Right at the beginning of Christopher Nolan's 2006 mystery film 'The Prestige' we see an assortment of magician hats lying on the ground followed by Christian Bale's voice over asking us "Are you watching closely?". Then the screen goes blank & the story unfolds. This voice over should probably be played before each & every Chris Nolan film, for in his films if you take your eyes off the screen for 3 seconds, you'll spend the next 3 minutes wondering what the hell is going on? His latest film Inception is no different. The master filmmaker who gave us the mind bending 'Memento' decides to bend our minds a little further this time by presenting us a cinematic Rubik's cube.
Inception brought about a hail storm among movie watchers around the globe rarely seen in today's time (well...previously seen at the end of last year actually when James Cameron made a film about blue aliens), making fanboys, film enthusiasts & social networks go into a tizzy, making words like 'totem' & 'limbo' a part of everyday terminology. A facebook page called 'team topples' was set up hours after the film hit theatres for people who beleive Cobb's totem eventually toppled (owing to the now famous ambiguous last sequence of the film), & I am positive another one negating it must surely be there too. Discussions ranged from "Why did Ariadne (Ellen Page's perspicacious character) share her name with a greek goddess", to "Was it raining in the 1st Fischer dream sequence because (Dileep Rao's character) Yusuf's bladder was full?", to an analysis of scenes in which DiCaprio's character is wearing a wedding band. And yet I am still to find a guy who has unraveled 100% of the film. But everybody was enchanted right down to the bone.
And all this was possible thanks to the ambitious no-holds-barred approach of director Christopher Nolan. Imagine pitching the idea to someone in theory. It sounds bizarre :-
Nolan :- A film where a man extracts memories otherwise inaccessible by invading the person's dream but that's not what our film's about, in our film he does the opposite, "Inception" instead of "Extraction"
Warner Bros. studio executive :- IN-whatnow? anyways how does he do it?
Nolan:- he puts together a team of intelligent individuals who speak excellent scientific boohaki, go into the subjects dream, within a dream, within a dream,within a dream, within...er...no...then into a limbo, then back again racing against time. Oh & this central character's got marital problems, his gorgeous-as-hell dead wife keeps showing up & ruining stuff for him & his team, & then we show equally confusing flashbacks to determine why exactly the wife died...or did she?? & then we give an ending that's actually not an ending. You followin' me?? Hey chief??
(Fortunately Nolan took this Warner Bros. exec's shell shocked blank eyed expression as a 'Yes' & went ahead with the project)
Jokes apart though, the single most crucial quality that sets Nolan apart from his contemporaries is that he trusts the audience, the movie goer, us. His most characteristic quality is the use of a non-linear story telling method where scenes are shown out of chronological order. He scatters the jigsaw puzzle pieces in front of us & then challenges us to put them together. But it gets better- in some cases, the picture that finally comes up after putting all the pieces together maybe different for each movie goer. Such is the brilliance of the man who might be one of the most important film directors of the past decade.
The first Nolan film i saw was 'Batman begins', previous Batman film adaptations included 2 Tim Burton blockbusters that were more style over substance, & 2 Joel Schumacher films that seemed more like Batman spoofs than actual Batman films. One wondered what different approach would this British filmmaker bring to the much loved caped crusader of Gotham city? But Nolan defied all odds by giving us style and substance in a tremendous amalgamation & delivering a Batman movie that was many notches above its predecessors.
In a 2 hour film called BATMAN begins, the first real glimpse we see of Batman in a complete batsuit is around the 1hr 1 min mark. Nolan trusts the audience to sit through the 1st hour of the movie, making us familiar first with Bruce Wayne, his motivations, constraints & compulsions before unleashing an all out bat-fest.
Another fine example of Nolan's skill, finesse & entrusting the audience is of course the cult 2000 hit 'Memento'. Here he dealt with a central character Leonard who suffers from anterograde amnesia or short term memory loss, & using his intense system of notes, Polaroid photos, & tattoos is out to track down his wife's killer, or so he thinks. Nolan adapted a prodigious screenplay which went in the reverse order therein making the viewer as unaware, clueless & confused as Leonard, pertaining to what events took place prior to what they were witnessing.
