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Basically Cobb and Mal spent decades in limbo, possibly longer. They were actually old people in the scenes we saw previously, but he was viewing himself as young in his own memory.
Great reaction like always, There are thrillers, and then there are thrillers. Gripping every second and couching its pages of exposition in the smartest way possible, this movie is original filmmaking at its finest i love Nolan movie. There are some fun-facts about it Christopher Nolan thought of the idea behind this movie when he was 16, and the script took him 10 years to write, Cobb's team used the French song "Non, Je Ne Regrette Rien," which translates to "No, I Don't Regret Anything" in English, as a "kick" to signal that it's time to leave a dream. Translated in English, "No, absolutely nothing / No, I regret nothing / It is paid, done, forgotten / I don't care about the past," may allude to Cobb and Saito's recurring line: "Do you want to become an old man, filled with regret, waiting to die alone?" The song is also a direct contrast to Cobb's inability to let go of his late wife, Mal. The cast and crew traveled to a total of six countries while filming this film the locations included the U.S., Morocco, Canada, France, the U.K., and Japan. Nolan's son Magnus played James, Cobb's son. Nolan also cast his cousin, Miranda, as a flight attendant. Joseph Gordon-Levitt said the scene in the hallway was both the most fun and the most painful experience he's ever had on a set. Arthur's totem, an object that signifies whether or not he's in a dream or reality, is a red pair of dice. When he shows it to Ariadne, the side with five dots faces the camera. In his dream at the hotel, the number appears several times. The hotel has at least five floors, and two "5" signs frame Gordon-Levitt several times during the zero-gravity fight scene. The license plates in Yusuf's dream were marked as "The Alternate State." The characters' dreams are filled with subtle hints that separate the subconscious from the real world. Though a minor detail, Nolan changed the cars' license plates to read "The Alternate State," dropping a hint that the action scene was happening in a dream. The scene between Cobb and Miles was shot at the architecture school at University College London, the university where Nolan studied English and met his wife Emma Thomas. Miles makes a reference to DiCaprio's role in "Catch Me If You Can." "Extradition between France and the United States is a bureaucratic nightmare," Cobb told Miles as he discusses his plan to return home to his children in the U.S. That line is a reference to his role as Frank Abagnale Jr., who gets arrested in France and sent back to the U.S. in the film "Catch Me If You Can." Nolan said in a interview about this movie ending "Whether or not Cobb’s top keeps spinning or falls on the table has no effect on the emotional conclusion of “Inception,” which for Nolan is where the heart of the story is. Cobb has made it home to his kids. The character’s emotional journey is complete, thus he doesn’t even care to check if his top spins or falls." Keep up the good work.
One of my favourite definitely top 10 movies of all time. I remember think how the hell did they do that hallway scene, like it looked so real. Then my absolute amazement when finding out. Christopher Nolan is top tier always!
Nolan was inspired by movies in which the character might not be real, like The Matrix and Dark City. Those in turn were at least partially inspired by the genius of SF writer Philip K. Dick. With this movie, it is as if Nolan is directly channeling PKD's penchant for making us second guess ourselves.
For years I was certain the spinning thing at the end was a red herring, and Cobb was back in the real world. Now I share the view that he is still in his own dream world. As with many Chris Nolan films, there is room for debate
Wrong, the spinning top was never his totem, it was Mal's his totem was his wedding ring, that everytime he was dreaming he was wearing, and when he was in the real world he didn't have it
I'd like to add one more thing in regards to my statement on this film oftentimes being confusing, especially on first viewing. My wife and I were sitting in the theater, and during the opening of the safe scene, when the safe opened and revealed it was his dad, someone in the audience shouted, "WHAT," and everybody laughed.
The spinning top was never his totem, it was his wife's. His totem was the wedding ring, whenever he was in a dream he would wear it, when he was in the real world he wasnt
Nice. Oh Andie I'm so happy you're watching this. Easily in my top 10 movies of all time, and I have to watch it at least once a year. Brilliant storytelling and great visuals. Echoes of Philip K Dick throughout this one. Lots of people seem to find this movie confusing for some reason, though I'm not sure why. The only tricky part for me was in trying to calculate the times of the kicks to ascend. And for the record, no, he wasn't dreaming at the end.
