Christopher Nolan has done it. Quite simply, he’s become great.
With his latest masterpiece, Inception, a psychological and physical thriller, the writer-director has placed his name alongside Scorcese, Spielberg, and Eastwood. Men who can manage their way through the soul crushing maze of the studio system to consistently deliver films that function as both art and entertainment. Memento was the hint. The Dark Knight was the clue. With Inception, Christopher Nolan has arrived.
Our story concerns the exploits of Cobb (Leonardo DiCaprio). He’s something of a mental spy possessing the know-how to break into people minds through their dreams and discover the secrets hidden only inside the deepest corridors of our subconscious. But if he can break into your mind to steal knowledge, why can’t he break in to implant ideas as well? This is the question posed by the slightly less than above board businessman, Saito, played by Oscar nominated Japanese thespian Ken Watanabe. In search of an answer to that very question, Cobb is soon off on his way to test his theory on an unsuspecting corporate scion Robert Fischer (Cillian Murphy), with the help of a team of experts. The team includes Arthur (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), as a no-nonsense wing man to DiCaprio’s tormented head honcho. Yusuf (Dileep Rao), a chemist whose concoctions are not likely to pass FDA approval. Eames (Tom Hardy), an Englishman and ace actor whose real contribution to the team is to steal every scene he’s in. Then rounding out the team is everyone’s favorite teen mother, Ellen Page of Juno fame, playing the sprightly architect, Ariadne, whose intellect and charm converge to make her a surprisingly effective screen siren.
I could go into depth here about exactly why a team of thieves would even need an architect, or even mention how nothing else in a movie filled with amazing visuals can even begin to compare to the sight of Marion Cotillard in an evening dress, but instead I‘ll hold my tongue. Discovering the answer to all these questions is part of the fun. Let’s not forget that Mr. Nolan burst onto the scene of American cinema by giving us a film in Memento that plays completely backwards, and making us love every minute of it. This man loves his surprises and he’s darn good at allowing the audience to enjoy being kept in the dark.
What I’d rather discuss is how this movie goes on to prove my rather bold opening declaration. Christopher Nolan has become a great filmmaker. Undoubtedly, his best strength evolves from his role as a screenwriter. In an age where studios have come to understand “writing” a screenplay to mean simply typing text from comic books into the proper format, Christopher Nolan is a visionary with his pen as well as his camera. Rather than letting his own amazing comic book adaptation, The Dark Knight, become simply another costume-in-front-of-green-screen exercise, he imbued the story with deeper subtext. The meaning of good versus evil. Is there such a thing as pure evil in this world, and to what lengths can we go to stop it, before we become the villains ourselves? Like that landmark in action filmmaking, Inception too demands deeper concentration. Yes, it’d be easy to lose oneself in the sight of modern day Paris literally split in two and turned upside down. But the film also deals deeply with regret and a human beings ability (or inability) to pull themselves out of their own personal darkness.
There goes that word again. Darkness. It’s a concept that surges through all of Nolan’s work. Even in his remake of the Norwegian film, Insomnia, set in Alaska, where the sun never sets, the darkness creeps in. But in Nolan’s world, darkness is more than a visual concept. Like all great film noir directors, and make no mistake about it, he is a film noir director, the darkness extends to the characters as well. His protagonist, whether they be a man dressed as a bat, an aggrieved man set on revenge, or a gun-toting dream traveler, all share the same shades of gray. What makes his Batman so interesting is that he no longer lives in a Gotham of black and white. He lives in the shades of gray. Leonardo DiCaprio’s Cobb occupies the same space. A man with a past. In this case, it’s a past which literally won’t let him go.
Of course, contrary to popular belief, a director does not make a film alone. In this instance, Mr. Nolan followed his own hero’s lead and assembled and incredibly talented team of dreamers. Production Designer, Guy Dyas, should have insured his invitation to the Academy Awards ceremony this year by providing the films amazing world. Cinematographer, Wally Pfister (who has shot all the director‘s film since Memento), makes full use of this environment to show us a dream world that even Fellini would be proud of. And legendary film composer Hans Zimmer, drives home the action with his characteristic stirring musical score. Together they create a cinematic language placing the film firmly beside other great titles from Metropolis to The Matrix that introduced audiences to another way to see the world.
It’s only July, so I won’t begin to suggest I know what will be the best film of 2010. But I suspect that, once again, come March we’ll be hearing the all-too-frequent debate over why the big awards so infrequently honor the “big” movies. Often skipping over studio fare all together, in favor of art house films which struggle to even get a release date in most American cities. Ironically, this film will serve as both rally cry for the studio film cheering section and it’s greatest opposition. First let’s establish that with it’s cavalcade of movie stars and multi-million dollar CGI budget, Inception is a decidedly studio picture. There is little in this picture that belongs on an art house screen. In fact, having seen the film in gigantic IMAX fashion, I wonder if the film could even be made to physically fit any smaller dimensions. But despite it’s pedigree, this film is also the greatest explanation yet why the vast majority of studio movies simply don’t deserve to mentioned for end of the year kudos. Quite frankly, they aren’t this good.
You don’t become good by spending more on CGI. You don’t become good by coming up with the best fast food tie-in or shoehorning the biggest number of stars onto the late night talk shows. And with all due respect to the studio heads, opening weekend box office numbers are very rarely any indication of artistic success.
You become a great storyteller by simply telling a great story. Anybody can piggyback on the success of a pre-packaged product. Any film with a Roman numeral in the title is likely to open strong opposite equally lackluster fare. But a great storyteller takes a new concept, introduces his or her own unique vision to that concept, and delivers it in a way that is both entertaining to the audience, and contains enough depth to stand the test of time. Doing this in your own head in difficult. Doing this within the stock-price driven world of the modern studio system is next to impossible.
Congratulations, Christopher Nolan. You’ve discovered the trick. You figured out how to game the system, make millions at the box office, and still find time to add enough art to make even the harshest of film critics sing your praises. Keep it up. I’ll be watching. With Inception, the latest in a strong line of great movies, you’ve earned it.
Click here to see the trailer...http://trailers.apple.com/trailers/wb/inception/
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