The "Inception" Thread

[Alex]

I still find it unsatisfactory. So the whole movie is actually a natural (unconstructed) dream being had by Cobb as a result of some guilt he's feeling over the ending (by death or otherwise) of his relationship with Mal?

That may be the intended meaning from Nolan, but if so I like the movie a lot less, not a lot more.

I don't see how the characters don't lose significance if they're all just "projections" (though the definition of projections as we've been made to understand them by the movie should now be ignored).

And if all this anguish over Mal isn't due to him actually thinking he caused her death (though how would be a complete mystery since the explanation given is entirely fictitious under this interpretation) and simply because their marriage ended then he shifts from tortured to pathetic in my view, especially since we have no idea why it ended to have any sense of the validity of his self pity.

Of course it doesn't help that I and the author of that apparently disagree on a key underlying point: "...the catharsis found in a dream is as real as the catharsis found in a movie is as real as the catharsis found in life..." I've no doubt that writer believes that (and Nolan may also believe it), but to me it is utter bull****.

[wendybeth]

If the movie was just a dream, from beginning to end, then nothing the characters do or say can be taken as truth. If the rules really aren't the rules but rather constructs to further the allegory for the filmmaker (going by Devin's interpretation), then the whole thing was a pretty waste of time for me. It's just one very long Mobius-styled vanity piece. I think I'd almost rather believe it full of plot holes than follow Devin's mode of thought- while it has indeed stirred much debate, my interest is rapidly waning and I even feel a bit cranky about the whole thing- Leo D is not my favorite actor, and the special effects were not enough to make it worthwhile viewing.