I know the biggest debate about this movie is about the end actually being a reality or not because of the big cliffhanger with the totem. Of course many speculated that it's real because at the very last frame we see the totem wobble a bit suggesting that it would indeed fall over confirming this was reality. And then of course Michael Caine actually confirmed it in an interview that it is indeed reality at the end. But the thing is to me, leaving the ending ambiguous and letting people make their own conclusions wasn't really the point. To me the whole point of the ending was that Cobb didn't actually bother looking at his totem to see if it would topple over to confirm this was actual reality. Instead he looked away and embraced his children because in that moment he didn't care if this was real or not, he just accepted he wanted to be with his children no matter what.
The wobble shows the audience that it's the real world, but Cobb walking away and not bothering to watch for a wobble or not means he had let go of his trauma, forgiven himself, and didn't care anymore if it was real or not. In a way... it's both.
I didn't see it in the comments, so if you don't mind, here are some explanations about the final part of the movie. First of all, how did Cobb arrived the second time in limbo to find Saito? And why is Saito old? The movie shows that you always land in the limbo by the shores. But Cobb was already there, so he shouldn't arrive once more. In fact, he missed the series of kicks. So basically, Cobb died by drowning in the van (noticed he and Saito were the only ones that never got out of the river?). By the time Cobb drowned, he probably spent a few years in the limbo. Then he dies in the van, and thus he's sent back to the limbo (aka the shore) once more as he can't wake up due to the sedative. Cobb is found by Saito's projections and brought back to the castle. Saito died earlier than Cobb in the 1st level, this is why he's a lot older in the limbo. He's in the limbo for decades by the time Cobb comes back. By the way, if you look closely, you'll notice that Cobb also looks a little older when he meets up Saito in the limbo. This is due to the years he spent waiting to drown in the van. Th movie implies that Saito and Cobb shot themselves to come back to reality (in the plane). But in fact, they couldn't wake up, as they still are sedated. So they probably went one last time to the limbo. And they probably spent decades there before beeing able to wake up in the plane 20 minutes before landing at LA as mentionned by the flight attendant. I think this is exactly why both Cobb and Saito look more lost than the rest of the team when they woke up in the plane. Beeing young again in that plane they last saw decades and decades ago. It's also implied that the others spent the full week in the 1st level before waking up, waiting for the sedative to stop beeing effective. In my opinion, they could do so due to Fisher's catharsis and thus his subconscious defense might be down by this time. Finally, about the never ending "is he dreaming or not at the end?" thing : Arthur told Ariadne a totem is absolutely personnal and no one can enven touch it. Later, Cobb says the spinning top is Mal's totem. The movie is tricking spectators by always showing the spinning top to play on people misunderstanding, but in fact, every time Cobb uses the spinning top, it's not to check if he's in reality, but rather to check if he wants to join Mal in death or not. In the final shot, no one except us watch the spinning top. Cobb doesn't care, he chose his children. And that's cool for him, because his children are real (you can clearly see that they older than in Cobb's dreams and memories).
1- if you enter limbo for the second time you are young again 2- Saito enter the limbo earlier than Cobb 3- Cobb spends some time finding Saito 4- In limbo both are older, but Saito always have been older than Cobb
If you’re confused about anything, or even if you understand it all and just flat out enjoy it, I highly recommend another watch or two. It gets better with more viewings
It's a lot to take in on one watch, for sure. I'm the same way with regards to liking films which take a few viewings, btw. Brain candy films rarely do it for me these days; I like a film which makes me /think/. Related: "because building a dream from your memories is the easiest way to lose your grasp on what's real and what's a dream" is one of my favorite lines from this one. Also, to refer to an utterly unrelated thing: "Mal. Bad....from the Latin" -- (River, Firefly) ;)
Ahh yes, my 2nd favorite Christopher Nolan film. It had been number one, until his masterpiece, Oppenheimer. Though this is easily number two, ahead of his other amazing movies like his Dark Knight trilogy, Interstellar and Dunkirk
Whether he was still dreaming at the end or not is still hotly debated, because Nolan, as far as I know, never shed any light on that. I'd like to think the top fell over right after the scene ended. But I also have to wonder why his kids haven't aged. Kids grow up so fast, and they shouldn't look the same as he remembers them. But, perhaps it hasn't been long enough for them to look different. Who knows.
