Inception: Explained

WARNING!!! SPOILERS!!!

Okay, so as I mentioned in my earlier post about Inception, it is a movie designed with a very intelligent audience in mind. And because of that, we all left the cinema kind of...confused.

After spending a great deal of time resarching and mulling over things, I have, I believed, worked out the basics of the plot, which I will now try and explain to you. This is probably not entirely correct, and probably heavily influenced by my own opinion and by the fact I had a really crap seat in the cinema.

So, here goes.

Inception, Extraction, Projection, Architects, Forgers, Totems, Shared Dreams and the Dream Layers:

Inception: when an idea is planted into someone's mind so convincingly that they believe it is their own original idea. Done by implanting information into different layers of a dream.

Extraction: when a thought or secret is stolen from someone's mind by breaking into their dream.

Architects: people who design dreams so that events occur to make inception and extraction work to plan. Once these dreams are designed, the architect must either become the 'dreamer' or describe the dream in detail to the designated dreamer.

Totems: all extractors carry totems with them to keep track of dreams and reality. A totem is normally a small object that is weighted, and handled only by the owner so that only the owner knows what it feels like in the real world. Because of this, no-one can recreate the exact feel and weight of the totem, so if the totem feels incorrect, it tells the owner that they have been forced into a dream, or are in somebody else's dream. Examples of a weighted totem is Arthur's weighted die and Ariadne's weighted chess piece. Cobb's totem, which he acquired from his wife, is slightly different as it can tell the difference between dreams and reality, as opposed to a weighted totem which can only tell the difference between reality and your own dream from a forced or somebody else's dream. Cobb's totem is a spinning top, which spins continously in a dream but collapses quickly in reality.

Forgers: A forger is someone who can impersonate a person in a subject's life during a dream or in a dream layer. During their inception mission Eames, a highly skilled forger, impersonates both a disgruntled date and a business manager.

Projection: people present in a dream that are not either the subject or extractors. These people try and seek out the intruder (the extractor/s) and eventually kills him/her/them. In a mind trained to defend his subconcious, these people are often equipped with sophisticated millitary procedures and equipment.

Shared dreams: a state where several people share a dream, needed both for inception and extracting. The people in this dream are the extractors, the 'subject' and the projections of both the extractor and the subject. The projections of a subject work indiscriminately against the extractors - the projections of the extractors are turned either against the extractor or the subject or both. One of the extractors is a 'dreamer' - he creates the setting of the dream, normally under the direction of an Architect. To create a shared dreams the extractors and the subjects must be hooked up intravenously to a machine which releases a mild sedative and allows them all to be in the same dream. The machine is set with a timer, which wakes you up when it goes off, or alternately you are forced out of the dream when you are killed in the dream. A dream is affected by reality - shifts in gravity (or the absence of gravity), rain if the dreamer has a full bladder, etc.

Dream layers: for inception, three layers of dreams are needed - essentially a dream within a dream within a dream. To make this happen, a heavy sedative is required and to remove yourself from all three layers of a dream a simultaneous 'kick' is needed - you must wake up in reality and die in all the dream layers you are in simultaneously. Unlike in single-layer dreams, when you die only in one layer of a multi-layered dream you do not wake up - instead, you go to limbo, where you must time your death with the 'kick'. Time elapses in dream layers are also different - for example (this is probably innaccurate, but the main idea is correct) a second in reality is a minute in the first layer (the dream), which is ten minutes in the second layer (the dream within a dream) which is one hundred minutes in the third layer (the dream within a dream within a dream).

Limbo: if you 'push too far', run out of layers or die only in one or two dream layers, you go to limbo, where you stay until you die simultaneously with a kick. If you are in a multi-layered dream and do not die simultaneously with a kick, you go back up to the dream, die again, and then go back to limbo. Limbo is a place only occupied by others in limbo, plus only a few projections who live in harmony with you. You can create anything in limbo, making it surreal, but if one stays too long in limbo they eventually lose grip on what is real and what is a dream.

Characters:

Dominic Cobb (Dom, Cobb or Dom Cobb): The film's protagonist, portrayed by Leonardo DiCaprio. Dom is a talented extractor and formerly a highly skilled architect who managed to perform Inception on his wife to escape limbo, but the idea he planted in her mind killed her when they arrived back in the real world. Because of this, he is tormented by guilt and so a projection of her constantly haunts his dreams and disrupts his plans.

Arthur: Dom's right hand man, portrayed by Joseph Gordon-Levitt, considered a highly skilled in all things except architecting dreams, as he often leaves out details. Arthur is also described as having little imagination, and consequently doesn't believe that Inception is possible, as according to Eames, 'you need imagination for Inception, which is possible, but bloody difficult'. Arthur is skilled at avoiding being caught by projections, and fighting. Arthur is the 'dreamer' of the second layer of dreams, and stays behind to look after the sleeping bodies of the second dream layer.

