Inception: What a Concept

I want to start this post by saying “Not since The Matrix have I viewed a film so unique, engaging, and thought provoking”. Unfortunately, that type of statement is so iterative that I feel I would be doing the movie a huge disservice. Therefore I will simply open with, Inception what a concept!

It is at this point in my thought process where I usually say something like, “spoilers to follow” but in all honesty I am not entirely sure that what I got out of that movie will be what you might. As I left the theater I was already arguing with my wife about how the movie ended, what was real, and what was not. This is most certainly a movie that demands repeated viewing.

However, before I get a second look at this film I would like to lay out what I believe to be the three possible explanations for the course of events in this movie.

The first and most simple explanation would seem to be that Mal was right and the world Cobb “lived” in was in fact a construct of his own mind. Therefore when Cobb went four layers deep at the end of the movie he was in reality at least five dreams in. This would be supported by the fact that the top was not pictured falling at the end of the movie. Additionally, Cobb seemed to float between locales in the “real” world as easily as he did in the dream. Finally, how could Cobb’s father be a professor in Paris and raise his children in L.A.?

The second way events may have played out would have simply been that the real world was real but Cobb got stuck in the limbo state when he went back to save Saito. We saw Cobb spin the top many times during the course of the movie and the only time it was not depicted falling was in the last scene. Cobb’s children were wearing the same clothing he had visualized them in throughout the course of the movie and they appeared to not have aged a day.

Finally, it is possible that Cobb succeeded and his wife was wrong. Saito woke from his 50 year limbo state and immediately dialed his contact at the US State department to clear Cobb of his crimes. While the top did not fall as the credits cut onto the screen it was wobbling and could have fallen over.

I certainly have my favorite explanation, but I would love to hear what other people have to say about this movie! Which path do you believe is the one that accurately describes the course of events? I would like to end on three words which alone would have made this movie worth the price of admission (steep as it was), “floating fight sequence”!