If you like films that mess with your head like this (particularly with time), continue with Christopher Nolan's films. Literally, every film is an absolute trip. If you like deliberate time f**ckery like this one, Memento is a must as is TENET. If you want to see a really clever way he plays with time, check out Dunkirk. This guy is as close to a modern-day Stanley Kubrick as one can get IMO. I love literally everything he's done. You won't be disappointed with any of his films.
This is often considered one of the most confusing movies ever made. I saw this in IMAX theaters with my gf (now my wife). We arrived 10 minutes late, so the only seats available were on the far left hand side, first row. So we missed some portions because we couldn't see what was going on. We understood most of it, but we left a bit confused at some parts, but still liked the movie. After purchasing it, it became one of my favorite movies.
@jlhanlon1980.... I did think.this movie was slightly confusing after watching it the first time. But after another watch or two it all put itself together. Iersonally found Tenet far more confusing. But most of all, after dozens of watches, I still have issues making some sense of the madness that is "Primer". "Primer" may not be by Christopher Nolan, but my goodness does it throw my head for a look trying to rearrange the timelines in that one. Lo!
Get early access to full-length and edited reactions here 👉 www.patreon.com/andelain
Also, it's worth keeping an eye on my Community tab for general updates and polls, that way you help me decide what to react to in the future. 😊
Oh ALSO Michael Caine straight up confirmed the ending was real, because Nolan told him every scene of his is in the real world.
Basically Cobb and Mal spent decades in limbo, possibly longer. They were actually old people in the scenes we saw previously, but he was viewing himself as young in his own memory.
Thank you so much for this reaction… inception is my favorite movie of all time, I watch it like once a month, I enjoyed your reaction 🙌🏽
They did all wake up on the plane. In the last scene the spinning top on the table is beginning to wobble so it was going to tip over.
Great reaction like always, There are thrillers, and then there are thrillers. Gripping every second and couching its pages of exposition in the smartest way possible, this movie is original filmmaking at its finest i love Nolan movie.
There are some fun-facts about it Christopher Nolan thought of the idea behind this movie when he was 16, and the script took him 10 years to write, Cobb's team used the French song "Non, Je Ne Regrette Rien," which translates to "No, I Don't Regret Anything" in English, as a "kick" to signal that it's time to leave a dream. Translated in English, "No, absolutely nothing / No, I regret nothing / It is paid, done, forgotten / I don't care about the past," may allude to Cobb and Saito's recurring line: "Do you want to become an old man, filled with regret, waiting to die alone?" The song is also a direct contrast to Cobb's inability to let go of his late wife, Mal.
The cast and crew traveled to a total of six countries while filming this film the locations included the U.S., Morocco, Canada, France, the U.K., and Japan. Nolan's son Magnus played James, Cobb's son. Nolan also cast his cousin, Miranda, as a flight attendant. Joseph Gordon-Levitt said the scene in the hallway was both the most fun and the most painful experience he's ever had on a set.
Arthur's totem, an object that signifies whether or not he's in a dream or reality, is a red pair of dice. When he shows it to Ariadne, the side with five dots faces the camera. In his dream at the hotel, the number appears several times. The hotel has at least five floors, and two "5" signs frame Gordon-Levitt several times during the zero-gravity fight scene.
The license plates in Yusuf's dream were marked as "The Alternate State." The characters' dreams are filled with subtle hints that separate the subconscious from the real world. Though a minor detail, Nolan changed the cars' license plates to read "The Alternate State," dropping a hint that the action scene was happening in a dream.
The scene between Cobb and Miles was shot at the architecture school at University College London, the university where Nolan studied English and met his wife Emma Thomas. Miles makes a reference to DiCaprio's role in "Catch Me If You Can." "Extradition between France and the United States is a bureaucratic nightmare," Cobb told Miles as he discusses his plan to return home to his children in the U.S. That line is a reference to his role as Frank Abagnale Jr., who gets arrested in France and sent back to the U.S. in the film "Catch Me If You Can."
