Film Review | Thoughts after watching the movie "Inception"

The Literary Man

"Inception" is directed by Christopher Nolan and stars Leonardo DiCaprio, Marion Cotillard, etc. Movie. The plot of the film wanders between dreams and reality, and is defined as a "contemporary action science fiction film that takes place within the structure of consciousness."

The film tells the story of a dream maker played by Leonardo DiCaprio, who leads a team of agents played by Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Ellen Page to enter the dreams of others. A story about stealing secrets from other people's subconscious and reshaping their dreams.

In order to write this review, I studied many people's comments on the Internet, watched this movie many times, and watched it intermittently for a week until I completely understood it. I feel like I understand it, but when writing a movie review, I have to keep reviewing the movie to understand it more clearly. This is the first time that this has happened.

When I wrote movie reviews in the past, I was very careful not to spoil the movie, so as not to affect everyone’s enjoyment of watching the movie. But this time I found that people said that this movie is not afraid of spoilers, and I found that many people said they didn’t understand it. Two of my colleagues told me that they didn’t understand it. After watching the movie myself, I found that no matter how much you spoil the movie, it doesn't matter, because it is shot so cleverly and contains so much content that no matter how much you spoil it, the content of the movie is still interesting enough to make people interested.

So in this movie review, I plan to give you some spoilers and tell you a little bit about the story depicted in the movie.

Characters in the film

Cobb: Dream Stealer, Ariadne: Dream Builder, Arthur: Outpost, Eames: Forger, Joseph: Potion Shi, Saito: Sightseeer, Robert Fisher: The Ultimate Destination, Miles: Cobb's Father-in-law.

Origin of the story

Cobb and his wife Mel were students of Mel’s father, Miles, Cobb’s father-in-law. Miles once taught them how to control other people’s minds. , but they expanded their knowledge even more. They are pioneers in the study of the dream world, and their common pursuit of the dream world leads them to experiment on themselves. After going deeper, he entered the fourth level of dreamland. Since there were only two people doing the experiment, no one was left on the first few floors to help them kick (stimulate) them to wake up. Due to the effect of time delay, sleeping for one hour in reality means fifty years on the fourth level.

Fifty years later, they died of old age in their dreams. Because they had taken enhanced drugs and could not wake up automatically, they both entered the Lost Realm. In the Lost Realm, both of them lost their memories and forgot that they had fulfilled their promise to grow old together. A woman who is greedy for timeless togetherness thinks this is reality and does not want to return to reality, but Cobb slowly remembers his child and wants to return to reality. In order to convince his wife, he instilled in Mel the idea of ​​doubting everything and trying everything. This was his first thought implantation.

In the end, his wife committed suicide by lying on the train together with him. After committing suicide in the Lost Realm, they returned to reality, but the side effects of the mind implantation occurred, that is, the wife began to suspect that reality was actually a dream, and believed that only death could escape. . So Mel committed suicide and created the illusion that she was killed by Cobb. The ultimate goal was to stimulate Cobb to drop everything and die alone, that is, to return to her so-called reality. Cobb lost custody of his children and was in danger of being arrested, so he had to flee abroad. This incident had a huge impact on Cobb. The projection of his wife in his dreams always tries to mess with him, so Cobb can no longer serve as a dream builder.

Accept the origin of the new mission

During his exile abroad, Cobb could only make a living by taking on the work of stealing dreams. The so-called dream stealing is to unknowingly steal the information hidden in other people's hearts in other people's dreams. In this case, Cobb and the others accepted the task of a company called Cobo Engineering to steal the expansion plan in the mind of Japanese tycoon Saito. According to Cobb's plan, this is a simple dream within a dream, with only two floors, so there are only general drugs here. If you die in the dream, you will wake up immediately.

What they didn't expect was that Saito had prepared in advance. They already knew that Cobb and the others were coming, but Saito wanted to test Cobb and the others' technical abilities. Deliberately letting them enter their dreams to steal information. The place where they committed the crime was a moving train.

The first level of dreamland is a small town where mobs are rampant, and the second level of dreamland is Saito's palace with a strong Japanese flavor.

On the second floor, although Cobb's wife's image was tricked and betrayed by them, Cobb still successfully stole Saito's secret documents. However, Saito was prepared for them in advance and gave all the important information to them. Smearing it out with black ink is actually equivalent to hiding key information.

Mel’s trouble caused the second floor to collapse. After returning to the first floor of the dream, Cobb and the others almost convinced Saito that this was a room he knew well in reality. But just when the threat was about to succeed, Saito discovered that the carpet in the room was made of artificial fiber instead of wool in reality, and knew that this was a dream and saw the truth. The mission failed. This was the mistake of the dream builders hired by Cobb.

