven, so the actors’ job is to move the plot along without causing distractions. That being said, I think Joseph Gordon-Levitt did a fantastic job portraying the uptight yet charming Arthur, and his dynamic with Eames is simply adoring.
My major gripe is that, for a heist movie, there is not much of a heist. The plot can be even cleverer, without too many explosions. I’d really like to see Ariadne’s mazes being used in the dream. I think that was the original idea but somehow got dropped?
- posted on 08/09/2010
I am glad you liked the movie. And I agree that the dream rules are sometimes less than consistent. I read an article on Salon.com by an expert who claimed that impregnating an idea in the mind is quite achievable. And lucid dreams, including directing the story line in a dream have certainly happened to me before. If you wake up in a dream and keep thinking and rehearsing the scenes in the dream, and if you are lucky to fall asleep quickly, the dream sequence can continue.
As for the loot the heist brings to the protagonists, some would argue that break up a big multinational your competitor is a great financial payout, not to mention Cobb gets to reunite with his family again. But I share your sentiment, the movie leaves an aftertaste that is not fully satisfying. You can certainly poke holes in its logic on many levels, but hardly any kind of summer blockbuster can survive careful scrutiny. I am a big fan of Matrix I as well. And yet the sequels are preposterously laughable. That's why I am not looking forward to seeing the sequels for this one, which I am sure they are working on it.
I think Joseph Gordon-Levitt did a fantastic job portraying the uptight yet charming Arthur, and his dynamic with Eames is simply adoring.
Do you remember him as a little kid in the TV series Third Rock from the Sun? ;-)
Susan wrote:
*** Spoiler Alert! ***
I’ve finally watched the movie and really like it. It was not as confusing as I expected. Each dream level has its distinctive setting and the movie has a well defined narrative structure. However the devil is in the details. I have since been trying to figuring out how particular dream rules work. Some rules make more sense than others.
Come to think of it, the inception of the minds has been done by all cultures, religions and governments. The U.S. is no exception. My kid knows her Pledge of Allegiance since age 3. I do believe the ideas that are planted into the young mind can grow and define a person. These are very simple ideas: Am I capable? Am I lovable? What is my position in the society? What does my relationship with the opposite sex look like? These ideas form a basic self-identity --- a setting of one’s dream. Life's circumstances may change later on but people are often confined in this setting that their parents or their society have designed for them, unable to break away from it.
I agree this movie is more plot-driven than character-driven, so the actors’ job is to move the plot along without causing distractions. That being said, I think Joseph Gordon-Levitt did a fantastic job portraying the uptight yet charming Arthur, and his dynamic with Eames is simply adoring.
My major gripe is that, for a heist movie, there is not much of a heist. The plot can be even cleverer, without too many explosions. I’d really like to see Ariadne’s mazes being used in the dream. I think that was the original idea but somehow got dropped?
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