Nolan said in a interview about this movie ending "Whether or not Cobb’s top keeps spinning or falls on the table has no effect on the emotional conclusion of “Inception,” which for Nolan is where the heart of the story is. Cobb has made it home to his kids. The character’s emotional journey is complete, thus he doesn’t even care to check if his top spins or falls."
Keep up the good work.
Nolan really knows how to start and to end a movie. All of his films has epic opening and ending
One of my favourite definitely top 10 movies of all time. I remember think how the hell did they do that hallway scene, like it looked so real. Then my absolute amazement when finding out. Christopher Nolan is top tier always!
Nolan was inspired by movies in which the character might not be real, like The Matrix and Dark City. Those in turn were at least partially inspired by the genius of SF writer Philip K. Dick. With this movie, it is as if Nolan is directly channeling PKD's penchant for making us second guess ourselves.
For years I was certain the spinning thing at the end was a red herring, and Cobb was back in the real world.
Now I share the view that he is still in his own dream world.
As with many Chris Nolan films, there is room for debate
Wrong, the spinning top was never his totem, it was Mal's his totem was his wedding ring, that everytime he was dreaming he was wearing, and when he was in the real world he didn't have it
In the dreams, Cobb is always wearing the married ring but not in reality...
I'd like to add one more thing in regards to my statement on this film oftentimes being confusing, especially on first viewing. My wife and I were sitting in the theater, and during the opening of the safe scene, when the safe opened and revealed it was his dad, someone in the audience shouted, "WHAT," and everybody laughed.
Guys, in the dreams, Cobb is always wearing the married ring but not in reality...
Another banger reaction from Andelain
Thank you!
This is such a great movie. After a few times watching it you understand the complexity of the story more and more. It just takes a couple times.
The spinning top was never his totem, it was his wife's. His totem was the wedding ring, whenever he was in a dream he would wear it, when he was in the real world he wasnt
First time I watched this in theaters I was too tired, so kept falling asleep and waking up super confused!
Nice. Oh Andie I'm so happy you're watching this. Easily in my top 10 movies of all time, and I have to watch it at least once a year. Brilliant storytelling and great visuals. Echoes of Philip K Dick throughout this one. Lots of people seem to find this movie confusing for some reason, though I'm not sure why. The only tricky part for me was in trying to calculate the times of the kicks to ascend. And for the record, no, he wasn't dreaming at the end.
Very good reaction 👍
When I watched it in the movie theater I walked out Speechless. Absolutely Amazing Movie. I Loved Your Reaction. 🙌👏🤝🙏
Thank you! 😊
25:00 no, he's putting him to sleep
I know the biggest debate about this movie is about the end actually being a reality or not because of the big cliffhanger with the totem. Of course many speculated that it's real because at the very last frame we see the totem wobble a bit suggesting that it would indeed fall over confirming this was reality. And then of course Michael Caine actually confirmed it in an interview that it is indeed reality at the end. But the thing is to me, leaving the ending ambiguous and letting people make their own conclusions wasn't really the point. To me the whole point of the ending was that Cobb didn't actually bother looking at his totem to see if it would topple over to confirm this was actual reality. Instead he looked away and embraced his children because in that moment he didn't care if this was real or not, he just accepted he wanted to be with his children no matter what.
The wobble shows the audience that it's the real world, but Cobb walking away and not bothering to watch for a wobble or not means he had let go of his trauma, forgiven himself, and didn't care anymore if it was real or not. In a way... it's both.
I didn't see it in the comments, so if you don't mind, here are some explanations about the final part of the movie.
First of all, how did Cobb arrived the second time in limbo to find Saito? And why is Saito old?
The movie shows that you always land in the limbo by the shores. But Cobb was already there, so he shouldn't arrive once more. In fact, he missed the series of kicks.
So basically, Cobb died by drowning in the van (noticed he and Saito were the only ones that never got out of the river?). By the time Cobb drowned, he probably spent a few years in the limbo. Then he dies in the van, and thus he's sent back to the limbo (aka the shore) once more as he can't wake up due to the sedative. Cobb is found by Saito's projections and brought back to the castle.