During the escape after the mission failed, the erring dreamer betrayed Cobb and his assistant Arthur to Saito.

However, Saito valued their abilities after this test, and instead hired him for a mind implantation: Let Robert Fisher, the young heir of a rival company, dismantle the company left by his father. Because that company is too powerful, it creates a world monopoly, making it difficult for other companies to survive. Saito promised that if the matter is accomplished, he can work at a high level to withdraw the murder charges against Cobb in the United States and allow him to return to the country to take care of his children. The excited Cobb decided to give it a try.

Mission begins: team formation

The most important thing to complete the task of implantation of thoughts is to organize a capable team. First, in order to replace the dream builder who betrayed them, Cobb came to Paris to visit his father-in-law. After entrusting his father-in-law to bring gifts to his children in the United States, he asked his father-in-law to find a dreamer who could be as good as Cobb. The father-in-law recommended his best student, the little girl Ariadley, to Cobb as the dream builder of the team, and told him that this student was more powerful than Cobb. Cobb tested Ariadne and found that she was indeed quite good. She also chose to join their team after some hesitation. Arthur taught her how to design buildings in dreams and how to hide the borders of dreams.

Subsequently, Cobb went to Kenya to recruit the pretender Eames and the chemical pharmacist Joseph who prepared sedatives. In the process of looking for Eames, they were chased by another group of killers from an unknown unit. Finally, they escaped the pursuit with the help of Saito. Then it was checked that the pharmacist was qualified, and with the addition of sponsor Saito, a team of six people was formed.

Planning with implanted ideas

After further investigation, they planned to change the commercial elements into emotional elements. Because he found that the relationship between Robert Fisher and his father was very poor, Robert Fisher thought that his father did not value him and was disappointed in him. Cobb believed that positive emotions would suppress negative emotions. If Robert Fisher hated his father, he would instead Doing well in the business proves that you are better than your father. Therefore, the final plan was to let Robert Fisher accept the idea of ​​dismantling the company from below. In a deep dream, he realized that his father loved him, and his hatred was vented. Then Robert Fisher would make up his mind to disintegrate the company and no longer pay any attention to him. The father chose to be himself because of what he had to prove.

There is also Browning, Fisher's father's right-hand man. They also thought of ways to break up the relationship between Fisher and Browning so that Fisher would no longer listen to Browning's advice. In the end, it was planned that the most convenient place to implant the idea would be on the ten-hour flight from Sydney to the United States. It was up to Saito to find a way for Robert Fisher to take this flight to attend his father's funeral due to maintenance of his private jet. Moreover, the entire cabin on the plane was contracted by their personnel, and even the flight attendants had to be bribed. To save trouble, Saito even bought the airline. It was a do or die situation for Cobb, as he was wanted in the United States for the murder of his wife and would be arrested as soon as he landed. Saito promised to make a phone call on the plane to resolve the issue as soon as he completed his mission.

Preparation for this mission:

Originally there were three levels of preparation. The first level was aware of the tense relationship with his father and did not want to leave with him; the second level was about "I want to create The idea of ​​​​his own career"; the third level allows him to see that his father does not want his son to inherit his father's career (through dreams); the sedative used is stronger, which will make the link of the dream clear and accelerate the operation of the dream, and progress will be made in the dream Faster. One week for the first level, half a year for the second level, and ten years for the third level.

There are two ways to prepare to wake up from a dream

There are two ways to wake up from a dream (whether it is the first level or the second level): the first way It's what's known as a "kick," a tremor in the body caused by a bump or drop. The second is to be killed. Of course, waiting for the drug to expire is not a solution. The stimulation needs to penetrate several layers of dreamland at the same time, and a musical countdown is used as a signal to synchronize the stimulation at different levels.

The potential danger is that Mel will come out to cause trouble at any time, affecting the success of their dream stealing.

The first level of dreamland: the city in the rain

Something went wrong as soon as you entered the first level of dreamland. Robert Fisher has been trained by other dream stealing experts. Although the dream was created by a little girl, the conscious image of the target person Robert Fisher will transform into an armed man to attack the characters in the abnormal dream. So the kidnapping of Robert Fisher prompted a shootout. And from now on until the third level, Fisher's armed defenders need to be overcome on each level.

Saito was shot and was in critical condition. At this time, Cobb told everyone about the side effects of the sedative that he would have to enter the Lost Realm if he died. Everyone had no choice but to make a desperate effort to quickly complete the task and escape. According to the plan, the forger Eames pretended to be Fisher's godfather Browning and was imprisoned together with him. On the one hand, he initially pushed the idea of ​​splitting the company to Robert Fisher, and on the other hand, he defrauded Robert Fisher. The details of the relationship between Fisher and his father were used to prepare for the final third level of deception, especially the disappointed last words of his father mentioned by Fisher.

