You Might Have Misunderstood It - Dream Scenario Explained
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- Опубліковано 29 вер 2024
- This is my breakdown, analysis, and spoiler review of the movie Dream Scenario (2023) staring Nicolas Cage and directed by Kristoffer Borgli.
I've seen a lot of reviewers say that Dream Scenario was about cancel culture and then complain that the film didn't have much to say on the topic.
I think that's because cancel culture was only a minor theme in this film.
For me "Dream Scenario" was an exploration of the collective unconscious and its influence on Paul Matthew's individual consciousness.
Dream Scenario explained, or rather alluded to, how personal perceptions, dreams, and the subconscious mind interact within the larger framework of a collective psyche.
It suggests that our individual minds are not isolated entities but are interconnected parts of a broader, shared mental landscape, akin to a 'global brain' or 'swarm intelligence'.
This concept is embodied in the film's narrative and the journey of its protagonist, Paul Matthews, highlighting the idea that our understanding of ourselves and others is limited and shaped by this collective psyche and our limited access to it.
To me, the film was about a lack of gratitude. Paul honestly has it pretty good. He’s a tenured professor teaching on a topic he’s passionate about, he has a smart, capable wife who loves him, and by all accounts he lives a comfortable, middle class life with his lovely family. But he feels as though he should have more, as though he deserves more. At literally every turn, he fails to consider or give credit to other people’s perspectives - unless they benefit him. I do think that the whole movie was sort of a dream in his mind, kind of a “you want everybody to be thinking about you all the time? okay, well here you go!” situation that reveals he should have just made the best of his unremarkable but respectable life. And I actually saw the scene between him and his wife near the end where they say goodbye to be what she would dream about if she did dream about Paul. The whole movie, Paul is concerned about what people who aren’t really in his life are thinking about him, and he doesn’t do much in those people’s dreams because he doesn’t mean anything to them. But his wife is pretty much the only person who genuinely accepts him for who he is, so if she did dream about him, it would be a happy dream. Tragically, I think Paul is too blind to recognize what he had until he loses it. Maybe I’m missing something, but in every dream (except for the final sequence which is different for obvious reasons) there’s the dreamer and then there’s Paul, even when he has his own nightmare, so I think it makes sense for it to be Jannette’s dream. Anyway, I think you got this film way more than any other reviewing outlets - appreciate your analysis!
I like to think if the whole movie was Paul's dream he'd wake up with a new attitude of gratitude having learned from the mistakes he made in the dream ))
Thanks for the great perspective and for watching!
You didn't an excellent job of explaining the film. I also saw that people like you when they view you as someone that they approve of. However, like Buffalo Springfield stated, "step out of line and the man comes to take you away. "
L😊
Omg this is like the only explanation I could find that even resembles how I interpreted the movie. Literally, since the start of the movie we are shown how this guy is a little self centered. It’s like he’s a prick but without the proper attributes/opportunities for it to actually shine through (looks, money, power etc.) And as soon as the opportunity does actually start to present itself he falls for it. From telling his ex about how his wife thought she had ulterior motives (seemingly in hopes that she did), to going to the business meeting with nothing in mind but how they could benefit him, to even going as far as starting to have an affair for seemingly no reason (no apparent marital/home life problems were shown) and then making the apology video about how he’s the victim in all of this. I genuinely think that if he weren’t so deeply self centered he would’ve avoided this whole situation. If he would’ve continued on with his simple, modest lifestyle and not indulged any of it I believe we would have a different movie.
Thank you.
I appreciate the posts explaining opinions on this reverie and movie.
Upon being introduced to the dream technology at the end of the film, I half expected the ending to be that multitudes of resentful strangers end up tormenting Paul in his dreams, bit of poetic justice so to speak.
I think I would have liked this ending more personally.
This video is the closure i needed to feeling i understood this movie. Thanks!
It's baffling how off other reviews have been. Good job.
It's interesting, I think the dramatic moments like the fart scene and the apology scene sort of overshadowed the quieter moments and became the headlines so to speak.
