I had the good fortune of watching Inception in the second day of its release at Chennai with a friend of mine. I had written a review, which for some reason was never posted properly. It was available in my now defunct old blog, so here it is again without any changes.
What really are your dreams? Are they some complex labyrinth that your sub conscious creates to escape reality? Do they have an existence of their own? Can you peek into another person’s dream and live it like your own? Can an entire life be spent in just one dream? These are the questions that science cannot answer at the present moment. And it takes a genius imagination to come up with something to define these questions. That is what exactly what writer-director Christopher Nolan of “The Dark Knight” fame does in his latest offering “Inception” starring Leonardo DiCaprio in the lead with a supporting cast that includes Ken Watanabe, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Marion Cotillard, Ellen Page, Cillian Murphy, Tom Hardy, Tom Berenger, Dileep Rao and Michael Caine. This is the kind of summer movie that will force you to think even after you have long left your seats in the cinema hall. A brilliant and exotic sci-fi thriller, the movie is destined to be a modern classic.
Dom Cobb (DiCaprio) is a master thief. He is a mind thief; he steals ideas from the subconscious when his victims are asleep. This dangerous liaison with the mind has made him a fugitive, away from his family. Cobb must do one last job to be able to return to his family. Can he do it? But this time instead of the usual heist of stealing an idea, he and his associates must instead plant a new idea in the victim’s mind. To do that they must take a very unconventional method, one with very dangerous consequences for their minds. He must go into dreams within dreams within dreams, although not impossible, it is indeed a formidable task. But no one except Cobb has any idea of the deadly enemy they must face. An enemy that haunts Cobb as much as it endears him to reality.
The movie is smart, innovative and a master gambit. Nolan has managed to smear our minds once again to think the unthinkable, to believe the unbelievable. The strange scenes and portrayals of everyday things in a strange way are as enticing as the paintings of M.C. Escher. The exquisite details and the master screenplay will leave the audience wanting for more. Director Nolan has kept up to his expectations of producing something that is simple out of this world. Like his other movies “Inception” too has a charm which lies in the complexity of the plot and in the suddenness of the twists and turns. The real genius of Nolan comes to light in the last scene where instead of finishing the story in a conventional way, Nolan keeps his audience guessing to what may have been reality and what may have been dreams.
It would be highly unfair to give all credit to the director, when you have a cast that includes DiCaprio. Although this is certainly not his best performance, but he has managed a very good show indeed. The supporting actors too have given their best shot and what comes out is a perfect blend of sheer genius and beauty. The actors have portrayed very accurately what would life be inside a dream. An unconventional movie with very good acting and you get something which is truly irresistible as a product.
The movie begins with an outlandish idea and throughout the movie that idea is retained. It has everything, from love, passion, action, drama, suspense to even sorrow. Tearing the norms of contemporary cinema, this is just the movie for everyone, be it a geek or a diehard romantic. If you want to spend some hard earned bucks on a classic, then “Inception” is your best bet. All in all, an ingenious display of skill this is a movie not to be missed.
Movie: Inception
Director: Christopher Nolan
Distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures
Release date: July 16, 2010 (2010-07-16)
Running time: 148 minutes
Rating: 4.5/5