Inception follows professional thief Dom Cobb DiCaprio , whose specialty is stealing information by infiltrating the subconscious of his targets, though he can also implant ideas through that same process. When he is offered a chance to have his criminal history erased and go back to his family, Cobb takes on a very complicated mission that requires the help of a full team that includes architects, chemists, and more.
The film takes viewers back and forth between reality and dreams — multilevel dreams. In order for the characters and, in turn, the audience to know if they were dreaming or not, each of them had a totem, with the famous spinning top being the one that got the most attention as it was the one used by Cobb, but that might have not been his real totem.
Totems are objects used by the characters to test if they were in the real world or a dream, and they all had specially modified qualities which made them very personal.
Maybe Mal was right; maybe they were still dreaming, and her suicide actually did wake her up. Maybe the entire movie is a dream. Maybe this is why Eames can mysteriously produce casino chips out of thin air.
And the movie Inception is, exactly, to the second, 2 hours and 28 minutes long. To do so, Cobb subjects Fischer to a multilayered dream sequence. By David K.
Johnson, Ph. There are a few clues which can help us to question the end of the movie. In Inception the central premise is that of multiple dreams. In Inception , what are the qualities a totem must have? Now, you may disagree with me that this is what happened — but it logically follows none-the-less. Anyway, your first explanation does sound consistent. I still have some lingering questions about the totems — but my brain is struggling at 2am.
My brain struggles with it. I agree with Chris August 7, at pm. Hence, the two times it fell in the movie are not proof that Cobb himself is not dreaming. For Mal, it is truth. For Dom, the top is Mal. In reality, it falls. In dream, it spins and spins and spins.
In reality, Mal is dead. In dream, he can keep her alive. The memories can be kept alive as if on a video tape, going round and round on an endless loop.
Since she is dead, manipulation is no risk. I just feel it should be addressed. Mal hides her top, her truth, inside a safe, inside a dollhouse, inside her childhood home, inside her perfect neighborhood, inside her own world but lies it on its side, stagnant, not choosing to spin it for fear of what she will learn.
Dom breaks in and spins it for her so she will see truth. Thus preforming inception. There are unplanned detours not included 3 layers of dream in the Fischer job and then a layer of reality or, in your opinion, another layer of dream making 4 layers. But those were merely side notes. I apologize for deviating so far off my intended course. He believes Dom has begun to believe his dreams are real, losing focus of his children, the shadiness of his work, the allegations that he is a murderer, instead lost in the memory of his dead wife.
Is it too convenient that Saito shows up right at the right moment? A high powered businessman who is likely one of the wealthiest and most crafty men in the Inception world? Why would that be far fetched if, say, he were following him, making sure nothing fishy was going on given his risky and highly illegal offer?
In fact it may be far more unlikely that he NOT be nearby. The narrowing hall when Dom is being chased at the beginning: those cities are designed that way. If you look at the street when he emerges, the houses are on a curve. And when two straight walls are next to each other but at an angle as opposed to parallel, well, the effects are obvious and exactly what was shown.
It was why Dom chose that gap to run through good way to temporarily to lose a trail and was probably a detail Nolan noticed at one point and stored away for future use. He was being chased by Global Engineering for failing in the extraction of Saito. It says so several times. Arthur says she was lovely but we never see that side of her. Lastly, yes, being able to go into and share and steal and implant ideas into dreams is a very far-fetched idea. But how would he have gotten to limbo in the first place were it not possible in this world?
How would Mal be attempting to retrieve him? It is possible in the realm of the movie. We spend hours, pages, whatever it takes to explain what we believe is the meaning and attempt to get others to believe it too. Is he awake in the end? Is he dreaming? Has it all been a dream from the beginning?
Perhaps not even Nolan knows! Just to prove this simple point. Not when both of us have truly decided what we believe. If we were unconvinced? But not when have made up our minds.
An idea that is fully formed, fully understood…that sticks. Right in [your mind] somewhere. However it ALSO says that it distinguishes between dream and reality and behaves differently in each environment. The point is they say the say the same corporation several times. Alright — wow! Loving this response. The fact that people as thoughtful as you Malory are coming here to discuss this movie with such insightful comments is a serious honor.
And that we disagree and yet are open to dialogue on the various points is really cool. The TOP as symbolic device.