There are a lot of similarities between Paul and Walter White
Literally the best analysis I've seen and I watched like 7 videos on this movie. Phenomenal points, thank you for the solid review and analysis
Hey thanks! This video hasn't really taken off the way I had hoped but comments like yours and @sheriffliberty9302 make it feel worthwhile! Much appreciated!
I agree completely this man knows wtf he is talking about on top of being able make/edit an engaging video. Can’t think of why it has such low views. Maybe mic quality? Who knows. Either way keep pushing you have a great talent.
Great insight. Spot on. Masterclass
Best take I've seen on this movie so far. Bravo!
I think the reason the ending is so sad is because he's finally succeeded to enter his wife's dream, and even then is still not willing to recognize and appreciate that it's happening. Like the rest of his life. "I wish this was real" - well it is if you choose.
Thanks for the comment, interesting to hear a different take on it 👍
But 'this' is pretty vague.
It's not his wife's dream! If we remember in the beginning of the movie, his daughter starts floating in the air while Paul watches. And we realize it's the daughter's dream. Same thing at the end. Paul floats up indicating that it's his dream, while his wife stands watching.
@@bryanbowling3150holy shit
I think its sadder because hes a good guy, just doing his best and gets walked on. Even when it becomes extreme he lets everyone walk all over him. In doing so he is missing out on himself to please others.
I took the light switch scene to be an illustration of his fame / “dream powers” - he can’t control it or turn it off and it’s constantly blaring in his face, punishing him for just being there
Great analysis!
The only thing I'd add is that Paul's disappearance from the dreams in the end isn't necessarily ideal. He has stopped resisting his shadow self, but he hasn't overcome or truly integrated it into his personality.
In the beginning of the film Paul was deeply bitter and insecure about his mediocrity. The intensity of these neurotic thoughts bled out into the collective subconscious, as you mentioned. At the end, Paul embraced his beta-ness, being made into a clown for his publicists to parade around in French bookstore basements (which maybe also represent the subconscious mind?).
The ideal end would be one where Paul reenters the public's dreams as a hero, rather than as a coward or a villain. It's interesting that the influencers can easily enter people's dreams, and that they present themselves as hero's/ saviors in their advertisements. Paul, by contrast, is incapable of entering even his own wife's dreams.
Only a real hero can save us from the fake heroes, who sell us utopian dreams (influencers).
I watched the movie twice and felt like parts of the plot went completely over my head. I watched a couple of other explanation/commentary videos but this is the only one that explains the questions I had. Amazing in depth analysis of the movie!
The audio between the movie parts and you actually speaking are a bit off, the movie scenes are louder, so a tip for future videos to try and equal out the sound more. Other than that keep up the videos, definitely subscribing for more of these!
Thanks! Glad you liked the video. I'm not sure how much understanding the layers of meaning is necessary to "get" the movie. Borgli himself said that he got fed up trying to fit all the science and philosophy together in the world he created and just pushed on with telling the story. With this one I happened to have a prior interest in Jungian psychology and emergent mind theories so I was able to pick out some things that I don't think most viewers are expected to.
I'll try harder with the editing next time ) Editing is by far the most time intensive part of the process accounting for 80% of the work in making the video. This is mainly due to needing to make sure I don't show too much of the movie so to trigger an automated copyright claim for using the video content. Use of the footage is permitted under copyright law as fair use for commentary but the bots don't know that. Anyway, I'll admit that by the end I got a little bit sloppy and published when I should have checked the audio levels more carefully. It should improve as my editing skills get better )
I just wish there was an explanation as to how or why Paul just started appearing in everyone's dreams or why his dream self became malevolent or why it all stopped.
They do imply that everyone's dreams are all connected through a shared subconscious or something like that, but for a random everyman like Paul to just suddenly appear in their dreams without any control over it whatsoever nor have any clue of what he's doing in them, you would think that Paul has some kind of dream-walking powers without realizing it.
