Inception (2010)
Directed by Christopher Nolan
Cobb, a skilled thief who commits corporate espionage by infiltrating the subconscious of his targets is offered a chance to regain his old life as payment for a task considered to be impossible: "inception", the implantation of another person's idea into a target's subconscious.
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What critics say influenced Inception
(One movie not referenced is Joseph Ruben ’s terrific “Dreamscape,” from 1984, which had a lot more fun with some of the same concepts.)
Similarly themed films have been produced over the years -- such as the 1984 Dennis Quaid thriller "Dreamscape," the 1999 blockbuster "The Matrix" and Jim Carrey's 2004 indie hit "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind" -- though none with as quality a cast or as much dramatic oomph as "Inception."The…
"Dreamscape" (1984) featured a man who could enter and manipulate dreams, and, of course, in "The Matrix" (1999) human beings and machines battled on various reality levels created by artificial intelligence.
It lacks the nimbleness of Spielberg’s Minority Report or the Jungian-carnival bravado of Joseph Ruben’s Dreamscape or the eerily clean lines and stylized black-suited baddies of The Matrix?or, for that matter, the off-kilter intensity of Nolan’s own Insomnia.
The Bigger Picture: Though there will undoubtedly be (valid) comparisons made to The Matrix and Solaris , a more blatant antecedent for Inception is Joseph Ruben's 1984 thriller Dreamscape , in which Dennis Quaid must enter the President's nightmares to prevent an assassin from doing likewise.
The idea of entering dreams to manipulate someone isn’t new — “Dreamscape” did that back in 1984 — but Nolan raises the stakes with brilliantly deployed effects (Gordon-Levitt walking on ceilings is just one “wow” moment) and a fast-moving, globe-spanning story.
By also functioning as an action thriller, Inception fulfills Nolan's ongoing promise to craft works that are exciting as movies and exciting as films, layered with a Hitchcockian self-reflexivity about the dream escapism of movies themselves (Nolan has copped to Blade Runner , On Her Majesty's Secret Service and Topkapi being among his favorite movies, and their echoes are felt here).
Indeed, all those different dreamscapes give Nolan the chance to reprise what I can well imagine are some of his favourite episodes of cinematic derring-do and adventure – from James Bond’s alpine escapades in On Her Majesty’s Secret Service to the scorching gun battles of Heat .
When you add in the complications of dream time (five minutes of reality is about an hour of dream time) which expands exponentially the deeper you create levels of dreams within dreams, and a third layer that plays out like a literal tribute to On Her Majesty’s Secret Service (was this somehow a favorite lodged in the subconscious of one of these subconscious invaders?) it more and more resembles a movie created by the dreamers.
Otherwise, dreams amount to action scenes referencing other movies – Mission: Impossible, The Matrix, and the swirling snow-bound gun-battles of On Her Majesty’s Secret Service.
At the same time, there’s one level of the film where it seems to turn into Peter Hunt’s On Her Majesty’s Secret Service (1969), but it turns out to be O.H.M.S.S. with Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) at its core.
It’s a concept with a heavy debt to “The Matrix” (another team of pros hacking a simulated reality) and author Jeff Noon’s groundbreaking “Vurt” (with its programmed dreams and similar Orpheus-like theme), but Nolan sets it in a more mundane world closer to the one we all know.
"The Matrix" and its "what is reality" themes and storyline will obviously come to most viewers' minds, while the likes of "Total Recall," "Dreamscape" and others of their ilk have similarly mined the sci-fi world regarding dreams, memories and the like.
As much as some will immediately compare Nolan’s latest to “The Matrix” in that it also plays with the concepts of reality, “Inception” is like “The Matrix” times 10, as if you took that meeting between Neo and the Architect from “Reloaded” and stretched it out across an entire film.
Nolan's inspirations include The Matrix, Blade Runner and a fusion of M.C.
It's a haunting, high-octane trip reminiscent of The Matrix .
It inhabits a Philip K. Dick-style universe of psychological warfare that suggests “The Matrix,” “Total Recall” and “Minority Report” — all of them, by the way, better movies — but it’s fairer to call “Inception” a maze movie or a labyrinth movie than a puzzle movie.
The hallway fight scene involving Arthur belongs in 2003's " The Matrix Reloaded ," where it was done better and featured more innovation; the snow jet chase reminds of more veritably exciting set-pieces from 1993's "Cliffhanger" and 2002's " XXX ," and the most subterranean level seems to steal shots wholesale from the early moments of 2004's " The Day After Tomorrow ."
