Is Inception The Greatest Film Of All Time?
Possibly. For me
Magnolia still takes the cake, even though after viewing Inception twice
I have the persistent feeling that maybe I'm wrong. It's been a good
three months since I saw Inception for the second time and whilst I'm
quietly convinced that Christopher Nolan is the best director working
today, I have a niggling feeling that the majority of people who rushed
to go and see Inception again and again aren't getting the entire
picture.
In
the press release articles that floated around weeks or months prior to
the unveiling of Inception, there were cast interviews galore and
whispers as to exactly what the hell the film was about. It's
increasingly becoming impossible to go into a film without knowing what
is going to occur in it as the pre-release material tends to spell out
everything that occurs - first, second and third acts. And even if the
previews are able to hide some of the most surprising parts of films,
the odds that the film is just a rehash of whatever genre it is part of
are quite high. Whether it be a horror film or a comedy or an action,
they all follow the same paint by numbers approach and just use a
different style of paint. It's refreshing to get a film like Inception
come out and be floored by what it does.
Except when you get
little hints as to exactly what the film is about. Tom Hardy called it
"a heist dream film". Christopher Nolan called it "his Bond film". But
Ellen Page said it best when saying what reference material Nolan gave
the cast prior to embarking on this unique enterprise; "it's like being
in a Haruki Murakami book."
It's
no secret that I'm a huge Murakami fan. I've reached a point in my
reading life where I've read the majority of Murakami books (bar a few
of his hard to get books and the most recent releases), and fortunately
enough a few months before Inception came out I read one of Murakami's
best efforts - Hard Boiled Wonderland And The End Of The World. Whilst
my favourite book of his - and possibly that I've ever read - is Kafka
On The Shore, Hard Boiled Wonderland is an immensely mesmerising book.
Is
it a perfect book? Far from it. The first hundred pages or so are
explanation and exposition and rules and explaining the explanation. Add
that to the fact that there's a lot of talk of Calcutec's and unicorn
skulls and a whole lot of confusion. Also the fact that the book swaps
between a coherent universe that seems not dissimilar from our own and
an old style village where not a lot happens. The fact that Murakami
writes in such a matter of fact and easy fashion makes the book a
fascinating read, and definitely helps get through the first hundred
pages. If all this explanation and rules sounds familiar, its because
the first hour of Inception is essentially explanation and rules.
All
well and good, but why does this make for exciting reading/viewing? Is
it because the establishment of a universe where once the rules and
explanations are set up the characters are let run amok and create
whatever story path they so desire? As far as I'm concerned, yes. In the
case of Inception, you see a shorter version of the heist that creates
the second half of the film. Then after this shorter version you are
given an explanation of the rules and what can occur within the dreams
or the dreamers. Then you are given the heist with the understood rules.
The same goes with Hard Boiled Wonderland.
So
why is it beneficial to read Hard Boiled Wonderland before watching
Inception? Because of the decisions that the characters make and where
their decisions lead them in the grand scheme of the story. In Hard
Boiled Wonderland, the main character becomes aware that the second
world in the story is in fact his dream consciousness. Then he is
presented with the decision as to whether the person he may love but
could very easily fall out of love with in the real world is the person
he wants to live his life with and essentially die with, or whether he
decides to remain in the dream state and know that the person he loves
in his dream state will always love him and will always be with him -
and he will essentially be able to continue living forever.
Inception
poses the same idea in one of its rules - the deeper you go into the
dream state of the dreamers, the longer the amount of time you stay in
the dream state. One of the greatest complaints about Inception was that
it lacked heart - and one of the other complaints was infuriatingly
enough the lack of sexual elements given that dreams are apparently one
of the main conduits for sexual imagination. The fact that people
complained that Inception lacked heart or an emotional core were missing
one of the main elements of Inception. The relationship that Cobb has
with his wife, the beautiful and intense Marion Cotillard as Mol, is so
overpowering with its longing for eternal life and creating that perfect
world together. If you have found the one person you love, wouldn't you
want to continue that life with them forever?
Upon
first seeing Inception, once the spinning top never topples but waivers
a little bit then the film cuts to black, there was the unmistakable
groan and sigh from the audience believing they've been had. For me the
end of Inception is quite simply inside Cobb's dream state. Even though
Michael Caine has gone on record as saying that the finale is without a
doubt in reality, I would hesitate to believe this. If I was in Cobb's
situation there would be no doubt as the fact that he was still
dreaming. As I've mentioned before, wouldn't you want to be in the place
that you and your loved one has created for yourself forever?
You can still
get a great experience with Inception, and it is still possibly one of
the greatest films of all time, but know that if you want to enjoy it a
little bit more - lets say, enhanced viewing - then read Murakami's Hard
Boiled Wonderland and further your enjoyment of Inception.
Sidenote: Isn't
it fantastic that a film like Inception does gangbusters at the box
office and then not so long after the film comes out another (good, but
not great) director comes out saying that he's had to change his script
because it would look a little too much like an Inception rip-off?
Usually Hollywood would jump on the dream within a dream plot train and
ride it like a super-hero origin story marathon.
Until my third,
fourth and fifth viewings of Inception, it takes the cake as the second
best film of all time with Vertigo, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and A
History Of Violence not too far below it.
Christopher Nolan for Best Director?
1 comment:
Interesting read Andy, I really should read some of these books. I think you need to spend less time playing video games and dedicate more time to your blog especially your film thoughts. I did love inception but I wouldn't call it one of the greatest films of all time! It was a beautiful adventure with excellent acting, writing and visual effects. I look forward to seeing it a second time. I do have to agree with you regarding Christopher Nolan's genius! I KNOW AT XMAS BREAK WE MUST DO A NOLAN MARATHON! and write about it. IT WOULD BE TO DIE FOR.
Post a Comment