Saito died earlier than Cobb in the 1st level, this is why he's a lot older in the limbo. He's in the limbo for decades by the time Cobb comes back. By the way, if you look closely, you'll notice that Cobb also looks a little older when he meets up Saito in the limbo. This is due to the years he spent waiting to drown in the van.
Th movie implies that Saito and Cobb shot themselves to come back to reality (in the plane). But in fact, they couldn't wake up, as they still are sedated. So they probably went one last time to the limbo. And they probably spent decades there before beeing able to wake up in the plane 20 minutes before landing at LA as mentionned by the flight attendant. I think this is exactly why both Cobb and Saito look more lost than the rest of the team when they woke up in the plane. Beeing young again in that plane they last saw decades and decades ago.
It's also implied that the others spent the full week in the 1st level before waking up, waiting for the sedative to stop beeing effective. In my opinion, they could do so due to Fisher's catharsis and thus his subconscious defense might be down by this time.
Finally, about the never ending "is he dreaming or not at the end?" thing : Arthur told Ariadne a totem is absolutely personnal and no one can enven touch it. Later, Cobb says the spinning top is Mal's totem. The movie is tricking spectators by always showing the spinning top to play on people misunderstanding, but in fact, every time Cobb uses the spinning top, it's not to check if he's in reality, but rather to check if he wants to join Mal in death or not.
In the final shot, no one except us watch the spinning top. Cobb doesn't care, he chose his children. And that's cool for him, because his children are real (you can clearly see that they older than in Cobb's dreams and memories).
1- if you enter limbo for the second time you are young again
2- Saito enter the limbo earlier than Cobb
3- Cobb spends some time finding Saito
4- In limbo both are older, but Saito always have been older than Cobb
If you’re confused about anything, or even if you understand it all and just flat out enjoy it, I highly recommend another watch or two. It gets better with more viewings
It's a lot to take in on one watch, for sure. I'm the same way with regards to liking films which take a few viewings, btw. Brain candy films rarely do it for me these days; I like a film which makes me /think/. Related: "because building a dream from your memories is the easiest way to lose your grasp on what's real and what's a dream" is one of my favorite lines from this one. Also, to refer to an utterly unrelated thing: "Mal. Bad....from the Latin" -- (River, Firefly) ;)
Ahh yes, my 2nd favorite Christopher Nolan film. It had been number one, until his masterpiece, Oppenheimer. Though this is easily number two, ahead of his other amazing movies like his Dark Knight trilogy, Interstellar and Dunkirk
Whether he was still dreaming at the end or not is still hotly debated, because Nolan, as far as I know, never shed any light on that. I'd like to think the top fell over right after the scene ended. But I also have to wonder why his kids haven't aged. Kids grow up so fast, and they shouldn't look the same as he remembers them. But, perhaps it hasn't been long enough for them to look different. Who knows.
If you like films that mess with your head like this (particularly with time), continue with Christopher Nolan's films. Literally, every film is an absolute trip. If you like deliberate time f**ckery like this one, Memento is a must as is TENET. If you want to see a really clever way he plays with time, check out Dunkirk. This guy is as close to a modern-day Stanley Kubrick as one can get IMO. I love literally everything he's done. You won't be disappointed with any of his films.
This is often considered one of the most confusing movies ever made. I saw this in IMAX theaters with my gf (now my wife). We arrived 10 minutes late, so the only seats available were on the far left hand side, first row. So we missed some portions because we couldn't see what was going on. We understood most of it, but we left a bit confused at some parts, but still liked the movie. After purchasing it, it became one of my favorite movies.
You ever see the Original Jacob’s Ladder or Twin Peaks: Fire walk with me.? Those are a total trip!
@jlhanlon1980.... I did think.this movie was slightly confusing after watching it the first time. But after another watch or two it all put itself together. Iersonally found Tenet far more confusing. But most of all, after dozens of watches, I still have issues making some sense of the madness that is "Primer". "Primer" may not be by Christopher Nolan, but my goodness does it throw my head for a look trying to rearrange the timelines in that one. Lo!
Took too long to grasp? Have fun with ‘Tenet’. 😑
no one ever reacts to this movie it's insane
Most have seen it lol
OMG! A Bluesky account and no X account. Have no interest in what a crazy thinks of this movie!
people who didn't cry at the Inception are soulless accomplices of the devil