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  #1 Gil Hickey on 20 Sep 12

   

  There are some genuine cinematic moments for Cillian Murphy to take advantage of: the great revelation to his character in the final act is already known and expected by the audience, and yet Nolan cements it unexpectedly with visible tears, a photograph and a childhood memento. Not only that, but Fischer Jr.'s labored discovery is layered with the irony that he willed it himself.
  
  Part of the Latin root of 'inception' implies taking or seizing as from the air and Nolan demonstrates his understanding. His protagonists are attempting to make someone believe that a planted idea is self-conceived. This rather cynically says something about our culture's assumptions of autonomy. Most seem convinced of their own autonomy without ever realizing that it is an abstraction that developed in their formative years and came to fruition among the dualities that family, religion and society both nurture and hold sacrosanct. As Jim Jarmusch once remarked, "authenticity is invaluable; originality is non-existent." Nolan's conception is Platonic, and his protagonists are unintentional agents of the air, linguistic angels. Who are the architects of their insights?
  
  Fans of Nolan's Memento will see many similarities with it, most notably the nascent narrative idea of inception which forms the crux of Lenny's resolutions in that film. Lenny tricks himself into believing his wife is dead and, more importantly, that his friend is responsible; he leaves clues for himself that his psychosis will eventually resolve, and resolve again, seemingly ad infinitum. His inability to make new memories is Nolan's generative idea, it's the conceit that makes the script work and makes Lenny's self-deception possible. Inception has perhaps too many conceits, and it similarly dwells on the ephemeral dimensions of dream and recollection. Dom Cobb is tortured by the feebleness of his memory. We can't be sure whether he killed his wife or whether she killed herself to leave the dream and to what extent Cobb's guilt clouds both interpretations.
  
  Cobb explains to Ariadne that one must never design a dream from whole cloth (a rule he later breaks). I suspect this comment, coupled with widespread confusion over the dynamics of dreaming, has resulted in a lot of viewers assuming that the entire film takes place within a dream (and not of the metaphoric variety insinuated above). This is where Nolan has smartly broken with tradition; instead of depicting dreams as a series of discreet psychedelia, he has them reflect or refract the properties of the physical world. This clarity in both the dreams and non-dreams has many viewers thinking the whole thing is a dream. But really dreams are clear to us during the dream, and not simply the lucid ones. It is our recollections that are hazy and punctured.
  
  While this was reportedly a 10 year undertaking for Nolan and it seems as if every nuance was carefully crafted, a common fallacy is to presume that every aspect of your favorite film is intentional. What may ordinarily be called plot holes or bad editing can easily be incorporated into some auteurist theory or other; the it's all a dream theory, while it resolves many inconsistencies, creates plenty of problems not neatly resolvable. And remember, what's proposed is a shared dreamspace, designed and directed by dream architects. Dream specialists may consider Nolan's suggestions of dream landscapes either inchoate or too logical, but they are accounted for by what is, lest we forget, a science-fiction story. Rare Zombie Movies, Rare Zombie Movies, Rare Zombie Movies

   

  <div class="cArrow"> </div><div class="cContentInner">There are some genuine cinematic moments for Cillian Murphy to take advantage of: the great revelation to his character in the final act is already known and expected by the audience, and yet Nolan cements it unexpectedly with visible tears, a photograph and a childhood memento. Not only that, but Fischer Jr.'s labored discovery is layered with the irony that he willed it himself.<br /><br />Part of the Latin root of 'inception' implies taking or seizing as from the air and Nolan demonstrates his understanding. His protagonists are attempting to make someone believe that a planted idea is self-conceived. This rather cynically says something about our culture's assumptions of autonomy. Most seem convinced of their own autonomy without ever realizing that it is an abstraction that developed in their formative years and came to fruition among the dualities that family, religion and society both nurture and hold sacrosanct. As Jim Jarmusch once remarked, "authenticity is invaluable; originality is non-existent." Nolan's conception is Platonic, and his protagonists are unintentional agents of the air, linguistic angels. Who are the architects of <i>their</i> insights?<br /><br />Fans of Nolan's <i>Memento</i> will see many similarities with it, most notably the nascent narrative <i>idea</i> of inception which forms the crux of Lenny's resolutions in that film. Lenny tricks himself into believing his wife is dead and, more importantly, that his friend is responsible; he leaves clues for himself that his psychosis will eventually resolve, and resolve again, seemingly ad infinitum. His inability to make new memories is Nolan's generative idea, it's the conceit that makes the script work and makes Lenny's self-deception possible. <i>Inception</i> has perhaps too many conceits, and it similarly dwells on the ephemeral dimensions of dream and recollection. Dom Cobb is tortured by the feebleness of his memory. We can't be sure whether he killed his wife or whether she killed herself to leave the dream and to what extent Cobb's guilt clouds both interpretations.<br /><br />Cobb explains to Ariadne that one must never design a dream from whole cloth (a rule he later breaks). I suspect this comment, coupled with widespread confusion over the dynamics of dreaming, has resulted in a lot of viewers assuming that the entire film takes place within a dream (and not of the metaphoric variety insinuated above). This is where Nolan has smartly broken with tradition; instead of depicting dreams as a series of discreet psychedelia, he has them reflect or refract the properties of the physical world. This clarity in both the dreams and non-dreams has many viewers thinking <i>the whole thing is a dream</i>. But really dreams <i>are</i> clear to us <i>during</i> the dream, and not simply the lucid ones. It is our recollections that are hazy and punctured.<br /><br />While this was reportedly a 10 year undertaking for Nolan and it seems as if every nuance was carefully crafted, a common fallacy is to presume that every aspect of your favorite film is intentional. What may ordinarily be called plot holes or bad editing can easily be incorporated into some auteurist theory or other; the <i>it's all a dream</i> theory, while it resolves many inconsistencies, creates plenty of problems not neatly resolvable. And remember, what's proposed is a shared dreamspace, designed and directed by dream architects. Dream specialists may consider Nolan's suggestions of dream landscapes either inchoate or too logical, but they are accounted for by what is, lest we forget, a science-fiction story. <a href="http://community.babycenter.com/journal/gilhickey821/6106981/rare_zombie_movies" rel="nofollow">Rare Zombie Movies</a>, <a href="http://www.purevolume.com/gilhickey821/posts/2419715/Rare+Zombie+Movies" rel="nofollow">Rare Zombie Movies</a>, <a href="http://www.wayn.com/waynblog.html?wci=viewentry&entry_key=1289727" rel="nofollow">Rare Zombie Movies</a></div>

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