These ideas here are poetically gorgeous. Absolutely loved your idea that inception was performed simply by spinning the top. I initially believed either the totem was done-busted or that he manipulated it unwittingly. Anyway, I also enjoyed your thoughts on Mal as Top. I agree that this makes oodles of sense. I see the ring similarly. In the dream layers Cobb still communes with Mal and treasures the memories they shared.
Still considers himself married and at one with his wife. And like you I agree that his walking away from the top symbolizes his walking away from Mal and her power over him. Which is even more sad and horrifyingly tragic in my theory seeing as though Mal was the one true voice throughout the entire movie. Cobb has, in effect, betrayed his wife so thoroughly it is as if he himself committed suicide in layer 1 — reality. So, when we see the last shot of the top spinning the question is basically moot at the end of the day.
All are well said and understood. Just a simple difference of perspective. Just bip over to my prestige post and comment the heck out of it. The machine is a device to move plot forward not necessarily to be understood. Just seems more like something I would invent in one of my dreams than a reality. So I see this as memento… Dreaming of James Bond. Thus my root understanding of the world as a dream.
I will say this, I do think that we see the real Mal. Not the literal, actual Mal jumping in to his dreams Mal though I did at one time think so but I still think she is more real than Cobb understands. She sees what is really happening. And as to your synopsis as to the point of the movie… I totally agree. Artfully argued and brilliantly defended.
So kudos to you for your thoughtful response and I look forward to hearing more! Now, thank you for your praise of my response. Was I the only one that that struck as odd? This makes sense.
She seems to be the type to have an appreciation for the game not to mention it is a direct correlation to position on the team and in the plot. Again, this makes sense. Though him not having a totem at all would make sense where his character is concerned as would poker chips.
And his is a loaded die. It stuck out to me. This is a very well thought out and detailed story. My logical mind tells me that this point is out of place. Pretty amazing this technology schtick and i do this stuff for a living! That Nolan went with all game pieces is interesting in itself. That they generally are hefty and near on addictive to handle is even more interesting. I hefted them in my hand and absolutely loved the weight. I immediately went looking for authentic chips online just to carry them around in my pocket.
And to give these totems the even more important task of divining between dream and reality is so huge. Such a cool concept. I do think the loaded dice concept is very cool. But I do think you are right Mallory, odd. Bridge is a beautifully organized and analytical game which I absolutely adore but there are no specific totems to bridge. Maybe a deck of bridge cards? They are instantly recognizable.
If we left game pieces, what about a blotter? An ink jar? But on topic…. With that in mind, it does make a bit of sense now. A loaded die is really the only game piece that is more in control than the others.
He is the loaded die of the team. Or just a name that sounded good for a company. Or not. And there is no way you can sweep the wedding ring under the carpet. Its a foolproof guide that remains consistent throughout the movie.
Nolan was cleaver with that one. Its no coincidence. The ring is definitely an indicator — but of what? This makes zero sense. Nolan did not through in James Bond into this movie because James Bond is real.
Personally I buy it that Nolan built Two equally plausible and possible options into this movie. Both work. Both are fun to debate and argue. Both have holes, weaknesses and strengths. Makes these conversations entertaining. Its an item Cobb is wearing that has obvious personal value yet only has it on in his dream states…. To go less is to ignore the consistency of the rings appearance throughout the whole movie and relegate it to a costume mistake???.
Or what a huge coincidence? Dream states are obviously portrayed and so are the awakened states. He cut the final scene where the totem drops to make for a better ending and leave it on a suspenseful note with us questioning even more the ending. He hardly makes any serious attempt to make the rest of the movie unclear. And besides how you NOT have the ring as part of your interpretation of te movie? You pull the wildest conclusions from What is not seen and what is not understood by you.
Something so very much glaring in your face like the ring cannot be ignored. Cobbs Totem is really his wedding ring, remember the totem rule, dont let anyone touch it. And he has taken Mols totem thus broke the rule and needing a new totem he wears a ring in dreams and doesnt when not in dreams. Look before he meets the girl architect then the training dream and look at his ring finger. We just never see him acknowledge it and we see him using the top as his totem and also he tells others its his totem.
The ring is definitely an indicator of when Cobb is in reality or a dream but whether the intention is to indicate to us the audience or to Cobb is debatable. Also I think people confuse the rules of totems. If someone touches it the totem only becomes void when you are in that persons dream.
Much better put Dana. Not touching it is a precaution against that person consciously or subconsciously manipulating your totem if you were in their dream. I posted a pile of long quotes from specific points in Inception that may be helpful in understanding the movie better.