Though, I now think that the dreams are a sort of metaphor. Him just being there and just standing idly by and doing nothing while the dreamer's in some sort of dangerous peril represent both his clinging desire for fame and recognition and his failure to obtain it, because nobody besides his family actually cares about him. And I think his dream self's sudden violent and murderous behavior represent his anger at not getting the credit he fells he deserves and is taking those frustrations out on the dreamers.
Imagine if the movie ended with this unexpected twist: after the dream technology was invented, Paul (because he was so angry how his life turned out) would've accidentally found a way to use that technology to go back in time into people's dreams. First, he was just confused, just observing, walking around, then, when he realizes what is happening, he starts torturing and killing people in their dreams (all the people that hated him). It would've been a shocking twist for me, a nice loop. All this 'Paul is in everyone's dream' would've made sense, he would've actually been guilty of everything, but he didn't know it yet.
That's a creative alternate ending! Thanks for commenting!
@@TheCinemaDetective Not at all. Thanks for the reply. :D
While that is a decent alternate ending, I’m actually satisfied with how they made it. Time travel in films has become a plot point that has been used a bit too much. I like how they did it making it stand out as its own niche thing. Doesn’t get bunched up in the “just another time travel” film.
@@LuciferMorningstar-zu1ud You have every right to have this opinion. I guess I am still a little confused why people dreamed about Paul, especially the killing part. A little 'time travel in dreams' would've been a clean explanation, a nice loop.
@@Ynook I think its paul getting his anger and even sexual thoughts out in his own dreams that he couldnt or would never do in real life but because his dreams effect others it made people hate or fear him. The hate making him even more angry causing a violent cycle for others.
So basically, this is a passive-aggressive man with low self-esteem who is having marriage troubles, and the dreams that people are having are showing his emotions in their dream when he's passive he doesnt do anything to help anyone just shows up and stands there, and since he's not talking about his issues when he reacts the people that dream about him can feel his anger, and frustrations that he bottles up inside also when he told his wife about him fantasizing about other women there is a woman who dreams about him, and his wife knows he's not cheating but she knows he doesn't desire her the way he used to
Loved this movie, really made me think. I also think Cage is a way better actor than people realize.
Your video made me appreciate the movie even more by pointing out subtle things i missed or didn't connect.
I feel like a lot of these comments might be projecting
The trailers were very misleading for "Dream Scenario": I went into this film expecting it to be a lighthearted comedic take on dreams, more akin to "Stranger Than Fiction" in tone. What I got was a strange and dark tale about a man who was so afraid to live life, that he deceived himself into being one way, over being the person he wished to be, expressed through the medium of dreams.
The film is confusing, possibly because it was advertised to be one thing, then the reality was far different. The overt references to cancel culture and a person's relationship to celebrity further confuse the narrative, almost like "If you don't get the point of this film, here's something for you to talk about." But with that said, I realise now that the dichotomy between advertising and the actual movie was probably intentional and the key to understanding the film.
Suffice to say, your analysis is brilliant and it does give a whole new meaning to the film. Through your lens, it is probably a far superior story than you first think and I shall likely watch it again with this in mind.
Hey thanks for watching the video and commenting!
Yeah, the vibe of that Cranberries song Dreams doesn't really match the vibe of the film. Luckily I only watched the trailer after I watched the film, something I might try to do more often.
"What I got was a strange and dark tale about a man who was so afraid to live life, that he deceived himself into being one way, over being the person he wished to be, expressed through the medium of dreams."
That's a perfect one sentence summation without all the stuff about Jung, Ants, and collective brain theories which try to dig into why he was afraid and what the dreams were signifying.
I think usually the director doesn't make the trailer so I guess once the marketing team got their hands on it the tone changed.
Borgli made his own promo, which was cool, but I doubt would have got as many bums on seats! You can check it out here if you are interested:
ua-cam.com/video/syAOl6iU81I/v-deo.htmlsi=rCGePGjOoy1EUklh
It's an A24 film though. This is their formula haha. You have to expect it to be pretty dark, off-beat, and in need of an "ending explained" UA-cam follow-up.
this movie was complete garbage ngl
Completely disagree
He reminds me Walter white even the company being stolen what’s going with these teachers getting their ideas jacked
Yeah I can see that Walter White comparison!
