Spoilers galore after the jump…

After careful thought, I truly feel I have come to a logical and definitive thought on what really is going on throughout this amazing film. There are a million explanations and thoughts about this across the web, but this is one I truly believe (mostly because I thought of it myself, naturally).  Maybe the 2nd viewing will change my mind, but for now…

…it all seems to stem around Cobb’s wife, Mal (Marion Cotillard). The “inception” going on throughout the film is really Mal trying to break her husband free from his dream world. This is one of many reasons she always pops up throughout his subconscious. She delves deeper and deeper into his layers of dream levels in an attempt to convince him that he has yet to come back to reality . When she jumps from the ledge, she is in his dream — trying to get Cobb to follow along and wake himself up rather than continue digging deeper into limbo.

A few things to ponder:

Christopher Nolan spent over 10 years perfecting this script. You can be assured that every scene, every piece of dialogue, and every set piece is there for a specific reason.

• Why do you think Michael Caine had the same brown outfit on in both of his scenes (classroom in Paris and Los Angeles airport terminal)?
• Why didn’t the kids ever age when Cobb supposedly was globe trotting and spending 50 dream years (over 2 real years) with his wife?
• Remember the scene where Arthur (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) told Ariadne (Ellen Page) that the dreamer needs to have a totem to let them know when they are dreaming and when they are in reality (Cobb’s totem was a small spinning top that would spin eternally in the dream state, but topple in reality.)?  Arthur was very clear that she should be the only one to know everything about the totem. But Cobb’s small spinning top totem was originally his wife’s. Hmm…
• Do you ever truly see how Cobb gets to any specific scene (the Ocean, Paris, etc)? “You never remember the beginning of a dream…”

And how about this:

• Did you notice how quickly Page’s character picked up on the dream world manipulation techniques? I’m thinking that her character (and the rest of the cast) are working alongside Mal and her father (Michael Caine) to execute the inception on Cobb in an attempt to save his life. How else do you explain their willingness to go deeper and deeper into his madness without any real objections? Let’s take it a step further. What if the seemingly minor character by Michael Caine was actually the true ARCHITECT of Cobb’s dreams? Along with his daughter (Mal), he is working to bring Cobb back.

Mal gets more and more desperate to save Cobb with the ledge set-up being her final act of desperation. Cobb continues to push himself further and further into limbo as the film moves on.  I’m thinking THE ENTIRE FILM WAS COBB’S DREAM. How many levels of limbo dreamscape, we will never know. But he is dreaming (and lost) throughout. How does this explain one of the final scenes with Saito (as the old man)? Not really sure, to be honest. They were both in limbo, though.

There are so many ways you can debate this idea of MAL BEING THE ONE PERFORMING INCEPTION. That is the brilliance of this film. A great film should spark conversation, debate, and deep thought. Not only will Inception get better over time, it potentially will shake the dumb out of Hollywood for a short time. Scratch that. The dumb will continue to haunt us throughout many new releases, this was just an aberration. Sigh.

Either way, I’m just happy that I saw a film that still marinates in my head days later. Thank you Christopher Nolan.

If you have a better explanation of the film, I’d love to hear about it.  If you liked this post, please follow me on Twitter HERE or become a fan on Facebook HERE. You’ll get more film insider scoop than your brain can handle!  Thanks all.

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