Inception

[tricky_tree]

I realise this has probably been done before, but my drunken state cannot work the search function effectively.
Finally saw it today, and heard that he was still dreaming at the end. But when I got to the end, I honestly could not decide if he was or not. I don't believe that we can decide, with a foolproof argument, whether he is dreaming, awake, or dreamt the whole course of the film. Needless to say it is one of the finest cinematic works ever produced.
Your opinions please.

 

[Furious Styles]

I think we're not meant to know. So I don't.

 

[open trap]

It was good if a bit of a mind fuck, i enjoyed the movie though

 

[Urgh76]

The top didnt fall over, so he's still dreaming

/thread

 

[Trivun]

Spoiler: Open Only If You Have Seen The Film...

The whole point of the end is that it's ambiguous. You recall that his particular totem shows him if he's in a dream if the top doesn't fall, and if it does then he's awake? We don't see whether it falls or not, so it's deliberately left ambiguous, though I personally like to think that Cobb did wake up, and did get his happy ending (partly because I don't like the thought that is inevitable if Cobb is still dreaming - that is, that all the others are figments of the dream, and thus Ariadne and the others are still trapped in Limbo or in the dream levels, waiting for the years to pass (for them) before that single ten-hour flight ends...).

Oh, and for the record, OP, you might want to either put spoiler warnings in the thread title and/or your original post, or stick it all in spoiler tags. Not everyone will have seen the film yet.

 

[tricky_tree]

The top didnt fall over, so he's still dreaming

/thread

it's not his totem, the totem has little meaning since it is affected by his perception of reality and what he thinks is the trick. Never once do we really see the top fall and we also never see his real totem

 

[BlindMessiah94]

The top didnt fall over, so he's still dreaming

/thread

No, they cut off before we could tell what happened. So don't /thread yourself.

OT: I think it is supposed to be up to the viewer to decide.

 

[Trivun]

The top didnt fall over, so he's still dreaming

/thread

Restart thread.

We didn't see if the top fell over or not. Therefore it's ambiguous. It does take time for a spinning top to fall, you know. And for the record, this is done by the same director who made The Prestige, a film notorious for keeping everyone guessing even at the end...

The point is, it's ambiguous. He may be dreaming, he may not. [/thread]

 

[tricky_tree]

Oh, and for the record, OP, you might want to either put spoiler warnings in the thread title and/or your original post, or stick it all in spoiler tags. Not everyone will have seen the film yet.

fixed

 

[CobraX]

Spoilers Ahead.

It was good for Hollywood. Nothing mindblowing, but it was a good solid movie. Also the ending SUCKED. It was a cop out for giving us a solid ending and a cheap way to make people talk about the movie, kind of like we are right now. Also he was awake at the end, since in all his other dreams he wore a wedding wing, which he didn't have on at the end and he could see his kid's face. That and

The top didnt fall over, so he's still dreaming

/thread

since the top wobbled it will eventually fall proving it's reality. Anyone that disagrees with me is Hitler. That is all.

 

[Xojins]

The movie ends in a way that's supposed to leave you wondering. I think he was awake, but that's just me.

 

[tricky_tree]

The top didnt fall over, so he's still dreaming

/thread

Restart thread.

We didn't see if the top fell over or not. Therefore it's ambiguous. It does take time for a spinning top to fall, you know. And for the record, this is done by the same director who made The Prestige, a film notorious for keeping everyone guessing even at the end...

The point is, it's ambiguous. He may be dreaming, he may not. [/thread]

See my post, it's not his totem, whether it falls or not is potentially meaningless.

 

[kuyo]

They purposely left it unanswered to give ambiguity. That being said, the ending is particularly brighter than the rest of the movie, and without the possibility of his still dreaming, it wouldn't match the tone of the rest of the movie. The important part is that he doesn't even watch the top indicating that he no longer cares if his happiness is a dream.

 

[Zach Steadman]

It was Mal(Mol?)'s totem not his, so it means it's corrupted just like his memories of her remember, you have to make your own totem.
I personally believe seeing his kids faces was his final "kick" because he never let himself see them until the very end.

 

[Trivun]

The top didnt fall over, so he's still dreaming

/thread

Restart thread.

We didn't see if the top fell over or not. Therefore it's ambiguous. It does take time for a spinning top to fall, you know. And for the record, this is done by the same director who made The Prestige, a film notorious for keeping everyone guessing even at the end...

The point is, it's ambiguous. He may be dreaming, he may not. [/thread]

See my post, it's not his totem, whether it falls or not is potentially meaningless.

Which is also a very good point, and something I never considered after the film, to be honest. Though in my defence, it also reinforces my own point, that it leaves the ending ambiguous, which is the intent all along.

 

[triggrhappy94]

Come on guys its just another Dicaprio movie. Does anyone remember Shutter Island. I bet there's going to be another Dicaprio movie just like it out in a year.

 

[Trivun]

It was Mal(Mol?)'s totem not his, so it means it's corrupted just like his memories of her remember, you have to make your own totem.
I personally believe seeing his kids faces was his final "kick" because he never let himself see them until the very end.

Agreed. The kids' faces is the final thing for me that makes me convinced that he did wake up, though as I stated earlier as well I don't like the idea of Ariadne and the others still being trapped in the dream for ten years (to them), waiting for the ten-hour flight to end so they can wake up. Which is the logical conclusion if they're present and yet Cobb is still dreaming.

 

[fullbleed]

This is the kind of film that can pull a "It was all a dream!" and still be brilliant.

 

[tricky_tree]

Which is also a very good point, and something I never considered after the film, to be honest. Though in my defence, it also reinforces my own point, that it leaves the ending ambiguous, which is the intent all along.

I think we all pick up on different things, the phrase 'Leap of faith' appeared a lot, similar to how Fischer's numbers appeared in every level of his dreams. I can see I'll be talking about this all day at work