I started reading the theories and everything started getting really screwy. 1) I really have no idea what to make of it. Maybe Nolan through it in to make the ending more ambiguous. 2) Maybe he's finally letting go of Mal and leaving the totem without watching it spin is a sign of growth. It's not like he's locking it away so he'll never see it. 3) Saw his totem, yeah, but it's that other guy (played be Levitt) that says that the totem shouldn't be touched, since you should know precisely what it feels like. Something that can't be perfectly replicated in the dream. 4) **** it, idk. 5) When Saito wakes up on the train towards the beginning, they leave without leaving a trace. The stewardess that set-up the machine could've done the exact same thing to keep Fischer unawares. Same reason why no one says anything. 1) Eh, maybe. I feel like that's diving a bit too deep, though. I don't know what you could consider the actual beginning of the story to be. 3) If he were dreaming, why wouldn't Mal just shoot him? 4) lol, same question again? I honestly don't know. He told the chick with the name that has a weird spelling that he can't know the details of the maze because if he does, Mal will, and sabotage the entire thing. I'm guessing that if he doesn't have his mind under control, he can bring stuff in... ?
You make some great points that i didn't notice. The only thing i noticed was that his totem kept spinning. I didn't even think about him not being connected to the device. If the whole movie was a dream, then who designed the entire thing? And if it was a dream, wouldn't all the people/projections attack the architect?
Not true, course not. But even if it were not true, you wouldn't be interested in joining me would you?
I guess the mods don't really care about spoilers, since they merged your thread anyway, ha. I think your 1), 2), and 5) may have just been filming devices/plot holes instead of actual clues. Then again, they may well have been intended. We'll never know. Also for 3) I think Cobbs says no one else is allowed to touch the totem, but seeing is fine (Arthur showed Ariadne his dice earlier). I think there's a strong possibility that he's still in limbo by the end. However, when he goes to find Saito (the last supposed 'dream' before he wakes up in the plane), it is assumed that Saito shot Cobbs and then himself. Now during the first few layers of the dream, they said that dying in the dream would send you into limbo, but this was because the sedative was too strong, but at this point in time, the sedative would have worn off by now, so dying would act as a kick. If we go by your 4), he would be brought up a layer to the snow base, where he would have been killed by the bombs set up by Eames (the British guy), bringing him up to the hotel elevator. The impact of the elevator smashing against the roof would most likely have killed him, sending him up to the level with the rain and him trapped in the van, where he would have drowned, finally bringing him into reality. I hope I haven't missed any layers by accident. Of course, there is also the theory that the whole film is a dream (your 3) in your second part), and Mal (who had escaped by killing herself) is performing Inception (planting herself?) into Cobbs' dream to make him wake up. As for your second part, 2) and 4), the bit about the train is supposed to be Cobbs' subconscious interfering with the dream, even if it had been designed by someone else. It happened with at the very beginning in Saito's dream, and also at the snow base (Eames' dream?).
Not fussed on reading all these essays about Inception. I took what I needed from the movie and left without wanting to analyse it to death.
Can't please everyone can you? No matter how good something is, someone is always going to say it could have been better. But could they have done anything half that good to begin with? No.
The only person who can understand Donnie Darko without reading about the story on the Internet is the next great Sci-Fi writer of this age. And I love analyzing movies to death, thank you very much.
Thing is, movies like these don't have a definitive plot. It's more of an experience than just passively watching a movie like Iron Man. You have to think and analyze. Your personality and what you want to believe affect your view on the movie.
After watching DD i went back and watched it 5 more times, because I just didn't understand. - Eventually I got things together and then read a really really long article about it online.