Mal: Dom's deceased wife, portrayed by Marion Cotillard and mother of Dom's two children, James and Phillipa. Mal and Dom explored dreams together, but 'pushed it too far' and ended up in limbo for roughly fifty years. Mal then choses to forget that she is in a dream and locks away her totem spinning top, and eventually comes to believe that the limbo is reality. Because of this belief, she cannot leave limbo, and thus her husband is forced to implant in her subconcious that 'the real world is a dream' by breaking into the safe she stored her spinning top in and keeping it spinning. What Cobb failed to realize is that the thought in her mind would continue to linger when they woke up in the real world, to the point where she commits suicide to 'go back to the real world'. Projections of Mal haunt Dom's dreams and shared dreams, disrupting his plans.

Ariadne: Dom's new architect, portrayed by Ellen Page. A student of Mal's father, Ariadne quickly catches on to dream architecting and is considered highly skilled, even better than Cobb once was. By breaking into Dom's dreams she discovers the truth about Mal, and the crippling guilt Cobb feels over her death that causes projections of her to disrupt their missions.

Eames: A forger, portrayed by Tom Hardy. Eames and Arthur clash as Eames believes that Inception is possible and Arthur does not, and Eames' optimistic, imaginative and creative personality clashes with Arthur's practical, grounded nature. Eames is the dreamer of the third dream layer.

Yusef: a chemist who specializes in making sedatives, he becomes part of the team and invents a sedative that keeps the inner ear functioning in the dream layers, thus making a simultaneous kick possible. Yusef is the dreamer of the first dream layer.

Saito: a powerful businessman portrayed by Ken Wantanabe. Saito needs Cobb's team to perform Inception on the son of a dying businessman, who controls a rival empire. In return for a successful Incpetion, Saito offers to use his influence to clear Cobb's name.

Robert Fischer: the son of a Saito's rival with a rocky relationship with his father. He is the subject of the Inception, where they plant into his mind the idea to split up his father's empire and become 'his own man'.

Professor Miles: Mal's father, who introduced both Mal and Cobb to the study of dreams. He is also Ariadne's teacher, and introduces her to Cobb's team. Portrayed by Sir Michael Caine.

Peter Browning: Fischer's godfather and father figure, with whom Fischer has a much better relationship with than his own father. During Inception, Eames impersonates Browning and implants into Fischer's mind that Browning is a traitor and he should follow his father's wishes (also part of the Inception).

Backdrop of the story:

Dominic Cobb and his wife, Mal, explore dreams until they eventually end up in limbo. They live there blissfully for about 50 years, creating their own world and living with projections of their children. Eventually Dom, who knows in his mind that limbo is not real, cannot bear limbo any longer and knows he must escape, but Mal has already locked away her totem and therefore lost her concept of dream and reality. Dominic then performs Inception by breaking into Mal's vault and spinning her totem spinning top - as it spins continuously without falling, it implants into Mal's subconcious that 'the world is just a dream'. Using this, he managed to convince her they need to go back to reality and they commit suicide together in limbo, causing them to wake up in the real world. However, Mal's inception lingers and she still thinks that 'the world is a dream', even though now she is back in the real world. For some unexplained reason, agents of Dom's company, Cobol, have a bounty on his head and are chasing him.

Mal's desire to go back to the 'real world' posesses her, and eventually she goes to three psychiatrists who declare her sane, and then sends a false statement to her attorney that Dom has been abusive and violent, and threatens to kill her on their anniversary, which they customarily spend alone together in a hotel. When Dom arrives at the hotel room on their anniversary night, he finds the room trashed and set up as a murder scene. He then finds Mal sitting on the windowsil of the hotel room opposite the one he is in, separated by a highway. Mal then tries to convince him to go 'back to the real world' whilst Dom desperately tries to convince her that they are in fact in the real world. Both are unsuccessful, and Mal commits suicide, unaccompanied by Dom. Because of Mal's set up, Dom is charged with her murder and flees the country, without having the chance to say goodbye to his children. Since Mal's death Dom's guilt caused him to create a series of dreams based on memories, each featuring memories of Mal and his children. Also, Dom can no longer architect as if he did, Mal would know the mechanics of each architected dream, thus making her more of a threat. In dreams where Dom is present, regardless of whether he architects them or not, she attempts to thwart him as best she can, but is incapacitated slightly as she does not know the layout of the dream.

