Inception - Christopher Nolan

Like the final scene in Shutter Island the last moments of Inception are very controversial. The audience is forced to question whether the main character, Dom Cobb, has finally made it home, into the real world, or whether he is actually still in a dream. These questions add to the mystery and horror that are important features of the psychological thriller genre.

                                                           

Inception was directed by Christopher Nolan and released in 2010. The plot is an intricate and mind-bending. Dom Cobb is enlisted on a mission to perform ‘inception’ – to plant an idea in the mind of Robert Fischer Jr, through his dreams. However, we soon learn that Cobb is beginning to lose track of what is reality and what is a dream, especially after the death of his wife, Mal.

Like in the two previous films, Triangle and Shutter Island, guilt is an important theme in Inception – in fact, Cobb’s mission is almost destroyed by his guilt-based projections of his wife in the dream worlds. Cobb believes he is responsible for her death as he performed inception on her which then resulted in her suicide. However Cobb is able to come to terms with what happened, especially when he reunites with his children in the ending sequence of the film.

This ending sequence is extremely powerful and again, is very different from Triangle and Shutter Island. Sound is extremely important in these final moments. There is not one scene in the whole of the film where sound is not used to enhance the stories atmosphere and this scene is no different. Hans Zimmer’s soundtrack evokes a powerful emotional reaction in the audience and the music featured in this scene, ‘Time’ is especially compelling. Corrigan and White state that; “Films that adhere to the principles of verisimilitude will use sound to amplify, as it were, what is taking place on the screen. Attention will be directed back to the characters, actions and mise-en-scene by sound that supports it.” (205) The music in the final scene certainly amplifies the action. As Cobb walks into his family home the music increases in intensity, creating a suspenseful tone. When Cobb finally sees his children the music softens, emphasising the tenderness of this moment. For a brief period of time, the audience believes that this is the happy ending they have been waiting for. However as the camera moves towards the spinning totem, which is what Cobb uses to tell whether he is in a dream or the real world, the music crescendos and then abruptly cuts out before the totem can stop spinning. This leaves the audience wondering if Cobb really found his happy ending – if he was really reunited with his children.

These questions about reality and the mind – what is real and what is not – are what make psychological thrillers so fascinating to watch and so thought provoking. The best kind of films are the ones you are left wondering about after the film is over, and Inception certainly does this. The storyline is so complex that in many ways, the second viewing is more satisfying than the first – and the same could be said of Triangle and Shutter Island.