Hey all! Another thing is Mombasa. Let me explain. Now when Arthur is describing to Ariadne the technique of setting the dream level boundaries with paradoxes like Penrose stairs he is asked by Ariadne how big are the levels. He responds saying anything from a floor to a whole city In limbo Cobb and Mal built a huge city. Andreas, Great questions all. But this one scene was a BIG piece of evidence that it was in fact a dream.
The same building next door? The same room with the same billowing curtains? The dream-like qualities of this experience are way way too coincidental for me.
Not sure, we only know what Nolan has shown us. The one that totally baffles me is Cobbe. So accepting that we are actually watching a dream, it has to be a really really huge one and the characters are set apart from each other. I personally maintain that the whole concept of the dream sharing technology is a dream. That the architecting of dreams is a dream. That the whole Cobol run around the world business as pointed out by Mal is a sham that only a dream would conceive.
And for him to have forgotten creating or Mal creating it seems a bit of a stretch for sure. So kudos to you. You are correct. It just may be one of the clues that the sequence of events was a dream.
What I find disturbing is that any junior grade detective would be able to tell that the jumper was NOT pushed from the window in the room that was in disarray. Cobb took it as his own but it was made to work for Mal. He may have been a regular guy with an idea. Think about it … if it was an Inception induced dream, and Cobb was the dreamer, then that would suggest that there was an architect.
Ever have a dream concerning some small idea you had and in the dream your idea becomes fully realized. I have. Great text! When she finishes building it, she knocks on table. Eddie, I definitely agree with you I think he was a normal guy with an idea and we are seeing that fleshed out.
But I would say that its probably deeper than a simple dreamer, dreaming an idea. I think there is a deeper state of dream here that allows for complexity of time and space that we see here. But the difference in theory here is moot. I originally thought that the movie was a dream created by the dream-machine, but like you said, that quickly falls apart and becomes unsupportable. Aru, I like your theory of the smiling Bishop. Took me a while to fully understand what you meant. But I think I get it now.
Thanks everyone for continuing the conversation. I am still confused as to why cobbs totem seems to act the opposite of others.
The loaded die in real life will always fall on certain numbers because they have been tweaked and in someone elses dream they would act as normal die and throw up random numbers… Makes sense as the dreamer would want things to act as close to normal as possible… But cobbs one is odd, in real life it acts as any top in the world would act, it falls… But in a dream it goes forever, why would the dreamer do that?
So in summary cobbs die seems to work in the opposite way from others? Any ideas why or am i missing something? It does seem to be backwards for Cobb. Spin forever in the real world and stop in the dream… Hrnnn. Interesting catch all the same. Thanks for the post. Cobbs just acts normal in real life and very oddly in a dream, there is no way the dreamer would create a dream where a to would spin forever. Im not sure its ever stated but the Top could be weighted in such a way where it falls quicker or even at a specific time…like it was always fall within 3 seconds.
Arthur tells Ariadne that the layout of a dream could be anywhere from a floor to a city. Now, granted, maybe Cobb is just an absolutely amazing architect that can form an entire world of dreamscape, but then why would his father -in-law? It repeatedly mentions that Cobb refuses to build layouts any more. So, what? His subconscious is doing all of the building without his permission? Characters repeatedly refer to this. And all the while, Cobb is off doing something else.
How can these scenes be going on without him in then — like the kiss? I doubt it. If Cobb is still stuck in limbo the entire movie, how could he be transitioning between levels of the dreams? He does it many, many times, weaving in and out of them, leaving some people behind. From the outside view, Mal woke up first. Do you remember when Cobb is talking about what he did to Mal and her sense of reality?
This was emphasized when he shut the door on said top spinning consistently. It never stumbled. At the very end of the movie, right before the screen goes black, the top stumbles. Well, then, consider that at least once during the movie, instead of letting the top stop moving completely, he grabbed it as soon as it began to stumble and considered this proof that he was, in fact, in reality.
And the top did stumble. Someone mentioned that it would make more sense for Mal to be in the same hotel window. If they were in the same room, he could stop her from jumping out the window.
And as for the rooms being identical, there are two very easy explanations: One, there are looooads of hotel companies who build two right next to each other. This fact remains clear throughout the movie: to get out of limbo, you have to kill yourself. Option one: Cobb shoots Saito and then shoots himself.
They wake up. Option two: Cobb fails to shoot Saito. Now, why would he fail? By shooting him. Therefore, they must have woken up. And my last and final point is about the totems. Including races around the world.
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