Tuesday, August 17, 2010

Inception



I just went to see Inception by the talented Christopher Nolan. I've been a fan of his films for a long time. “Momento” was the first film I saw of his, then “The Prestige”, and of course the very popular “The Dark Night”, but my favorite was “Insomnia”. The way he twisted and manipulated people's emotions I always thought that was very effective. So when I saw the trailer for Inception I was very excited to see the film, especially the special effect with the city curling up into itself – that was particularly compelling. He always had a visual flair that was reserved yet very imaginative.

So while I was in Oregon I invited my good buddy and Oscar winner (jealous, jealous) Jan Pinkava to watch it with me. The film was getting massive buzz and the ticket line was very long, so we were high with anticipation for the complete movie experience. Half-way through the film I turn to Jan and ask, “Is this the 4th dream within a dream or the 5th?” and we both start to laugh. As the film finished, the whole audience started to laugh. Was this a big joke on the audience? A $100 Million prank? Or just a completely out-of-control art film? Whatever it was it was making a ton of money. What did people see in the film to make them want to go back?

To me it was like The Matrix film – if you put enough obscurities and confusion in the film people will put in their own meanings, then it becomes a very powerful message to them. To me it's just a confusing mess. What's with all those shots of the soldiers storming the snow fortress? Please Christopher – it didn't have to be a 2 ½ hour long film. It's too bad it's such a big hit – now he'll want to make “Inception II – the Deception.”

2 comments:

  1. Thanks Bill, I felt much the same way as you, from your opinions of his other films to your anticipation of this one (though I may not have been as excited as you), to your impression in the end.

    Actually if I were to disagree with you with something it's that I totally did not find the movie confusing at all... so much so that I am baffled that so many people would consider it "mindbending" and demanding multiple viewings. It was far from being the most challenging "dream-based" movie I've ever seen, and not even the most challenging heist film. To say this film is a challenging bit of both cinema seems insulting to plenty other more mind-bending films.

    And yes, the final shot of the movie was the nail in the coffin, one where Nolan was basically sitting smug teasing you about how clever he is. To the people that say "sometimes ambiguity is best," then he would've done a much better job cutting the movie off 5 minutes earlier. I didn't need another 5 minutes of winking at the audience while jabbing them in the ribs with your elbows.

    It was a good movie overall that was tainted by the directors' own self-satisfaction, and much more so by the audience who bought into it so easily.

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  2. I see Mr.nobody and i like so much than inception ,but the film of nolan is very amazing in more of this action parts ,bye!

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