Inception
Everybody and their mother has seen “Inception”, and everybody told me to see it on a big screen. After I was able to find the seemingly only person in Atlanta who hasn’t seen it, it turned out that they don’t show “Inception” in theaters anymore. Luckily, the IMAX in Boston is still screening the film – and I’m so glad to have seen the film this way. I have no idea what an impression the film would have made on me if I had seen it on my own laptop.
Indeed, “Inception” is a feast for the eyes. I can’t quite decide whether I prefer Christopher Nolan’s or David Fincher’s style… There are certain similarities (relatively cold aesthetics, very timeless style, fast pace, near perfect special effects, impressive dialogue) and both of are very 2010. I think there is something beautiful in the uber perfection that they are trying to achieve. Everything seems perfectly matched, from Ellen Page’s lipstick to the choice of weapons and the décor and architecture of the dreams. This impression was greatly helped by the pace of the film; there was not a minute of stillness in the film, and those 2 1/2 hours felt more like half an hour. Of course, the everlasting soundtrack contributed to this impression of fast-pacedness.
But oh God, this soundtrack made me wanted to kill myself. Was it really playing all the time? That’s the impression I got, and in certain scenes in which you expected haunting silence or a dramatic piece of dialogue, there was this goddamned music!
Not having seen “Revolutionary Road” nor this “Infernal Affairs” remake and having stopped watching “The Aviator” in the middle, I don’t think I ever saw any other Leonardo DiCaprio film besides “Titanic”. Ever since, I have read a lot and the consensus seems to be that he turned into a fine actor. With “Inception”, I’d say I agree.
Poor Ellen Page had a horrible role. She had the opportunity to wear “mature” clothes and wear her hair in a way that really suits her, but really she was more than negligible in the movie. This role could totally have been filled with some other random woman (while Juno could not!) as her character went no further than being this supporting character who finally ‘understood’ Cobb. She is Watson to Sherlock Holmes, because he has to explain himself to her… and nothing more. Sure, she’s tough, smart and can fire a gun at the right time – but what more is there? Even though I still think her way of walking is still a little weird, I hope that she’ll soon get a role that doesn’t only give her money, but also the possibility to show ‘herself’.
I would call “Inception” a Deep-plot-what-deep-plot?-film. Critics seem to be praising “Inception” as a film with a new concept explored deeply. It’s the new “Matrix”! Now that might be true, but the point is, “Matrix” is not exactly deep either. During the film, there were quite a few scenes (most of them involving that impertinently annoying woman, Mall) that made my eyes roll. No single side character has a history or background of his own, nor anything like a character trait. But the worst is that there probably hasn’t been such a bloated, simply explainable back story in all of film history. The “mystery” about Mall appeared and was solved so quickly, I couldn’t quite believe myself. Unfortunately this made the whole love story in this film completely pointless for me (as it was in “Matrix” too, by the way) and I was sad Ariadne had no love interest. The original Ariadne at least had one – though it was one-sided, I think.
Dreams are overrated, yet fascinating. There is some critic that said that nobody in this movie is crazy (whereas most movies dealing with dreams also deal with craziness in a much more adequate way), and the dreams in the film are all clearly explained. This is definitely not how dreams really are, perhaps more like how we wish dreams to be. We want to control our subconsciousness, or something. So much for depth.
While there is nothing that can touch the genius of “The Dark Knight” in the past years, I think that mainstream movies are doing pretty well these last years. “Inception” is a creative work with a compelling story, absolutely stunning visuals and some great actors. It was not a revelation but I absolutely understand its popularity and would wholeheartedly recommend it – like everybody else.