Saturday, July 24, 2010

Inception , The Leap of Faith

Leap of Faith 





Early in the movie, Saito had offered Cob a choice and urged him to "take a leap of faith" .

Later, when Cob meets the aged Saito in his limbo, it was time for Cob to remind Saito of the idea planted inside him. "..take a leap of faith. let us return back as young men together".

Mal too is seen prodding Cob "to take the leap of faith". "how long would you continue to be hunted down by corporates and international security agencies? Take your leap of faith and stay with me. This is reality"

Cob wouldn't!

Elsewhere in his dream, he once took a similar leap, by anchoring himself to Mal (or rather to the chair she was seated in) with not so convincing results.

Standing between two mirrors, it is indeed difficult to differentiate between the multiple reflections. Once the barrier between the images is broken (as was done by the architect, Ariadne) it becomes easier to connect and walk through the multiple levels of dreams, as if in a single continuous walkway.

By the end of the 10 hour journey (a giant leap?) Cob is ready to 'face ' his kids. The single obstacle that stood between him and his kids - guilt- has been dealt with!

Incepted Totems
Fisher tries to 'plant' the idea - that which connects him to his father- as a framed photograph by his father's death bed. And laments that his father fails to notice it.

But in another dream, in another space , his father had placed the wheel to be discovered later by his son.

All other totems lose their significance. The top continues to spin or does it wobble?
Does it matter?

Dream and Reality
Like in any other dream, you never knew when the movie itself started. Thats because there were no opening credits at all. You just find yourself in the middle of the movie. You never   (you dont have to) know where it began and where it ends.( In fact if you decide to pursue the beginning and end (like an eternally nested   group of parenthesis ) you would be left wondering if your visit to the movie hall was  a dream. Or reality.)

And as Nolan ( the dream keeper in Yousuf's basement) says : " Dream is the reality. Who are you to say otherwise?".  There is no point in differentiating between dream and reality. You never know what you are looking for.

The top continues to spin ? Or does it wobble?
Does it matter? Ever?

Whats there in for you?
The snow sequences open with a close up of Cob focusing his view finder on Fisher. Ariadne calls out Cob's name - as if trying to wake him up from his sleep. Cob wonders 'whats in store down there for Fisher'. Ariadne retorts "Whats in there for YOU?"

Each viewer has a different  response. And it varies with each viewing experience.

PS: Wondering how Nolan planted the idea of making such a movie into the  consciousness of  the big corporate , Warner Bros. And its said that Nolan took 10 years to make this 'Leap of faith'.

Read previous post on Inception dreams here 

..and your comments?

2 comments:

Unknown said...

Hello there, Nice blog and very informative, I enjoyed your post

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Jean said...

I haven't yet caught the Inception. :(
The world has quivered in the fever and recovered.
Hope, sooner or later I will too...

;)