Christopher Nolan's Inception (2010) is a postmodern film about the protagonist being able to enter other subject's dreams, toying with their subconscious minds for information, in order for himself to benefit from. Dom Cobb (Leonardo DiCaprio) uses highly advanced technology to be able to enter other people's dreams, as well as allowing others to also join in on entering the dream. Along the way he picks up a team of other specialists, who accompany him into the dreamworld of others to extract information from the subjects.
A way in which this film is postmodern is the blurred lines it enforces between dream and reality. There is a lot of switching back and fourth between the two and there isn't a constant indication or sign that what we're currently witnessing is a dream. The fact that the dreams, visually appear real and clear, suggests a hyper realism for the dreamworld, as in reality dreams tend to feel less vivid and lack fully clear consciousness. Despite the fact that we can be fully aware we're dreaming, it is commonly perceived as blurred or vague. In the film, the real world is shown as clearly as the dream world, making them very difficult to separate from one another. This confuses the audience too, as if they are also in a dream, being fed information to trick their subconscious.
Nolan links the two worlds, through things like slowed down and distorted music in the dream world which is coming from the actual world. It is highlighting the subconscious link between both worlds, by having the mind experience sound from both worlds at once. Another element he explores is the manipulation through time, while having time go much faster in dreams than it does in reality. Later in the film when they enter a dream within a dream, within a dream, the sequence of steps are shown in order through the speed they're moving at. Slow motion is used to tell the most surfaced dream, while the deeper layers are shown at a faster speed. Also, when the characters are falling through the air, the next dream loses gravity and physics, complicating the dream's rules and once again, incorporating a strong and active link between the worlds.
There's a high modern sense to the film too, with the fact that Dom uses his skills and advanced technology in pursuit of a goal that is unreachable in modern society. Feeding false information into his wife's subconscious mind, he accidentally leads her down a path of insanity and doubt of reality. They spend so long in the dream world together, it makes her question reality too. Under the belief that they're not dreaming, she kills herself in front of him, tragically making the mistake of killing herself for good, which also separates Dom from his kids. As fascinating and as promising as the technology sounds, which is allowing him to explore an entire new world, it shares with us the downfalls of the concept, and reflects the dark consequences that it would have on modern society.
Although the film's structure is mostly linear, there are time jumps that also shift between reality and dream, without showing the transition. What this does is make the viewer constantly question what they're witnessing. There are times when we are under the impression that we're seeing reality, especially when the characters interacting were just seen together outside of a dream state. Suddenly, something will unravel to show us that it is a dream, but what is clever about this, is that it has a nostalgic mood. It's because in dreams, a person won't remember the transition from awake to dreaming, what they will recall is about the same as what the film does to it's structure.
In the final scene, after resurfacing from the complex layering of dreams, the top spinner is on the table. As it spins with an unclear display of momentum loss, the scene cuts. After supposedly returning from sleep and completing their mission, this last shot is there to cause great confusion and doubt. The ending is left open, making the audience question the whole reality of the film and wonder if the character is forever trapped in limbo.
A way in which this film is postmodern is the blurred lines it enforces between dream and reality. There is a lot of switching back and fourth between the two and there isn't a constant indication or sign that what we're currently witnessing is a dream. The fact that the dreams, visually appear real and clear, suggests a hyper realism for the dreamworld, as in reality dreams tend to feel less vivid and lack fully clear consciousness. Despite the fact that we can be fully aware we're dreaming, it is commonly perceived as blurred or vague. In the film, the real world is shown as clearly as the dream world, making them very difficult to separate from one another. This confuses the audience too, as if they are also in a dream, being fed information to trick their subconscious.
Nolan links the two worlds, through things like slowed down and distorted music in the dream world which is coming from the actual world. It is highlighting the subconscious link between both worlds, by having the mind experience sound from both worlds at once. Another element he explores is the manipulation through time, while having time go much faster in dreams than it does in reality. Later in the film when they enter a dream within a dream, within a dream, the sequence of steps are shown in order through the speed they're moving at. Slow motion is used to tell the most surfaced dream, while the deeper layers are shown at a faster speed. Also, when the characters are falling through the air, the next dream loses gravity and physics, complicating the dream's rules and once again, incorporating a strong and active link between the worlds.
There's a high modern sense to the film too, with the fact that Dom uses his skills and advanced technology in pursuit of a goal that is unreachable in modern society. Feeding false information into his wife's subconscious mind, he accidentally leads her down a path of insanity and doubt of reality. They spend so long in the dream world together, it makes her question reality too. Under the belief that they're not dreaming, she kills herself in front of him, tragically making the mistake of killing herself for good, which also separates Dom from his kids. As fascinating and as promising as the technology sounds, which is allowing him to explore an entire new world, it shares with us the downfalls of the concept, and reflects the dark consequences that it would have on modern society.
Although the film's structure is mostly linear, there are time jumps that also shift between reality and dream, without showing the transition. What this does is make the viewer constantly question what they're witnessing. There are times when we are under the impression that we're seeing reality, especially when the characters interacting were just seen together outside of a dream state. Suddenly, something will unravel to show us that it is a dream, but what is clever about this, is that it has a nostalgic mood. It's because in dreams, a person won't remember the transition from awake to dreaming, what they will recall is about the same as what the film does to it's structure.
In the final scene, after resurfacing from the complex layering of dreams, the top spinner is on the table. As it spins with an unclear display of momentum loss, the scene cuts. After supposedly returning from sleep and completing their mission, this last shot is there to cause great confusion and doubt. The ending is left open, making the audience question the whole reality of the film and wonder if the character is forever trapped in limbo.
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