Inception was… extraordinary. Brilliant. So bold to make a movie like that with a huge heap of studio money. There were flaws you could pick at but I won’t, never will; it gave so much I think it’s mean spirited to criticise.
For me, there are a lot of qualities that make a movie (as opposed to a TV show, say) but the one that I probably value above the others is; visual daring. Going for the biggest, boldest image.
(I’m instantly, involuntarily, seeing Laurence riding out of the desert, in my mind’s eye.)
The nested sequence where they rose up three levels in swift succession (if you’ve seen you’ll know what I mean)… Jaw dropping. Beautiful, thrilling. Intense. Insane.
In a word: wow.
I’ve read in a few reviews that Inception was cold and humourless, but I really don’t agree. I found the whole plot macguffin pretty moving. Blinking back tears at the end (there, I told you). Having a kid of my own has made me sentimental about this kind of thing, no doubt, but I’ll tell you this for a fact… Chris Nolan loves his children. I could feel it. It gave the film a living, beating heart. And the oblique way they were shown in the build up to the finale was beautiful, had a poetry to it you don’t usually get in a big movie.
If I see a film and love it, I don’t want to see it again for a while. It becomes a “perfect moment”, etched in my memory in a particular way, and I don’t want to change it.
I won’t be watching Inception again…
Not for a while.
Written while thinking about a second cup of tea — 31st August 2010.