What a great and insightful analysis. I was puzzled by the ending but your analysis made it so clear. Keep it up with the quality content like this and I’m sure you will get a bigger audience on your channel
Thanks for the comment and the encouragement!
This movie is a perfect example of how stupid and irrational people can be and that people in fact live in a hive mind and can’t think for themselves
Well done explanation. This is why I love A24 films.
Great video, im just curious about his daughter because sdhe was having dreams about him as well, dose that mean she didn't truly know him as well?
Thanks for this video! I really loved this movie, and it bummed me out to look up reviews and find out that everyone-even the people who liked it-were saying it's a commentary on "cancel culture," when the real themes of the movie are so much more interesting and complex than that.
They are the same people who watched Donnie Darko, and concluded that he was just schizophrenic. They aren’t deep thinkers but for those of us who know we’re looking for something more (because why would someone write a nuanced, multi-layered movie like Donnie Darko if if it was just about a kid with schizophrenia, FFS?) we find it.
Analysis like this elevates the entire experience of watching movies. Great stuff
Makes sense. Explains the last part of the movie where we see the dream technology now out for the public as well. That he has ideas, but he never do anything about them and others steals them and make it big. Yet, he still dreams of influencers talking about the idea was his.
I think the movie is about many things, such as surrounding the zebra idea because it is being mentioned multiple times and the scene in the beginning in the class where he explains it, suggests it's about today's woke and cancel culture. That either you stick your head out and become a target or you stick with the herd like sheep. That scene makes it clear what direction this movie is going.
You see it in the scene when all the students went after him at once and published the video to cancel him. Or at the restaurant where he was reading the zebra book that everyone in the restaurant wanted him out. Same with the picture in his office when the agency called him to tell him everyone backed out of projects. That picture was of one zebra. Alone, easy to spot, easy target for predators. He mentions it again with the young woman at the bar when others were staring.
No matter what the story as a whole implies...cancel culture extremism, self worth as opposed to gratitude from others, etc. This script has no meaning behind the useful purpose of his apoearing in people's dream state. Why dammit why? Why and how did this phenomenon happen? Was he somehow in control of it... subconsciously? Was he being manipulated? These are the interesting questions. Not his constant befuddlement about getting old and irrelevant.
Phenomenal video best breakdown I could find on UA-cam about this movie. Exactly what I was looking for thank you so much.
Thanks a lot!
It seems to me like sometimes while browsing the internet, you just so happen to come across someone who really knows what they're talking about, who sees a broader picture that others don't pick up on. Thanks for filling us in.
Your audio is terrible
Wow! Now I realize that I'm just an ape descendent watching pixels flicker on a screen. I enjoyed this movie, but I didn't see what you see until you showed me, Tnx.
lol we're all ape descendants )) I didn't understand all that much on the first watch either, there was a lot of rewatching, and research involved to make this video and even then it's just an opinion and I'm sure it's not 100% right just an interpretation.
Thanks for your comment!
His taking of his wife’s last name and living in her childhood home was also a sign of his inaction and weakness. He’s moved out at the end and hopefully changed his own name back.
I liked the end where all the young people just assumed they knew everything and the way they talked
As a 54 year old man who has realised that he has become more and more invisible as he has aged this film infuriated me. The lack of support Paul got from anyone in the film resonates so much with my own life experience. As you age you lose so many of the things which the world considers to be important, sexual attractiveness, physical strength, societal recognition and cultural relevance to the point where in todays society you may as well just die. There are of course people in their 50s and 60s who are still considered icons or cultural touch points but that’s usually if they continue to be a character…someone who may not be what they were but who act in a way that is counter to their original persona. I genuinely haven’t been as upset by watching a film as I have by watching this. I take from it that my life is fucked. There is no positive to this.
Sorry to read your comment and how the movie upset you. Keep your chin up! Why do you think things went so badly for Paul?