The movie (chronologically):

Dom lives on the run, accompanied by his right-hand man, Arthur. Together they try and steal something from a powerful businessman named Saito, to use to blackmail Saito into using his influence to clear Dom's name. The attempt fails due to Arthur's ineptness in architecture and Dom's incapability to architect the dream (because projections of Mal haunt them), so Saito then proposes a deal: Dom and Arthur perform Inception on the heir of a rivalling business empire, and Saito will in return clear Dom's name. Dom agrees, and Arthur reluctantly tags along. Dom then recruits Eames, a renowned forger, who introduces him to Yusef, a chemist specializing in inventing sedatives. Dom then visits Miles, Mal's father. Dom gives presents to Miles to give to Dom's children, James and Phillipa, and Miles reluctantly introduces Dom to Ariadne, his favourite student. Dom recruits Ariadne and trains her to architect dreams. Yusef creates a sedative that keeps the inner-ear functioning, in which a jolt, topple, fall or loud music will cause the dreamer to awake, and Saito buys the airline on which Fischer will make the flight from Sydney to Los Angeles (a 13-14 hour flight) with his father's body.

Dom and his team then construct a plan to perform Inception on Robert Fischer, the heir to the rival business empire, by creating a three-layer dream (dream within a dream within a dream), which they follow as best they can. When Robert Fischer's father dies in Sydney, they share his flight and the entire team enter Fischer's dream, in which the 'dreamer' is Yusef. In this dream, they hijack a taxi, pick up Fischer, and then kidnap him. Eames pretends to be his godfather Browning whom they have tortured, and they demand to know the code to Fischer's father's vault, which Fischer says, honestly, that he 'does not know'. Deviating from the plan as Fischer's mind unexpectedly starts to attack them violently, injuring Saito, they extract random numbers from Fischer and the team, plus Fischer, escape in a van driven by Yusef. In the van, the team plus Fischer enter the second dream layer. Yusef stays behind in the first layer to drive the van and initiate the kick, trying to avoid projections of Fischer's mind who attack the van with relentless gunfire. The 'kick' in this layer is when Arthur, the dreamer of the second layer, is awakened by music - a progressive crescendo can be heard in the second dream layer and warns them that the 'kick' (a loud climax in the music) is approaching.

In the second dream layer, in which the dreamer is Arthur, the setting is a hotel in which they trick Fischer into believing that the kidnapping was orchestrated by Browning. They then convince Fischer to allow himself to be hooked up to a machine to delve into Browning's subconcious to discover his intentions, but instead they are delving into Fischer's mind. Thus, they enter the third dream layer, with Arthur staying behind, setting up explosions to time their deaths in the dream layer with the first layer 'kick'.

The third layer of the dream, in which the dreamer is Eames, is a snowy mountain fortress in which they tell Fischer he must break into - the plan being that Fischer breaks into a room in which his father lies dying. The dying father will tell Fischer that he was disappointed that he tried to be him and wants him to be his own man, and will show him a safe which opens to the random numbers Fischer produced in the first dream layer, inside which is a will which would override his father's official will, and a childhood toy of Fischer's proving that his father did indeed love him. Fischer is thwarted, however, by a projection of Mal, who shoots him. Cobb and Ariadne then travel to limbo to try and retrieve Fischer.

In limbo, Ariadne and Cobb find a projection of Mal, who is keeping Fischer tied and gagged on a balcony. Mal tries to convince Cobb to stay with her 'in the real world', and Cobb pretends to give in whilst Ariadne goes to Fischer. Cobb then reveals to the Mal projection and Ariadne that he perfromed Inception on Mal whilst they were in limbo together, and so he is indirectly responsible for Mal's death. Mal then attacks Cobb, but she is shot by Ariadne, who pushes Fischer off the balcony and prepares to shoot Cobb, but he stops her saying that he has to stay behind and find Saito, who has died on all three layers of the dream from his injuries. Ariadne warns him not to be influenced by Mal, and then jumps off the balcony herself. Ariadne and Fischer arrive back to the third layer as Eames uses a defibrilator to revive Fischer, and they all die in the explosion that is the third layer 'kick'. The kick on all dream layers failed the first time and had to be improvised by Eames, Arthur and Yusef on their respective layers, but it works the second time. Thus the team and Fischer, minus Cobb and Saito, wake up on the flight (reality).

Cobb then finds Saito, but due to the fast time elapse in Limbo he is already an old man. Together, they go back to the real world, and they wake up on the plane. Saito then honours his deal and calls from his plane and clears Cobb's name. Miles meets Cobb in the airport and take him back to his home, where he sees his children playing in the yard. Cobb spins his top, to see if it is real, but is distracted when Miles calls his children in and his children rush up to him. Cobb leaves his top to go embrace his children but we see it spinning. It falters, and then the movie ends, leaving us to decide whether Cobb is dreaming or is in reality.