It's obviously inspired by Fred Astaire's wall and ceiling dance sequence in "Royal Wedding," and the fact that it was shot the same way (with a revolving set rather than computer-generated effects) makes those scenes all the more impressive to behold.
The most rousing action sequence, a fight in a zero-gravity hallway, cleverly lifts from "2001" (and "Royal Wedding," in which Fred Astaire danced on the walls and the ceiling).
There are images in this smoothly elegant film that will be talked about for decades: six sleepers floating weightlessly in a hotel room; a Paris street folding in on itself; and in an echo of Fred Astaire’s dancing-on-the-ceiling scene from “Royal Wedding,” two guys crawl all over a ceiling with the same special-effect technique, except they’re not tap-dancing — they’re trying to kill each other.
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Moviegoers have experienced this kind of dream invasion concept before: Dreamscape , Total Recall , Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind , and pretty much the entire Nightmare on Elm Street series to name a few.
It immediately reminded me of Marc Forster’s Stay (2005), Michel Gondry’s Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004) and Charlie Kaufman’s Synecdoche, New York (2008).
The Matrix first introduced the concept to mainstream cinema audiences and this concept has since appeared in films as diverse as eXistenZ and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind .
Similarly themed films have been produced over the years -- such as the 1984 Dennis Quaid thriller "Dreamscape," the 1999 blockbuster "The Matrix" and Jim Carrey's 2004 indie hit "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind" -- though none with as quality a cast or as much dramatic oomph as "Inception."The…
The movies have a proud line of dream explorations and unreal worlds, from Spellbound to Dreamscape, Dark City and The Matrix, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind to almost anything by Luis Buñuel, David Lynch and Satoshi Kon.
That experience in itself may sound a bit familiar, and "Inception" does feature glimmers of mind-trip movies like "The Matrix," ''Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind" and even a "Wizard of Oz" moment.
There are also few of the wild shifts in tone that you get in movies like The Science of Sleep or Mulholland Dr. or, for that matter, in your own dreams which can change on a dime from pleasant to nightmarish.
That Ken Watanabe has make-up reminiscent of Keir Dullea's aged figure in 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) does not make it a Kubrick movie.
At the same time, there’s one level of the film where it seems to turn into Peter Hunt’s On Her Majesty’s Secret Service (1969), but it turns out to be O.H.M.S.S. with Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) at its core.
As Kubrick’s career progressed he was increasingly drawn to stories that defied or challenged rational analysis, like “2001: A Space Odyssey” or “The Shining.”
Despite riffs on everything from "2001: A Space Odyssey" to "Blade Runner" to "Strange Days" to "The Matrix," the best of this elegant brain-bender — a heist picture with a frame designed by Salvador Dali and M.C.
Only someone who never saw (or appreciated) Dark City would be able to call it visionary (or Paprika, or Heat, or Blade Runner, or 2001: A Space Odyssey, or Solaris [either one], or, uhm, The Matrix... should I go on?), as Nolan's long-gestating science fiction opus (he first conceived of it as a teenager) rarely rises above its own apparent reliance on these influences.
With its dreams, dreams within dreams, and dreams within dreams within dreams, Christopher Nolan’s Inception manages to be clunky and confusing on four separate levels of reality?while out here, in this even more perplexing dream we call ?life,? it’s being hailed as a masterpiece on the order of 2001: A Space Odyssey.
(I think I’d put “Full Metal Jacket” and “Eyes Wide Shut” in that category too, but let’s discuss some other time.)
As Kubrick’s career progressed he was increasingly drawn to stories that defied or challenged rational analysis, like “2001: A Space Odyssey” or “The Shining.”
(I think I’d put “Full Metal Jacket” and “Eyes Wide Shut” in that category too, but let’s discuss some other time.)
However, while the narrative seems overly complex at times, in the style of the more baffling entries in the Mission: Impossible franchise (which this film also evokes, both in terms of a team of spies and the impersonation of one character by another), the plot is actually quite simple.
Otherwise, dreams amount to action scenes referencing other movies – Mission: Impossible, The Matrix, and the swirling snow-bound gun-battles of On Her Majesty’s Secret Service.
Throw in the intricate planning and teamwork of "Mission: Impossible" and perhaps too many instances of James Bond-esque action on skis, and there's no shortage of source material from which Nolan is obviously able to tap.
Part Ocean’s Eleven, parts Mission Impossible with a dash of The Fugitive and The Usual Suspects, Inception has a little something for everyone.