In the end, the pharmacist Joseph stayed on the first floor to drive while avoiding armed men and preparing to kick, while the others entered the second floor of dreams.

The second dream: Hotel

In the second dream, Cobb made a dangerous move because he had been trained to steal dreams. Cobb asked Robert Fisher through strange The weather and the changing gravity of the earth convinced Fisher that they were in a dream, and induced Robert Fisher to conclude that his godfather Browning planned everything.

The Browning in the second layer of dreams is the projection of Browning's will in Robert Fisher's heart, so if Fisher thinks that Browning is loyal in his heart, the projection will show He showed his loyalty, but Robert Fisher suspected that Browning would confess to the unfounded crime. So Pretender Eames told Saito that he was following Browning's projection and judging whether Robert Fisher was trapped based on the projection's performance.

Robert Fisher finally fell for it. Cobb pretended to help Robert Fisher spy on Browning's dream and induced Robert Fisher into the third level of dreamland. At this time, Robert Fisher thought that Browning was the target person and that the weapon in the third layer of dreams was Browning's subconscious. But in fact, Robert Fisher was still the target person and he would help Cobb in the third layer of dreams. A group of people armed themselves with subconscious weapons. In the end, Arthur stayed on the second floor to deal with the armed men and prepare to kick (stimulus), while the others entered the third floor of dreams.

The third level of dreamland: the fortress in the snowy mountains

Everything went well at first, Eames drew away the armed forces. Saito and Robert Fisher enter the snow castle. But just when Robert Fisher was about to step into the scam room where Eames had prepared for him to implant his final thoughts, the shadow of Cobb's wife Moore suddenly appeared and injured Robert Fisher. Facing the comatose Robert Fisher, Cobb felt that he had failed and wanted to give up the mission. At this time, Ariadne proposed to enter the fourth level of dreamland to find Robert Fisher there, and then find a way to return to the fourth level of dreams. The first floor completes a kick (stimulus), and at the same time Eames uses electric shock to provide a kick (stimulus) on the third floor. This coordinated stimulation sends Robert Fisher back to the third floor and then enters the scam room. In this way, Ariadne and Cobb entered the fourth level of dreamland together.

The fourth level of dreamland: the empty city on the edge of the cliff

At this time, because Ariadne did not design the fourth level of dreamland, Cobb entered it with his wife. time scene design. There Ariadne saw the lightning caused by Eames's electric shock in the dream on the third floor, and calculated the time to push Robert Fisher down the tall building to form the third and fourth floors. At the same time, Kick (stimulation) pushed Robert Fisher down. She recalled the snow castle on the third floor.

In a room deep in the snow fort, Robert Fisher heard the last words of his father who had been altered by Eames: I am disappointed in you for trying so hard to be like me, which is Tell him to be himself and leave the company alone. After opening the safe, Robert Fisher saw his most cherished pinwheel in the photo with his father. Feeling guilty for his father, he naturally realized the forged will that was also in the safe and split the company. At this point, the task of implanting the idea is successfully completed.

At the same time, Cobb on the fourth floor is also destined to face his last inner demons. His regret over his wife's death was diluted by the memory of the happiness of growing old with his wife in the fourth dream world. In the end, he gave up the shadow of his wife in his heart.

In the multi-layered simultaneous kick (stimulation) at the last moment, Ariadne, who was active in the dreamland on the fourth floor, passed through the falling kick (stimulus) on the fourth floor and the snow castle on the third floor. The explosion and collapse kick (stimulus), the elevator thrust on the second floor kicks (stimulus), and the falling water on the first floor kicks (stimulus) back to the real world. Eames and Fisher, who were active in the third-level dreamland, and Arthur, who was active in the second-level dreamland, also returned to reality after three simultaneous or two simultaneous kicks (stimuli), except for Saito and Cobb.

Lost Realm: The Struggle to Retrieve Memory

Saito died in the third level of dreams, so he skipped the fourth level and went directly to the Lost Realm, but Cobb deliberately missed it in order to save him. After passing the last four floors, he kicked (stimulated) at the same time and died and entered the Lost Realm. So when Cobb finally found Saito, Saito was much older than him. They faced each other and thought about it for a long time before they remembered to commit suicide and escape from the Lost Realm. In the end Saito raised his gun...

Epilogue: Dream or reality?