Hey man, don’t let this movie get you down, there’s still plenty out there for you - make your own movie proving them all wrong !
Hey this is just a movie. Paul was more concerned with people's perception of him than he was with the positives in his life: being a professor, wife and kids, stable marriage and income. Don't be like Paul, appreciate what you have, live for yourself and f'ck other people's perceptions.
I think the film very obviously contains both an exploration of Jungian psychology and a clever, often insightful take on the social logic of cancel culture. Both conceptual palettes are at play in the plotting and character development, and it doesn't surprise me that the director would rather emphasize the more abstract, psychological interpretation in the promotion of the film than one that sets off divisive culture war scripts in the minds of most Americans.
I thought the movie was about being greedy and not realizing you have what you needed all along and in the end you lost it all blinded by the bs
The film is 100% about cancel culture ostensibly... Nicholas Cage says that in an interview about the film.
The opinions you expressed are interesting (I feel like you're reaching a bit on some of them) even though Jungian psychology is new age trash and not used anymore, other than by dippy yoga people looking to create a religion about themselves.
You also missed a couple of key points - like his shoulders being huge in the dream at the end - him being an idealized version of himself... strong and able to take on all the stress if the world (It's the Talking Heads suit mentioned earlier).
And how could you not address the part about them breaking the 4th wall and saying the name of the book was supposed to be Dream Scenario- thereby implying the viewer is the dreamer?!
Fantastic film though - his best since Adaptation in my opinion.
Great analysis of the film. Admittedly my first reading of this film was it being about cancel culture and mob mentality. I realise this neglects a lot about Paul's character and behavior in the real world. i read the Zebra metaphor as an alegory for public shaming culture - to stand out is to risk becoming prey. The Jung reference went over my head as i wasn't familiar with his work. Thanks for your great insights
I didn’t really like this movie a whole lot tbh. Nick cage was the saving grace. I thought it could have been really cool if he figured out that people were picking up on his emotions and dreaming about him accordingly as a hive mind type thing, and he used that to make a comeback somehow. I thought it was funny that I saw the parallel between his work and personal life; but the main character didn’t lol.
Its about entitled and confused coddled minds , who just follow each other's BS. It shows how reality is being run by the stupid out of fear. They are easily influenced and think they are something they are not. The best line in the film explains it, they think they have trauma but they just need to grow up.
Hahaha it’s all about the motion in the ocean 😂.
For real though. Great breakdown 👊🏻😎
Great video as always. I did not realize how important the psychological aspect was to the story before this. I loved the movie especially because of the beautiful sadness of final moments.
So interesting, love your analysis. I was pleasantly surprised by this movie and especially by Nicolas Cage. I like layered, thoughtful, movies. My favorite movies are Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and Arrival; which are similar in that way. Does anyone have any other recommendations for movies like this? I want more!! 😅
I agree that the film isn't about "cancel culture," but I think it's about the same issues that lead to the concept of cancel culture. Paul sees all these people in pain and terror, a terror that wears his face. And his only reaction is to feel persecuted, and complain about how inconvenienced he is by it all. He's then mystified when people see him as an asshole, never once acknowledging the pain everyone is going through, let alone that there might actually be a link to him. That sounds an awful lot like what people label "cancel culture."
So no, it's not "about cancel culture," but I think it's fair to say it's what this dynamic people call cancel culture is actually about.
Brilliant video! Ive gotten annoyed when people reduce it themes to critiquing cancel culture
The meaning is cool and whatever but man, the movie is so boring!
Sorry but we humans aren't a Hive mind controlled by chemical markers like ants or bees.
In fact not even mass hallucination can be proven as fact not even in situations like the War Of The Worlds radio broadcast.
Having said all that the movie is deeply unsettling because the main character has no control of what's going on even if it his own doing like with alleged supernatural phenomenon like poltergeists and yes this movie touches on the paranormal and is absolutely horrible what happens to him in "real life" in the movie and how cruel everyone including his family was towards him.
This movie may not be about social media and cancel culture but those themes are what leads and affects most of the movie regardless.
