Movie Analysis - Inception

Synopsis:

In the film Inception, Dom, the main character was exiled out of the US because his wife committed suicide and framed it on him after Dom planted an idea in her mind by going through her dream. However, his family is still there, and Dom tries to find a way back into the US. He then meets Saito, who says he can clear Dom's records if Dom goes into Fischer's dream and finds the code for the safe which contains important information. Dom agrees and does his best trying to come back to the US.

What are the layers of context/setting in this film?

The obvious is that Dom is trying to go into other people's dreams and fight off all the projections that appear in every person's dream. Every time he is fighting these projections, his deceased wife Mal appears, and every time he is reluctant to shoot her because he loves her. However, she is dead, and what's dead is dead; in other words, Mal cannot be the same Mal he once loved. The dream purposely put Mal in for a projection to stop Dom because he know he would never be able to get past it. In the end, he has to face himself and kill her for himself and his family. In order to return to the US, Dom has to steal the information via a number of dreams, or, in other words dreams within a dream; each of these dreams gets hasher and darker as the layers of dreams build up. The first layer is a rainy city, the second a hotel, the third and bottom layer is the cold and snowy mountains - all of these layers have projections, more as Dom goes deeper.

What expression of darkness had the most impact on you and why?

In the film Inception, Dom, the main character, was going into Fischer's dream and trying to steal information from him using methods to convince him that he is in a dream. This expression of darkness impacted me the most because Dom is going into other people's privacy and tricking them into telling him valuable information. If anyone did this in the world we live in today, that person who has the ability to go dream-travelling would make huge amounts of money, as he would have all the information he would need in this world! However, it is too bad that we do not have this technology in this world, as it would be totally unjust, unless if we were Dom, because of his situation of not being able to return to US and seeing his family after his wife Mal committed suicide and framed it on him. Dom going to other people's dreams and stealing information is absolute darkness, but we do not realize it because of his situation.

EQ-How does the study of fiction and nonfiction texts help individuals construct their understanding of reality?

We do not live in a perfect world; everybody knows that. There are always something lurking around, something mysterious that nobody knows. When Inception talks about technology that could permit people to go into other people's dreams, most people would open their minds and say "Hey, could this actually be possible?" In this case, there is no evidence that technology could allow us to invade other people's minds, however, this also tells us that there is more to this world than what we only see. There could be an asteroid coming towards Earth right now, or there could be an atomic bomb project right this instant, and nobody knows about it. Therefore, we must be aware that anything could happen in this reality.

Connection

I like to connect this film to I Am Legend because of the risk it takes to do something. In Inception, when Dom and his team go dream-travelling, there are many projections who try to stop them, including a projection of Dom's wife, Mal. Should a member die while in a dream, they will go into limbo, where they are trapped forever. The risk in I Am Legend is the cure for cancer. When a cure is finally found, the cure mutates into a more deadly strain of virus, which basically exterminates the world. This explains that whenever we try to accomplish a task, me must think of all the consequences associated with it.

How does the filmmaker convey evil or darkness?

The filmmaker conveys evil through its plot and characters and setting. The plot focuses on Dom going through other people's brains and stealing information. This infringes on privacy rights. Also, there is a lot of violence in this film. The characters also convey evil and darkness. Mal, Dom's wife had committed suicide already, but every time Dom goes into a dream, Mal is there as a projection, always wanting to give Dom failure. The people stealing information from other people's minds also conveys darkness. The setting conveys darkness too. In one scene, it shows the levels of the elevator of Dom's dream; each with a different memory of Dom and his family. One level shows his kids in a sunny day playing and having fun, while the very bottom level displays a hotel room, all wrecked, glass shattered everywhere, toppled furniture, and an open balcony where Mal commits suicide. Along with the tone of the music, every time we think about this kind of setting, we can get an impression of Mal framing her suicide on Dom.

T-W: This world is full of people robbing and stealing from other people. Most of the time, we despise these thieves because they are violating human rights and infringing on our privacy. However, we do have to understand that some of them have a ethical purpose just like Dom trying to get back to the US to see his family again. Maybe the people are poor and have nothing so they steal, or maybe people steal because someone else has treated them unfairly - Whatever the case is, we have to differentiate what kind of thievery is good and bad, and help the people who desperately need help

How can a character represent darkness?

A character a represent darkness through their thoughts and actions. In one scene, Dom and his team were forcing Fischer to spill out the code because of the greed of the information inside the safe. Also, Dom's thoughts of Mal will always scar him and always influence him in every choice that he makes, as the distant memory still exists in his mind. Mal, as a projection, will always try to cause Dom failure.

Cask of Amontillado

What are the layers of context setting in this film?

How does the filmmaker convey evil or darkness? Is i through the plot, imagery, characters, setting? What expressions of darkness had the most impact on you and why?

How can a character represent darkness? Who or what is evil in this film? From whose perspective or in what context?

What factors contribute to the character's evil actions? What patterns in society or contexts help and/or hinder and/or change his behavior?

What are the roots of this person's choices/evil/dark behavior? What are the choices he/she makes or could have done differently?

How does this character/plot/setting symbolize the darkness in all of us? In humanity?

Why is there darkness in humanity?

The definition of humanity is the quality of being human. Human nature is usually described as benevolence, kind, caring, et cetera, but wars and violence are also a very big part of humanity. That brings up the question: Why is there darkness in humanity? The literal meaning of darkness is the absence of light, but some further meanings are wickedness or evil, obscurity or concealment. If we turn on the news, chances are they will say something about shootings. This is totally darkness, as anything evil is considered dark also. All the time, we have wars, violence, crimes, thievery - these are all very dark, and they are very well part of human nature. But the real question: Why is it a part of human nature? One may argue that the society is unfair to the citizens, and therefore the citizens rebel by committing crimes. Also, darkness could be used to bring out the justice system. Without bad, there cannot be good. Regardless of the reasons, darkness exists, and it is a big part of human nature.