3. 1. Dream thief with an unruly subconscious
2. Dream Architect
3. Pharmacologist
4. Fischer‟s godfather and mentor
5. Identity thief specialist
6. Manages/researches the dream missions
7. Heir to a business empire
8. A manifestation of Cobb‟s subconscious
9. Gives Cobb and co. the mission
4. 2010
Director & Writer – Christopher Nolan
Production Companies – Warner Bros.
Pictures, Legendary Pictures, Syncopy
Cast – Leonardo DiCaprio, Joseph Gordon-
Levitt, Ellen Page, Tom Hardy
Budget - $160,000,000
Gross revenue - $825,956,569
5. Christopher Nolan: “I wanted to show the potential for the real world
to have analogies to the dream world.”
“The concept that dreams feel real while we‟re in them underlies the
whole film.”
Leonardo DiCaprio: “It‟s this whole different set of rules and laws
that applied within the insane world that Chris Nolan created.”
6. 8.9/10 – IMDB
86% - Rotten Tomatoes:
“smart, innovative and thrilling.”
Amongst its awards are 4 Oscars, 3 Baftas
and 5 Saturn Awards
7. Confusion over time and space:
-alternates between dreams and reality
-fragmented narrative as it alternates between settings (e.g.
hotel to snow scene)
- Do we really know where we are, who‟s dreams, who‟s
reality?
Decline of meta-narrative:
-presents the idea that there is no single truth or idea to
explain the world. It is suggested in the film that it is
personal and defined differently from person to person (micro
narratives)
8. Style over substance – the dreams have to
„look‟ correct and they often do but on close
inspection the flaws are there e.g. the carpet
in Saito‟s „love nest‟
Not everyone needs to know the details of the
dream (only the „dreamer‟) it just needs to be
convincing
BUT the brain can tell the difference – What
happens when people start to realise that
some is wrong in the dream? What comment
is being made here about the post modern
society (Think back to The Matrix)
9. Ideology:
-question whether Cobb and his team are good or bad (they
are criminals, but have good motives)
- The „Drug Den‟ – people seem to prefer the hyper reality to
the real world „the dream has become their reality, who are
you to say otherwise‟
- Redistribution of wealth and attack on the film industry…
Narrative:
- fragmented (alternates between scenes, e.g. on plane and
then suddenly in dream)
- not chronological (e.g. see him washed up on the beach at
the beginning and then near the end)
- Multiple narratives – stories
within stories.
10. -the cafe scene
-the hotel scene (oblique angles)
-the road scene
Media Language:
- its constructed nature is obvious at points, for example...
Also, slow motion and flashbacks
are used.
11. Audience 1: What do you think happens at
the end?
Audience 1: The Marketing Campaign
12. Audience 2: demands a lot from the
audience in terms of active engagement.
They need to engage intellectually to
understand the text.
Audience 2: How „comfortable‟ and
reassuring was the ending? „ It‟s one of
those rare films that, just for a
second, makes you question your own
reality‟
13. What evidence is there to support that this
film is
Action Adventure
Thriller
Science fiction
Experimental
14. The Penrose staircase is referenced during the film
‘Inception’. This expands on the idea that anything in a
dream can be possible with the architects creativity.
15. During the film ‘Inception’ there is a reference to the
photographer Ori Gersht who also blows up things as
they have done in the film ‘Inception.’
16. The scene with the mirrors references Citizen Kane
when he sees himself indefinitely reflected. In the film
‘Inception’ it shows the idea that there are many
worlds than reflect off this one world. This reinforces
the dream within a dream concept. This could also link
with Hyper reality….
17. “The film is a metaphor for the way that
Nolan as a director works, and what he‟s
ultimately saying is that 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.”
18. What elements of inception could have
alienated audiences?
Are the various dream levels differentiated in
any way so that audiences can keep track?
How?
Is Inception the brainiest blockbuster ever?
Explain other movies that could hold this
title.
Editor's Notes
Once you are aware of the matrix it interacts with you – our society doesn’t like intrusion.
Drug den – injections (people hooked up) they live to come to do that, that is their reality. Dream is now reality. Totally in a hyper reality, choosing it because it’s better than their real lives. Who are we to question they are wrong.
The passive audience, all come away with the same understanding?
