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发帖数: 616 | 1 【 以下文字转载自 Fashion 讨论区 】
发信人: tiexie (TOUGHTOUGH), 信区: Fashion
标 题: INCEPTION -COBB最后还是回家了，不是在梦中
发信站: BBS 未名空间站 (Sat Nov 6 06:10:33 2010, 美东)
There are a ton of theories being tossed around the Internet about the
ending of Inception, the two biggest debates being whether Cobb was still in
a dream or did he in fact return to his children in the “real world.”
The ending of Inception is meant to leave you thinking and questioning the
nature of reality. The important question is not “Is Cobb still dreaming?”
– What is important is the fact that the character of Cobb goes from being
a guy who is obsessed with “knowing what’s real” to ultimately being a
person who stops questioning and accepts what makes him truly happy as what
’s real.
But people want more concrete answers than that, so here you go:
After two viewings I can tell you that from the moment that Cobb and Saito (
seem to) wake up from limbo, Nolan very purposefully shifts the film into an
ambiguous state that leaves it somewhat open to the viewer’s perception
and interpretation of that perception – two big themes of the movie,
coincidentally enough.
From the moment Cobb and Saito wake, there is no more dialogue between the
characters and few shots or images that would concretely explain or prove
one interpretation. Is Cobb still dreaming and his team and family (and
maybe Saito) are all projections? Or is it the job completed, everyone is
back in reality and everything is happily ever after? There are a few pieces
of “evidence” that we can certainly address:
* Was Saito truly powerful enough to make one phone call and end Cobb’s
problems or was that just Cobb in limbo projecting his subconscious wish to
go home? You can argue logistics all you want, but if it’s said that Saito
is a powerful and wealthy man (he bought a whole airline on a whim), then
there’s reason enough to infer that he could bend the legal system for Cobb
. Rich powerful people bend laws all the time.
* Is there something up with that immigration agent or is he just an
immigration agent? After two viewings, the conclusion should be that the
immigration guy is just a guy. If he’s staring at Cobb, it’s because his
job is to look people over and scrutinize them. Would you want immigration
letting people through without face-to-face scrutiny?
* Did Cobb’s father (Michael Caine) arrange to meet him at the airport
or is he there because he’s Cobb’s projection? At this point we’re
reading way too much into things. There is a phone on the plane, so Cobb
could’ve easily arranged for pickup. This was also an intricate plan they
were hatching, so arranging for airport pickup would probably be on the to-
do list.
* In early dream scenes Cobb is wearing a wedding band that doesn’t
appear in the “real world” scenes or the end scenes in the airport – does
that mean the ending is “reality?” Details like that are certainly strong
evidence that there is a real world and that Cobb does live in it at times
– such as when he isn’t wearing a wedding band.
* Does the fact that Cobb uses Mal’s totem mean it doesn’t work as a
totem and therefore he never knows if he’s in reality or not? Again, we’re
reading a little too deep into things. The only people who know the weight
and feel of that totem are Mal and Cobb, and since Mal is dead, Cobb is the
only one left who knows the totem’s tactile details. So yes, he could
certainly use it as a measure of reality, the totem was not “ruined” by
him using it.
* At the end, Cobb’s kids seem to be the same age and are seemingly
wearing the same clothes as they were in his memory of them – is it “proof
” he’s still dreaming? As carefully documented by our own Vic Holtreman,
at the end of the film Cobb’s kids are wearing similar outfits to the ones
he remembers, but their shoes are different. As for their ages: if you check
IMDB, there are actually two set of actors credited with playing Cobb’s
kids. The daughter, Phillipa, is credited as being both 3 and 5 years old,
while the son, James, is credited as being both 20 months and 3 years old.
This suggests that while it might be subtle, there is a difference between
the kids in Cobb’s memories and the kids Cobb comes home to. That would
suggest the homecoming is in fact “reality.” But feel free to debate that.
* Will the spinning top keep spinning or was it about to fall over just
before Nolan cut to black? Sorry, we will never know for sure, although it
does start to wobble and it is never shown doing that in the dream world.
Each of us will take away a guess – kind of the point of that final shot.
Inception cobb totem
At the beginning of the film, after the first job Cobb’s team tries to pull
on Saito, we see Cobb sitting in his hotel room alone, spinning the top and
watching it intently, gun in hand. This is a guy who is ready to blow his
brains out if the top keeps spinning, in order to “wake himself up.” That
’s how obsessed and paranoid he’s become.
Throughout the film, Cobb continues to obsess about spinning the top and
verifying reality – however, at the end of movie, he spins the top and
walks away from it before he can verify if it stops spinning or not. His
kids come running in and Cobb could care less about about the top or “true
reality” or extraction/inception anymore. He just wants to be with his
children, in whatever place he can be with them. That emotional connection
and desire is “reality” enough for him.
In the end, Cobb walking away from the top is a statement in itself that
also completes the arc of his character. In a way, the movie is its own maze
designed to plant a simple little idea in the viewer’s mind: “reality”
is a relative concept.
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Bravo, Mr. Nolan. You’ve gotten us thinking and talking. I leave things
there – hope you enjoyed our explanation and look forward to hearing all
the wonderful discussion continue. |
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