Released in 2010, “Inception” is one of the cinematographic masterpieces of its decade. The film, directed by Christopher Nolan, continues to fuel various theories and interpretations because of its main subject: the dream. But what does a gender specialist think?
Inception: Christopher Nolan in his firmament
May 2010: while he had already marked the spirits 2 years earlier with The Dark KnightChristopher Nolan returns to his audience with this trailer.
Thereby, Inception appears in a crazy 2-minute trailer. The scenario ? Impossible to know exactly what it is about in view of these first images. His cast? Completely crazy! Indeed, who can boast of having Leonardo DiCaprio, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Elliot Page, Tom Hardy, Ken Watanabe, Marion Cotillard, Cillian Murphy, and Michael Caine in the same cast? Christopher Nolan’s new film was, at the time, a real mystery, and that’s what pleases.
After huge promotion from Warner Bros, the film was released in July 2010. And, oh surprise: it is a huge success. In fact, commercially Inception grossed $826 million at the box office. As for the press, the latter is completely won over by the new masterstroke of British genius. The film even won four Oscars, including Best Cinematography. It was also nominated for Best Picture and Best Original Screenplay. Not bad for a blockbuster that is neither a comic book adaptation, nor a sequel, nor a reboot.
As a reminder, Inception follows Cobb, a thief who specializes in “extraction”. Indeed, he can seize the most precious secrets of an individual, buried deep in his subconscious, when the latter dreams. He is then engaged in a perilous mission: to practice “inception” on a businessman. Thus, Cobb and his men must not only penetrate the subconscious of the individual but also implant an idea in him. The thief doesn’t know it yet, but this perfect crime is not going to turn out smoothly.
Deciphering a dream
Since its release, Inception is a real crossroads for discussions on various forums. What made the most talk? Its end, of course. A conclusion on which Christopher Nolan, Leonardo DiCaprio, and Michael Caine were themselves questioned. In 2017, Konbini recounts an interview with Business Insider in which a dream analyst named Susana Martinez-Conde, is asked to decipher the dreams of the film.
First considering Inception-like a very good film, it then develops on its content. So she’s surprised by the degree of control and lucidity of the characters when they find themselves immersed in the land of dreams. For the neuroscientist, nothing is rational in a dream, and those who find themselves inside should normally do irrational things, which is not the case in the feature film:
In Inception, everyone is perfectly rational. They have clear goals and motivations, despite the fact that they are in the middle of a dream.
Susana Martinez-Conde admits, however, that a key scene in the film perfectly illustrates the complexity of a dream. Indeed, it recalls the passage during which Cobb makes Ariane understand that they have been in a dream since the beginning of their conversation. For the analyst, when the person does not know how to locate himself in time and space (How did he get there? Where is he?), this means that he is immersed in a dream.
Inception is therefore not the most realistic film about the conception of the dream. However, some passages show that Christopher Nolan wanted to remain credible exploring this subject to the end.
