Charming Classic - “Inception”

“The dream fundamentally acts as the guardian of sleep" - Sigmund Freud

If by a twist of fate, director Christopher Nolan turned out not to be a film maker, I have no doubt he'd have been a psychoanalyst. Or if not a psychoanalyst specifically, he'd in some way be working within a psychology related discipline. Not only did he direct the psychological thriller Memento, a film centered on the theme of a rare form of amnesia, but he single-handedly reclaimed the superhero film genre, by grappling with and mastering the most psychologically disturbed comic book 'hero' of them all, Batman. He did so by rejecting the camp aspects of Batman's mythology and accepting the fact that what makes him a great character, is not only his own unconscious demons, but the twisted psychological incentives of his enemies.

But it's Nolan's Inception that most solidly re-cements his psychoanalytical clout within a celluloid (or rather digital) context. Inception is a perfect example of a film that shouldn't work, but does. It has one of the most convoluted plots you're likely to attempt to untangle, with an outlandish narrative that many would fall flat at delivering. But ultimately, its core theme is universal: the misunderstood nature of dreams and the influence dreams have on reality.

Sigmund Freud, the pioneer of modern, psychoanalytic thought, believed that dreams are wish-fulfilment and the human way of disconnecting with our realities, via an unconscious state. Much of Freud's work focuses on the ways in which dreams are influenced by unconscious thought (repressed feelings, motivations) therefore when dreaming, our unconscious is what fills and fuels our dreams. And it is this psychoanalytical mode of thinking that Nolan capitalizes upon within Inception. He creates a World where a rare technology exists, which allows skilled thieves to enter a person's unconscious, via induced dreams (similar to the effect of general anesthetic) to steal vital information.

This is the role of Dom Cobb, played by Leonardo DiCaprio, an 'extractor' who enters a target's dream-like state, to steal valuable information for monetary gain. He is essentially a bank robber, but working within a vault made up of a target's unconscious, hence the film's tagline; "your mind is the scene of the crime".

Cobb eventually finds himself in a situation where he must step out of his comfort zone, from working purely within extraction, when he receives an invaluable offer, from a very powerful man, to utilize inception. This replaces stealing an idea from a target's unconscious, with placing or planting an idea in order to have the target believe that idea is entirely their own.

The unique aspect of Nolan's film is his own individualistic approach and research on dreams, you can tell he's done his homework. He takes Freud's assertions and expands upon them. I'd never thought of the concept of dreaming within a dream, but Nolan gives us more by showing us what it may be like to dream, within a dream, within a dream! Three tier dreaming is a cinematic tool that works so well for a cinematic maestro. He also throws in some wonderful, cultural references, most memorably 'the Penrose stairs' and naming the dream creator, 'Ariadne', after the Princess of Ancient Greek mythology who navigated the Minotaur's labyrinth.

If you add to this narrative great action, a perfect use CGI (something I rarely say) and excellent acting from a formidable cast, you have a winning recipe. Furthermore, it's a rare example of a big budgeted Hollywood film, that doesn't second guess itself or dumb things down for its audience (although it is most definitely a film which requires more than one viewing to grasp its many intricacies). The film is multi-layered (pun intended) and unsurprisingly, it leaves you both thinking and asking questions after seeing it. After all, the best film's always do.

See the trailer here: Inception Trailer