The Subconscious Adventure

Christopher Nolan’s Inception (2010) is not the easiest movie to watch. It requires concentration and thinking. If you don’t pay attention to what’s happening on the screen, you will probably get lost in the plot. The film may seem odd or confusing when you see it for the first time, but it’s definitely worth watching.

The main character of Inception is Dominic Cobb. He is a thief, but not the most traditional one. Cobb steals information from people’s subconscious when they’re sleeping. After an unfortunate mission he is offered a different kind of job: he needs to plant an idea to someone’s mind. The operation is called ‘inception’, and that’s where the movie has gotten its name from. It seems almost impossible to succeed in the mission, but Cobb accepts the challenge. Working it out would get him the thing he so desperately needs – the way back home. Cobb’s past continually interferes with the mission but the man is ready to do whatever it takes to see his family again.

Leonardo DiCaprio is believable and almost frighteningly good as Dominic Cobb, who is haunted by the ghosts of his past. DiCaprio may not be the most beloved actor when it comes to critics, but in this movie he exceeds expectations by being at least as great as in Martin Scorsese’s Shutter Island.

The supporting actors have been chosen wisely. Rising star Ellen Page does well as Ariadne, the architect of controlled dreams. Her acting could be a bit more vivid in some scenes but she interprets Ariadne’s confusion, worry and growing doubts in a convincing way. Joseph Gordon-Levitt, who is remembered from the romantic comedy (500) Days with Summer, shows his versatility by playing the meticulous and quite bad-ass point man Arthur. Tom Hardy brings some good old fashioned English humour in the seriousness of the movie as Eames, who can impersonate other people in controlled dreams.

Inception may demand some serious attention but after watching it for a while it becomes incredibly addictive. It grabs the audience tightly in its grip and keeps them there until the very last moments. The plot thickens evenly towards the end making the viewer squirm in the agony of wanting to know what happens next. The storyline may seem complicated but when you think about all the pieces of information you’ve gotten, you can put them together as a whole puzzle. Inception is one of those movies about which you can realize some new things even while watching it for the fourth or fifth time. Director Christopher Nolan worked on the script of Inception for about ten years, and it shows. Everything is precisely executed: nothing is left to chance.

Visually Inception is breathtaking. The carefully built world of dreams leaves the viewer in awe. Huge, derelict skyscrapers, houses turned upside down and a battle in a corridor which has no gravity… Words can’t describe these visual miracles well enough. You need to see them with your own eyes.

Christopher Nolan is known not only for great movies but also for ingenious endings. Inception is not an exception. Not much should be told about it, though, as the director himself has said that the less you know about the ending scene, the better.

So, if you’re looking for a film which is visually stunning, glues your eyes on the screen and challenges you to use your brains to the very last seconds, you don’t need to search for it anymore.

You’ve just found it.