Monday, August 02, 2010

Sleepy. Hollow.

When I was about eight, I went through that inevitable phase of ending every story I wrote with “...and then I woke up. It had all been a dream.” With Inception, which I finally got round to seeing yesterday, Christopher Nolan does the same thing, but in the first five minutes, and then again, and then again, and then again, and then again, and then again, and then again, and then again, and then again, and then again, and then again, and then again, and then again, and then again, and then again, and then again, and then again, and then again, and then again, and then again, and then again, and then again, and then again, and then again, and then again, and then again, and then again, and then again, and then again, and then again, and then again, and then again, and then again, and then again, and then it’s a bit ambiguous, THE END. There’s lots of shooting, but no real bodies – because after all, it had all been a dream – which makes it something akin to an unauthorised remake of The A-Team, or perhaps the world’s most expensive paintball game.

That said, the bit where Paris folds up on itself is pretty cool.

PS: Another take on it by Patroclus; and in the comments thereto, an analysis that makes sense, but doesn’t make it any better.

8 comments:

Annie said...

this is the best review i've read so far

Rog said...

Like the title. Too.

Rol said...

Ahhh... but WAS it all a dream?

Oh, I'm sorry, I fell asleep.

LC said...

Based purely on the trailer, it looks a bit like Dark City to me.

Annie said...

Good title!

Anonymous said...

Seen it all before.
Bobby's in the shower.
It was all a dream.

Valerie said...

Best blog post title EVAH.

Tim F said...

Thank you, Annie and Rog.

Rol: Yes, that's the problem with piling ambiguities on top of each other. In the end, all you can say is, well, it might be.

A bit, LC, in as much as it's about questioning reality. But in that sense, it's also like The Truman Show, Malkovich, Eternal Sunshine, The Matrix, Last Year at Marienbad, even Groundhog Day. Especially Groundhog Day, in fact. That's it: Inception is Groundhog Day without Bill Murray.

Thank you, different Annie.

More like HyperDallas, BWT. Pammy keeps waking up.

EVAH, Valerie? Thanks!