Every so often, there comes along something that blows your mind. I wouldn’t say it’s a once in a lifetime experience, as something always comes along an challenges that perspective. For me, the things that blow my mind include: books, films, and amazing scenery etc. There are few films that have blown my mind, Hero and The Matrix are two films that challenged my thoughts on films. The first because the cinematography was utterly stunning (even more so now we’ve got it on Blu-ray), the second because it challenged my mind, much like an M C Escher drawing, paradoxical I guess you could say.
Of course there are films in our burgeoning collection that awe me, I love them, they’re fantastic entertainment, Casino Royale, The Day After Tomorrow to name a couple. I love those films for different reasons, although I’ll admit that Casino Royale went on a tad too long. There are also films that have been highly rated that I just thought the hype was just that, hype and hot air. Titanic and Avatar are two such films that come to mind. I can even say that an acquaintance was dismayed to find that I’ve never seen Titanic, nor do I have any desire to.
Today however, I was blown away by Inception. I had slight misgivings over the film, simply because its star is Leonardo DiCaprio, who to be frank, I can’t stand and I don’t think is a great actor (I know there are those who would beg to differ, I’m just one lone voice), still I knew it had Michael Caine, Marion Cottilard and Tom Hardy in it so there was some saving grace in there. The film however, isn’t simply about the actors, nor the special effects or the story, it’s all three together that make it something breathtaking to behold.
Unlike The Matrix which could be pulled to pieces the minute they released the two sequels, this film is well thought out, and you can see that Christopher Nolan has looked at similar films and tried to learn from the ludicrousness of them. The story is well thought out, with no little detail overlooked. Even where the architect is taught about paradox structures, has a reason to it. You’re spoon fed little pieces of detail that build up like the structures they’re creating in the dreams. It’s very much like pulling apart each layer of an onion (without the eye watering consequences).
Oddly enough, watching the film, I’m reminded of that legendary line uttered by Morpheus in The Matrix, ‘Have you ever had a dream, Neo, that you were so sure was real?’. Of course there are many similarities that can be drawn between the two films, although I’d have to say Inception was probably more believable as something that could actually take place (only slightly mind you). I know for certain that there are many occasions when I’ve wished my life was a dream, and that I could wake up and it would somehow be somewhat better than it actually is.
I think it’s now written in stone that the Wachowski brothers have had their day. With two spectacular Batman films under his belt, and now Inception, I would suggest that Christopher Nolan is now a force to be reckoned with. It would be interesting to see what he would do with a Bond film, he’s already said that a lot of Inception was done in homage to the Bond franchise, and that’s none more evident than with the snow fortress part of the dream (think Timothy Dalton in The Living Daylights or The Spy Who Loved me). Every detail has been well thought out and carefully crafted, and of course that’s what the film is all about, little details that plant themselves in the sub concious psyche. Well I think he’s certainly done that, and spectacularly at that.
If you really do only see one film this summer, make it Inception.
