It’s crunch time, ladies and gentlemen.
We begin our countdown to the gold by introducing the bronze; however, this number 3 is far from some consolation prize film that almost! but just did not quite make the top of the list. To call our number three, Inception, anything short of a masterpiece would be an injustice to cinema itself.
I am not going to sit here and attempt to summarize this film. That would prove nearly an impossible feat, and one that would only dilute the true brilliance of this movie’s plot. I will, however, provide the basics for context: Inception is based around the premise of the manipulation of dreams, and how this manipulation can be a business black market tool, in which secrets and strategies can be extracted and altered. It is a concept that is not simple, that almost hurts your head to think about. Therein lies the genius that is Christopher Nolan.
Regarded by most film fanatics as one of the greatest modern filmmakers, Christopher Nolan is known for pushing the edge on plot concepts, leaving an audience with permating storylines that make them enter back into the real world with an almost wariness, a distrust in the environment they have always known as authentic. I know, I know- you are asking yourself what exactly that even means. It is a feeling that is extremely difficult to put into set words. The best way I can describe it is like this: you have known the color red for your whole existence. You know it’s shade, you know how to pick it out of a painting, even how to make it. And then, one day, you meet a man who tells you that no, actually, that shade you know so well is not in fact red, but a whole different color entirely. This man is convincing enough that you begin to question this simple truth you have known your whole life, you begin to see every color and hue in a new way. That is what Christopher Nolan does to you with his films; he makes you second guess everything you have known to be the truths of the universe, leaving you with an altered perception of almost everything in your life. The beauty in his filmmaking is unparalleled: I dare you to watch the scene below without being shocked with the brilliance of its construction.
A beautiful film landscape is nothing without those to construct it. The actors in Inception are brilliant; they are able to dance through the difficult storylines with ease, and provide the balance between science and emotion that the movie calls for. One of my favorite things about Nolan is his casting choices. Nolan will often cast actors repeatedly, as he has found them to be people that can work within his demanding storylines. Actors like Cillian Murphy, Tom Hardy, and Michael Caine have been reincarnated throughout Nolan’s films, each in a new capacity. I would be careless to not emphasize the Leonardo Dicaprio’s performance, one that cut through the depth of the plot and allowed for true human emotion to surface. The scene below is arguably one of the greatest displays of his acting genius.
I have probably weighed you down with my lengthy descriptions of how the film alters a viewer’s perception. Maybe this concept is foreign to you; perhaps you have yet to have been so moved by a piece of cinema that everything around you changes, that you feel you sometimes are living in a distorted version of reality. But it is an experience that is not like any other- almost painful in a way. The ability of one film to affect even one individual like this, however, is greater than any reward, any box office dollar amount. I urge you to find this film for you: maybe this one, maybe not.
Escape the comfort zone you exist in. Hurt your mind a little.