So it’s, like, Mission: Impossible in the Dreamscape-Matrix!
Cobb assembles a “Mission: Impossible”-style team, including his right-hand man Arthur ( Joseph Gordon-Levitt ), to create a dream-within-a-dream-within-a-dream scenario for Fischer.
Similarly, in his two Batman films, Batman Begins (2005) and The Dark Knight (2008), he gave us a caped hero of dense psychological complexity who ultimately meets his match in an inexplicable psychopath who represents everything that is out of our control; the idea of heroism itself as delusion.
In this conceptually alluring but laborious, visionless follow-up to The Dark Knight , Leonardo DiCaprio (still in Shutters Island mode) leads a team of subconscious-dwellers who specialize in mental corporate skullduggery.
As he did with "The Dark Knight," Nolan crafts a brilliant piece of slick, tantalizing entertainment — a cinematic chess match that demands focus and smarts from an audience jonesing for the same kind of mind-blowing film experience we first got with "Matrix."
With INCEPTION, writer-director Christopher Nolan combines the mind-bending narrative of his early hit “Memento” with the mainstream appeal of his Batman movies (“Batman Begins” and “The Dark Knight”).
What you haven't seen is how Nolan combines this epic scope that surpasses even "The Dark Knight" (2008) with the intricate plotting of his breakout hit "Memento" (2000) or his somewhat overlooked "The Prestige" (2006), and the emotional grounding provided by DiCaprio.
Some filmmakers dream big.Director Christopher Nolan's ("Memento," "The Dark Knight") visually stunning and exceptionally cast "Inception" is a cinematic marvel -- a rare film inspired by imagination rather than potential box-office return.
It's a breathtaking juggling act, and Nolan may have considered his " Memento " (2000) a warm-up; he apparently started this screenplay while filming that one.
Nolan, the creator of such films as Memento , Insomnia and The Dark Knight , regards his viewers as possibly smarter than they are —or at least as capable of rising to his inventive level.
For that, thank writer-director Christopher Nolan, who returns to the sprawling cinematic canvas of "The Dark Knight" -- and the twisty thriller structure of his 2000 breakthrough, "Memento."
His student feature, "Following" (1998) scrambled its chronology (as did Nolan's later, outlandishly clever "Memento") to keep us on our toes.
Squaring the beautifully engineered puzzles of Memento and The Prestige with the chaos and anarchy brought by the Joker in The Dark Knight, Inception takes place largely in a dreamscape where thieves of the mind fend off attacks from rebellious agents that clutter the subconscious.
Like Nolan’s 2001 indie breakthrough, “Memento,” the film toys with themes such as the blurry line between perception and reality, the insidious nature of ideas, and the human capacity for self-delusion; significantly, it also focuses on an antihero captive to the memory of his dead wife.
His student feature, "Following" (1998) scrambled its chronology (as did Nolan's later, outlandishly clever "Memento") to keep us on our toes.
This is catnip to Nolan, who since the early days of Following and Memento has delighted in puzzles and sleight of hand, and it is also dangerous territory for a director whose grasp of linear continuity has not always been sure.
"Inception" plays like a greatest-hits record of Nolan's work: It has the cityscape spectacles of " Following " and his Batman films, the psychological twists and cuts of " Insomnia " and " Memento ," and the showy storytelling savvy and structural sleight-of-hand of his underappreciated " The Prestige ."
Besides the similarities in playing with time and structure (see also The Prestige and Inception), in Following, Nolan is already zeroed in on his favorite cinematic theme: obsession.
Viewed in retrospect, one can easily recognize Christopher Nolan’s noiresque no-budget feature debut Following as a harbinger of things to come, an exercise in the kind of temporal gymnastics, sleight-of-hand shifts in perspective, and rigorous insights into the dark depths of human nature that have defined his later films, particularly Memento (2001), The Prestige (2006), and Inception (2010).
But he’s also drawn to trickery and mind games as topic matter: from his unique debut, Following (1999), about a writer who follows strangers to spark his creative process, to The Prestige (2006), which zeros in on dueling magicians trying to one-up the other.
Directed by Christopher Nolan ("Memento," "Batman Begins," "The Dark Knight," "Inception") and based on a 1997 Norwegian film of the same name, "Insomnia" follows the travails of Detective Will Dormer (Pacino), a crack L.A. police detective called to the small town of Nightmute, Alaska, to help solve a murder case.
In some ways, I enjoyed watching this early Nolan film even more than watching “Inception,” which has just hit the theater screens.