Poor Paul, at the films opening his fantasy is to be published and have written a book and his reality is his home life. By the end, he is published and his dream is return to his former life.
PLEASE DO THE CURSE!
Would love your take on it, especially the insane ending!
Thanks for your comment! I'm flattered that you'd want to hear my take! I can't promise anything because I've mainly been sticking to movies but I'll keep it in mind.
Very smart review. Thank you, it is well researched.
This reminds me more of what happened to Freddy Kruger that got him thrown in the furnace. Kids dreaming of him.
I do like this argument against cancel culture good movie sad ending
Thanks for making this analysis! This clicked in a way that the other videos I watched didn't, I agree with your take.
Seems spot on if you asked me. Not that you asked. But, here I am, aren't I?
Welp I like the movie alot more now. Excellent breakdown and put the pieces together. Wonderful discussion on the film, thank you
Glad you enjoyed it!
You're good, thank u a lot. Keep going!
Paul has a "concept" of a book.
Awesome analsis, I love Jung's theories since a long time ao and loved the movie too
I compensate.... my iq is between 120-130 🤓
I think it’s interesting his daughter dreamed her father did nothing during a dream representing disconnection between environment or emotions. He took offense, but the only instance that came to mind of him protecting his daughter was when she was 4. Her dream reflects her relationship with her father, and how she sees him in her waking life.
In the same mirror, Paul’s dream of floating away represents his continued disconnection with his feelings and environment, meaning he can’t win his wife back, but he can’t necessarily move on either. I think it does show significant character growth that he is at least in touch with his feelings towards his wife, something we don’t see much of until he looses her.
Man, your's is the best analysis of this movie I've seen so far. Subscribed!
I dont think he got a dog, i think he was dreaming a dead dog. just got done watching the movie that dog was def dead
My lucid dream reality check is looking at my hands. I tried for about 9 moths to have my first lucid dream, and begin to think the whole concept was bunk (waking state consciousness within a dream). Well, the first time you do your reality check of looking at your hands, and realize your hands are see-through and then number of fingers you have starts shifting around, it blows your mind! You feel like you're awake, but you're in a dream!
At this point, most people get so excited the first few times that they wake up. Somehow, I was able to hold it together and stay within my dream. The next move is always to project out the concept of: "Universe, how can I best be of service?" You will get answers! Characters in the dream will talk to you. Secret information will be revealed. As Edgar Allan Poe so beautifully penned: "All that we see and seem, is but a dream within a dream."
As I see it, we're always dreaming, the world that we see when we are awake is entirely constructed by our minds, just with some more constraints. I'm fascinated by visual illusions that reveal this and other phenomenon like the filling in of the blind spot. I think I've had lucid dreams but I never really remember all that much for long after waking up. Maybe I should try a dream diary or something.
Anyway thanks for your comment! Did you like Dream Scenario? I'm guessing you did )
I wish people could just talk normal
Subscribed! Amazing analysis of this movie! This video deserves a million views + .. keep going! 👏🏿
Thanks David! Glad you liked the video and the support means a lot!
Nice breakdown. I loved the ending and found it tragicly beautiful. You have gained a new sub in me.
Great breakdown. Turn up the volume. I think this movie will go over peoples heads. Nick Gage had a great performance. I think maybe Jim Carry could have pulled it off, but not to many actors could.
Nick Cage was great. Jim Carrey would have be interesting too! Thanks for your comment!
Tom Cruzes "Vanilla Sky" delt with dreams as well. It had a great cast & the biggest star in the world, but it was hard to follow like this one. The only good thing about it was there was a sense of closure when a physical reason did unfold, unlike DS. I wouldn't watch either one twice, but I do think we are in need of a movie that deals with our obsessions with instant gratification, whether it be for our physical or emotional desires. It seemed like the producers couldn't decide what they wanted outta this movie & so nobody else knew either.
Vanilla Sky is all explained in the elevator scene at the end, he's in a cryogenic stasis. Most the movie is about him needing to wake up from his "lucid dream" and face reality.
