Inception - A head blowing idea
Just came out from seeing inception and I'm ... dazed. I'll tell you that I was gripped the whole way through, which at least means I cared about the characters, and I couldn't work out exactly how the plot would unravel. There was an audible groan when the film ended, and I think that's because we all bought into this story, even if the ending may have left some of us frustrated.
More importantly though, I think it is a film that broadens the mind. Like the characters themselves, the film tries to implant its own idea into our subconscious. It distracts us with the details of a beautifully wrought story (and the backstory of Cobb and Mal is fascinating in its own right) but your subconscious is picking up on the broader brushstrokes.
This is a film that is not afraid to push reality to make its point, and for that reason we call it sci-fi. What I find interesting is that it was (partly) so effective simply because the special effects were so understated. For a film that cares whether you're in reality or a dream, it is absolutely paramount that everything remains as realisitic as possible, and that includes any stunts or effects. That hightened realism only accentuates the fear that none of it is real. Yes we had tilting gravity and conjured guns, but ultimately the film made us buy into every single "dreamworld" that it created, because each of these worlds, well, looks like this one.
And if we believed those worlds, can we believe in our own?
More importantly though, I think it is a film that broadens the mind. Like the characters themselves, the film tries to implant its own idea into our subconscious. It distracts us with the details of a beautifully wrought story (and the backstory of Cobb and Mal is fascinating in its own right) but your subconscious is picking up on the broader brushstrokes.
This is a film that is not afraid to push reality to make its point, and for that reason we call it sci-fi. What I find interesting is that it was (partly) so effective simply because the special effects were so understated. For a film that cares whether you're in reality or a dream, it is absolutely paramount that everything remains as realisitic as possible, and that includes any stunts or effects. That hightened realism only accentuates the fear that none of it is real. Yes we had tilting gravity and conjured guns, but ultimately the film made us buy into every single "dreamworld" that it created, because each of these worlds, well, looks like this one.
And if we believed those worlds, can we believe in our own?