Inception is written and directed by Christopher Nolan, the man who brought us The Dark Knight, The Prestige, Batman Begins, Insomnia and Memento.
Nolan, the creator of such films as Memento , Insomnia and The Dark Knight , regards his viewers as possibly smarter than they are —or at least as capable of rising to his inventive level.
Like other Christopher Nolan head scratchers-the brainless Memento, the perilously inert Insomnia, the contrived illusionist thriller The Prestige, the idiotic Batman Begins and the mechanical, maniacally baffling and laughably overrated The Dark Knight-this latest deadly exercise in smart-aleck filmmaking without purpose from Mr. Nolan’s scrambled eggs for brains makes no sense whatsoever.
A memorable puzzle film, I may say, though the follow-up, Insomnia, was less successful.
The theme has played a part in every movie he's made, including Memento, Insomnia, and The Prestige.
Nolan’s script keeps the parallel narrative threads concise, and through gorgeous cinematography by Wally Pfister and sharp editing by Lee Smith (both of whom worked on Nolan’s Batman films and “The Prestige”), Nolan never leaves the audience asking “OK, which dream are we in now?”
What you haven't seen is how Nolan combines this epic scope that surpasses even "The Dark Knight" (2008) with the intricate plotting of his breakout hit "Memento" (2000) or his somewhat overlooked "The Prestige" (2006), and the emotional grounding provided by DiCaprio.
But these are also Nolan's themes, familiar from the amnesiac noir of "Memento" and the many, varied mind-games practiced by the warring magicians in "The Prestige" as well as the psychological warfare between Batman and his adversaries (fans of that series will recognize several familiar faces popping up here).
Veteran Wally Pfister was again enlisted as cinematographer for “Inception” after shooting other Nolan films including “The Prestige,” “Batman Begins,” “Insomnia” and “Memento”.
Cinematography by Wally Pfister (2006's " The Prestige ") is also first-rate, effectively capturing a wide array of locations, from Paris to Morocco to the snowy peaks of Alberta, Canada.
ENLARGE 'The Prestige' (2006) Mr. Nolan's follow-up to 2005's "Batman Begins" reunited him with Caped Crusader-portrayer Christian Bale, as well as Hugh Jackman, Michael Caine, Scarlett Johansson and David Bowie, in a tale of rival magicians and lethal tricks.
Nolan has always been prone to making hermetic, self-serious movies, from his 2000 breakthrough film " Memento " to "Batman Begins" and "The Dark Knight."
Inception is written and directed by Christopher Nolan, the man who brought us The Dark Knight, The Prestige, Batman Begins, Insomnia and Memento.
The writer-director who reinvigorated the Batman franchise with “Batman Begins” and “The Dark Knight” gives the summer a needed jolt of intelligence with “Inception,” a riveting and mind-bending thriller that challenges “Memento” as Nolan’s masterpiece.
Sure, we know that Nolan, who directed "Batman Begins" and "The Dark Knight," but also numbers the time-twisting "Memento" among his credits, handles complex subjects and large canvases with relative ease.
And there’s a fully realized supporting cast — from the ever-sly Joseph Gordon-Levitt, to “Batman Begins” grads Michael Caine and Cillian Murphy, to Ellen Page, thankfully leaving her slangy “Juno” persona behind to play a whip-smart architecture student.
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They feature none of the emotions and feelings dreams causefear, elation, sadness, arousaland are rendered outright impostors next to way superior, far more accurate films set in dreamlike states, from 1961's "Last Year at Marienbad" to 1984's "…
Back in 1970, more than 30,000 people responded to a Sunday newspaper questionnaire about the films that most closely resembled dreams, the top 15 ranging from Last Year at Marienbad and 2001 to Belle de jour and The Seventh Seal.
There are any number of film and literary influences found in Inception, the most compelling being Last Year at Marienbad, the classic brain screw by French director Alain Resnais that set a potentially dangerous romance inside an unsteady realm of doubt and intrigue.
What's The Deal: Take The Matrix's commitment to techy visual achievements, those trailer moments that make you go "Whoa" all Keanu-style, then take Last Year at Marienbad's hypnotic mindbendiness and commitment to destabilizing your ability to watch a movie without stopping every few minutes to ask yourself, "Okay, where are we now?
In fact, this is pretty much a magpie’s nest of a film, including imagery from MC Escher prints and James Bond movies, with echoes of other films that have similar plots from Total Recall (1990) to Dark City (1998).