The 2002 film 'Insomnia' which followed Memento took a slightly different turn. Starring Al Pacino & Robin Williams it dealt with LAPD detective Will Dormer who is sent up to Alaska (where it is daytime 24 hours) to solve the rape & murder of a teenage girl. Now, instead of making the film a typical whodunnit (which it seems for most of the 1st half) Nolan brings a twist wherein we identify the culprit halfway through. The film then becomes an intense tale of guilt, dark secrets, penitence & to some extent even redemption. The photography makes the weather into a character too, setting the somber mood of the film.
2006's 'The Prestige' starring Hugh Jackman & Christian Bale in lead roles, set in the London of the late 1800's is a tale of two rival magician's who are in a constant battle of one-upmanship owing to a freak accident that took the life of one of the magician's wife. Both are obsessed with finding the 'ultimate magic trick', and yes they do discover this ultimate magic trick. What it is, how it works & most importantly how it changes the outcome of the story is what the rest of the film is about. All through the film the audience is kept guessing which of the two rivals will have the last laugh, until the final twist is revealed. (Personally though i thought that the build up to the suspense was better than the final 'reveal', but that's just my opinion)
And what do I say about 'The Dark Knight' that hasn't already been said? Simply put it's the best super hero film ever, in fact one of the best films ever. Period. That's what made Nolan a household name. That's what gave kids nightmares about the Joker. How did Nolan trust the audience here? He made us line up to watch a sequel, ensuring that a 2nd movie will mean twice the fun. He brought us the dark, gothic feel of the comic books, the intensity of the animated series & the stunt set pieces of an all out actioner.
But I was most enchanted by Nolan's very first film, the 1998 neo-noir low-budget british film 'Following' about how a young man's obsession with following people leads him into a dark underworld. Despite being a short, with a running time of just 64 minutes, it's as mind boggling, mystifying, puzzling & baffling as 'Inception' or 'Memento'. Shot in stark black & white, it'll keep you at the edge of the seat until the final scene which will make you go 'F**K'!. These were the humble beginnings of what was to come. Interestingly, the film features a secondary character named "Cobb", which also happens to be the name of the main protagonist's character in 'Inception'. The Cobb of Following is a burglar, but he ain't no ordinary burglar, he breaks into people's houses & instead of stealing valuables goes for boxes with personal items of the individuals. So in theory both the Cobb's of Inception & Following are stealing memories. (: Another interesting fact in Following is- in one scene the house that Jeremy & Cobb decide to burgle has a Bat symbol on it's door.
In today's times where most of the big budget hollywood films are either remakes/rehashes (Karate Kid, The A-team) or blatant displays of CGI & special effects (Transformers, Harry Potter, Clash of the titans, Twilight & yes even Avatar) Nolan in a rare sight brings out unbelievable computer wizardry only when required. Hence, we are in awe in sequences like the one where Ariadne makes a Paris city street literally roll back on itself in Inception.
In Roger Ebert's review of Inception, he concludes it perfectly when he says- "I think when Nolan left the labyrinth, he threw away the map". Within 8 months of it's release every major hollywood studio has aped Avatar trying to advertise their films by bringing forth it's "Avatar-like" qualities- 3D, epic fantasy setting- even if they had none (Clash of the titans, Last Airbender), whereas i doubt if anyone can ape the phenomenal success of Inception that easily because the subject matter is intense, casting & performances pitch perfect, & direction & screenplay near flawless. It's not everybody's cup of tea to turn the viewer of a film into a participant, & keep you on your toes. The day I figure out exactly why Saito is an old man, & Dom Cobb a young man in the opening scenes of Inception, I will pump my fist in the air & shout 'Eureka!'. Now how many other films give you that opportunity?
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I came across this interesting piece where 6, yes that's right 6 interpretations of the film have been presented.
Actor Dileep Rao from the film answers some FAQ's about Inception.
Another nice article about Inception & Christopher Nolan.