The six members of the team woke up on the plane and smiled at each other. Saito also fulfilled his promise and called to lift Cobb's lawsuit in the United States, allowing Cobb to enter customs smoothly. Cobb was finally able to go home and see his two children. However, the final ending is open-ended. The top on the table does not know whether to stop or not. It seems to me that there has been an unstable oscillation that is about to stop, which should be a reality.

Dreaming Rules:

The dreamer cannot let the defenders know the details of the building.

To distinguish between dreams and reality, totems can be used. Everyone has their own totem, and there is a clear difference between the totem in reality and the dream state.

Analysis of doubts:

Saito was seriously injured on the first level and wanted to come back by dying. Cobb said that he would enter the Lost Realm when he went back. I saw on the Internet that some people said that Cobb was lying to him, and others said that it was a bug, but it was not.

This issue has been raised repeatedly during the progress of the film. This mission requires heavy drugging because it uses three levels of dreams. As a result, if they come back early, they will not be able to wake up and will never enter and get lost. If you don't get it right, you'll fall into a coma.

This movie has several situations like this: Saito was seriously injured on the first level; and someone in the team thought of quitting when they saw how dangerous the mission was; Fisher also asked him on the second level if he would commit suicide. You can wake up; Saito dies on the third level; Fisher is beaten to death by Mel on the fourth level. Cobb said that they could not go back early, as they would not be able to wake up after going back. This is the premise of the film, and Cobb is not lying to them.

They always kept seeing Cobb's two children in their dreams. This is Cobb's subconscious image, which was caused by Cobb's experience because he missed his children too much. There is also the appearance of his wife Mel in the dream, which is an image that appears due to Cobb's subconscious, because Cobb feels that he is responsible for the death of his wife and has always felt guilty.

Dreamland is an unstable place, and the higher the level, the more unstable it becomes. Especially on the fourth floor, it seemed that it was too unstable and the building was collapsing on its own. Sometimes drugs are used to stabilize dreams.

Personal question

In the Lost Realm, Cobb asked his wife to leave there and implanted the idea that "this is not reality" into her. The two of them committed suicide by lying on the train and returned to reality. . Why did you quickly tell your wife about this process after returning to reality, or quickly think of a way to reverse it? Causing his wife to commit suicide? Is it impossible or did you not expect it?

In the end, Fisher's subconscious implanted his father's instructions for him to start his own business. How did he do it? Seeing that it was just him and his father, would it definitely develop as Cobb and the others expected? Because it is a dream after all, and there are many uncertainties in human dreams, right?

Thoughts:

Don’t try this kind of dream, you will really get lost. While watching the movie, Cobb actually seemed a little unconscious, and often couldn't distinguish between reality and dreams. He spun the top many times in reality to see if it was reality or a dream. Just imagine it, this is actually quite painful, isn't it? Life is already like a dream, and it is actually uncomfortable for them to wander back and forth between reality and dreams.

Film Analysis

The film has a strong cast. Among the actors, 5 are Oscar-nominated actors, namely Leonardo DiCaprio, Tom Berenger, Pete Postlethwaite, Ellen Page and Watanabe Bian Qian. There are also two Oscar-winning actors and actresses, Michael Caine and Marion Cotillard, each of whom has amazing acting skills. The fact is that this movie has also been a huge success. The awards alone are a long page on the Internet, so I won’t go into detail here.

Although computer technology has become very powerful, Nolan has achieved a return to old-fashioned film techniques. The film was filmed all over the world, and the main scenes alone were filmed in six countries on four continents. During the filming process, the film crew went through many hardships, experiencing the scorching heat of Tangier, Morocco, and the heavy snowfall of Calgary, Canada. Filming locations also included Tokyo, Paris and Los Angeles. In order to complete a set of vehicle action shots, the visual effects team used artificial rainfall and other methods to complete the plot of a freight train sweeping through the city center. These all enhance the realistic shooting effect of the film.

The structure of the film is rather clever. It intersperses the stories of Cobb and his wife into different parts, rather than narrating them independently. At the same time, the various levels of the dream are described hierarchically. In fact, they are all told at the same time. develop.

"Inception" is a very smart movie, with rich details and intricate narrative, taking the audience into a subconscious maze. Nolan creates a surreal thriller world, somewhat similar to Jungian theory, that challenges the viewer on multiple levels of reality and unreality. The fast editing and agile narration vividly express the surreal world, and the virtual imaging technology reaches the pinnacle of presenting the consciousness of the human brain. ——"Variety Show" The author himself seems to be more like a virtual game.

The most powerful thing about this movie is that different people will have different feelings after watching the movie. After watching the same situation, some people think it is a dream, and some people think it is reality. This is also the director’s brilliance. At the same time, the open ending keeps readers thinking. It is really a rare and excellent movie. Worth seeing more than once.