This film was so sad he didnt deserve all that it was tragic
I am going to watch the movie on Tuesday. Really looking forward to seeing how I view this movie . Very interesting Cinema Detective. I love the Scottish accent as my Mother was born in Scotland, though she is no longer with us. My own name Heather, ofcourse comes from my Mother's heritage. Success with getting to 1000 subscribers.
Hey Heather ) Lovely fine Scottish name your mom gifted you ) We're always singing about the heather in all our old Scottish songs. My favourite being "The Wild Mountain Thyme" if you haven't heard it.
Enjoy the movie on Tuesday and come back and let us know what you think after watching )
Great film. I love me a bad ending ❤
Still unsure of how I feel about the movie, but I was struck by the end half with the dream bracelet bit, reminded me so much of the anime movie Paprika which is one of my all-time favourites.
Most people have said they didn't care for the bracelet bit so much so you're the first person I read that is leaning the other way.
I didn't love it but wasn't bothered by it, I had too much love for the film by that stage anyway.
It just goes to show how we all have different experiences of movies based on our prior experiences, likes and dislikes.
One thing I'm learning with this channel is that watching a movie 3, 4, or 5 times and really studying it is only increasing my enjoyment. So if you're on the fence I recommend watching it again. It's amazing how the second viewing can change.
Thanks for your comment!
So this movie is just Persona 4 got it
Great analysis, many thanks!
This movie is so "smart" it's stupid.
Excellent video my friend. I really can see your channel becoming a staple in the movie analysis side of youtube with names like critical drinker, cinema sins, and cosmonaut variety hour.
Although I disagree with the end message of the movie. (I’d like to believe otherwise anyway)
“Intimacy isn’t possible as we put on our faces around eachother and don’t show our true motives”
I believe (and it’s something I’m working on everyday) that being your authentic self to others, acknowledging the ego yet allowing it to step aside, understanding your shadow, understanding you, will create a reality where you can be very intimate with people. If reality truly is an illusion I believe that you being yourself as authentically as possible will attract those who resonate with you higher and cut out people who don’t.
As I’m going through this process, I’m finding that I’m not hiding things from people and that other people are doing the same. I’m finding that my ego and other peoples egos aren’t taking over. I’m very interested, and honestly excited on how my life if begging to transform.
I think the human brain is as much an evolved part of our body as anything else. Hence it has it's limitations. If you place an object on the back of your hand you cannot wrap your fingers around that object because hands do not work that way. And while it's commendable to try to reduce ego and understand our own nature there's limits to what a mind can grasp because a mind is something created by evolution to serve survival. It works in a certain way. The very act of being conscious is a division of the world into observer and observed. The mind separates us from our environment before choice can even enter the picture so we can't really avoid putting on a face because it's an unavoidable part of being alive, but we can try I suppose, and that's better than nothing.
P.S. Written after drinking too much whiskey so I'll possibly regret it in the morning. Thanks for commenting on the video and your words of encouragement!.
nailed it. thank you
Love your view on this ❤
So you are telling me Dream Scenario is just a Persona 4 reference?
I'd never heard of the game before but a quick Google tells me it's at least somewhat based on Carl Jungs work. Thanks for watching!
You need a better mic
Its totally about cancel culture. You jus tryin to dial it back
Very different writing decisions would have been made if it was *just* about cancel culture
Good video.
Bro. Looking forward to more of your work. I'm gonna go back into your catalog, but, I'm wondering now if you've touched on "Birdman." If you haven't yet, I'd be interested to hear your interpretation.
Hey Rob! The channel is really on a few months old and I've been concentrating on more recent movie releases because of the higher levels of interest.
I might get around to doing Birdman one day, I have seen it but it was a long time ago I couldn't comment without watching it again.
Thanks for watching!
great!
Great analysis, I'm sure we are all collectively looking forward to more breakdowns 👏 . . I think that the appearance of mushrooms in the dreams have a symbolic meaning throughout the movie. Psychedelic drugs are unique among other psychoactive chemicals in that users often describe ‘expanded consciousness,’ including enhanced associations, vivid imagination and dream-like states 🍄 🍄
Thanks! Spaceman starring Adam Sandler will be next. It's released on Netflix tomorrow and it's based on the book Spaceman of Bohemia by Jaroslav Kalfar.
I've read the book in preparation, it's an exploration of the meaning of life, of existence, all examined through an astronaut and a talking alien that looks like a spider (Paul Dano). Should be lots of good talking points, I'm hopeful that the film will do the book justice.
The mushrooms in Dream Scenario are fascinating, it's cool that some of them are like the chocolate chip ice cream that the student is holding. There's definitely a dream-like quality to taking a psychedelic trip. Mushrooms are also fungi and they are another type of life that has been studied for collective intelligence or swarm intelligence, like bees and ants.
Very deep analysis and very well done, this video is great
Great analysis of the film. Really enjoyed it. Congrats on breaking 1k subs👏
Looking forward to the next video
huh! what happened. i thought i was watchin' some more news showdy. damn computers. it's the y2k, obvi. it just lay low a while to throw us off! mofo! it's on!
Seems to me more like Kristoffer Borgli's critique of the Scandinavian social conformity pressure, in line of The Hunt (2012) and Speak No Evil (2022).
This video was very helpful. I appreciate it, and happily subscribed. May I please have recommendations for other strange and clever films?
Paul was indeed flawed; he was making mistakes in his life with his family, with his personal life in not being more assertive in his wants, needs, desires and he did need to improve his communication skills with his wife but In no way did he deserve any of the harsh treatment he got from his students to the dean of his college, not even from his own wife, the movie was just sad all around! 💯🔥😉😁👍
What a great comprehensive summary and explanation. Amazing video!!
If this movie was based (even loosely) on actual events, that person is probably somebody you dont want to piss off or harrass. And when he says he has no recollection of being in other people's dreams, it's true.
Excellent analysis. I think in a big way this film highlights how all of society recoils when they see someone thinking something very different about themselves from what is apparent. The problem is that sometimes society is correct and that person is delusional, and sometimes society is wrong and that person knows something they don’t.
This amount of ambiguity speaks to an incomplete idea or a lack of direction. If I have to ask what’s happening all the way through the movie and even at the end it’s not resolved, it’s not a good movie.
We ARE the “little brains” just like my favorite movie Defending Your Life posits
Just watching this review made me realize how visual this movie is. I didn’t realize Paul was the hunter with the cross bow, but this video also made me realize he was dressed the same when he broke the woman’s finger. I’m sure there’s more I missed too. I have to rewatch it
I remember walking out of the theater after seeing this, it was such a great feeling. I thought this was one of the best movies I’ve seen in so long and I still do and I cried at the end so it was hilarious everyone else in the theater I overheard them saying what a shitty movie and I was just laughing at that while crying still.
I think you are unpacking some of the internal logic of the piece very well -- the sort-of mechanics behind the dreams, but the whole film itself is not literally a dream. The film presents a dichotomy between dreams versus reality, which would be rendered less meaningful if none of it were really happening. The themes of the film are undoubtedly and indisputably about social contagions and mass hysterias, in this case the nature of fame, celebrity and cancel culture, only in this case represented by a dream figure who comes to embody that whole rise and fall trajectory. Both Cage and the writer/director have talked about this in many interviews. Even in the clips you are using from Borgli (in which you've only highlighted certain portions to better support your interpretation) he is saying how it didn't start out about these modern things but ultimately became about these things. The dreams are merely the metaphor. Sure, conceptually it's about Jungian collective unconsciousness, but the story itself is more of a reflection of our modern world and values. It's a social satire more than anything else. So, I think we should disambiguate between the conceptual Jungian framework/the logic behind the film's reality with the actual messaging of the piece. Sure, it's rooted in Jung, but it's actually about social contagion.
Wow, I don't know if this is a genius analysis or if he is reading way more into the movie than there is
What a fantstic anaylasis. I was a little confused about the film but really enjoyed it. and after watching your vid really did make the film even better for me with more understanting. Excellent work