Inception Study Notes - Film · PDF fileBefore viewing The trailer for Inception garnered huge...
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Directed by: Christopher Nolan Certificate: 12 Running time: 148 mins Release date: 16 July 2010 Synopsis: Cobb (Leonardo DiCaprio) is an expert at the dangerous, rarely performed skill of inception – infiltrating people’s dreams to plant an idea that may change their actions or ideologies when they wake. He is also in exile from his home in the US, hunted across the globe for allegedly murdering his wife. When Cobb and his team of ‘extractors’ are offered the deadly task of performing inception upon the heir to a business conglomerate, he sees the last chance to earn the privilege of returning home. Risking everything, Cobb ventures deep into the dream world where anything can happen, minutes last decades, and the line between the subconscious and reality becomes increasingly blurred… ©Warner Bros. Entertainment Inception Study Notes 1 ©Film Education July 2011. Film Education is not responsible for the content of external websites. www.filmeducation.org www.nationalschoolsfilmweek.org
Transcript of Inception Study Notes - Film · PDF fileBefore viewing The trailer for Inception garnered huge...
Directed by: ChristopherNolan
Certificate: 12
Running time: 148mins
Release date: 16July2010
Synopsis:Cobb(LeonardoDiCaprio)isanexpertatthedangerous,rarelyperformedskillofinception–infiltratingpeople’sdreamstoplantanideathatmaychangetheiractionsorideologieswhentheywake.HeisalsoinexilefromhishomeintheUS,huntedacrosstheglobeforallegedlymurderinghiswife.WhenCobbandhisteamof‘extractors’areofferedthedeadlytaskofperforminginceptionupontheheirtoabusinessconglomerate,heseesthelastchancetoearntheprivilegeofreturninghome.Riskingeverything,Cobbventuresdeepintothedreamworldwhereanythingcanhappen,minuteslastdecades,andthelinebetweenthesubconsciousandrealitybecomesincreasinglyblurred…
©WarnerBros.Entertainment
InceptionStudy Notes
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©Film Education July 2011. Film Education is not responsible for the content of external websites.
www.filmeducation.org www.nationalschoolsfilmweek.org
Before viewingThetrailerforInceptiongarneredhugeattentionasithighlightedthefilm’suniquelook,mind-bendingconceptsandHansZimmer’smemorable,grindingscore.
z Inceptionquicklybecameknownasafilmwithacomplicatedplot,buttowhatextent does the trailer for Inception indicate that the film has an incrediblycomplexstory?z Whatelementsofthefilmdoesthetrailerseemtoemphasise?z Doesthetrailercalltomindthelookorinfluenceofanyotherfilms?z TowhatextentdoesthetrailersuggestInceptionisamainstreamblockbuster?
After viewing: action cinema – ‘dumb movies’ for ‘dumb people’*?
AcademicYvonneTaskerexploredthestatementaboveinheressayongenderinactionfilms.ButisInceptionsimplyanother‘dumb’actionmovieorisitsomethingelse?Explorethisdebateinreferencetothefollowingareas:
Masculinity z HowareDiCaprioandthecharacterheplaysdifferentorsimilarto...
a)Themuscle-bound,imperviousactionheroesofthe1980s(e.g.Arnold Schwarzenegger,SylvesterStalloneaswellascontemporaryequivalentssuchas TheRockandVinDiesel)? b)Theleaner,morevulnerableand/orfeminisedactionheroesofthe1990s(e.g. BruceWillis,MelGibson)?
Femininityz What function does the character of Ariadne (Ellen Page) serve? Could thischaracterhaveservedthesamepurposeifitwasamalerole?WhatparticularnarrativefunctionthatyoumayexpectfromthissortofcharacterdoesAriadnenotserve?z IsthecharacterofMal(MarionCotillard)problematic?Thinkaboutthewaysheispresented:doessheseemtobestereotyped?Ifso,inwhatway?
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©Film Education July 2011. Film Education is not responsible for the content of external websites.
www.filmeducation.org www.nationalschoolsfilmweek.org
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©Film Education July 2011. Film Education is not responsible for the content of external websites.
www.filmeducation.org www.nationalschoolsfilmweek.org
‘The Hero’s Journey’z LookatJosephCampbell’stheoryof‘TheHero’sJourney’usingthewebsitesbelow. How closely does Cobb’s journey adhere to this archetypal narrativeframework?
http://www.mcli.dist.maricopa.edu/smc/journey/ref/summary.html http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Heroesjourney.svg
Vladimir Proppz Propp’scharacterarchetypes,firstappliedtoRussianfolktalesin1928,arelistedbelow.Ifyouarenotalreadyfamiliarwiththese,lookthemup.Whatroleswouldyou assign to the characters from Inception? Are any archetypal charactersmissingfrom Inception’snarrative,orarethereanycharacterswithmorethanonefunction?
- thehero - thevillain - thedispatcher - thehelper - thePrincess/prize - thefatherofthePrincess - thedonor - thefalsehero
Target audiencez HowdoesInceptionappealtoteenageboys?z Howdoes it trytoappealtootheraudiencessuchas30+males,womenandolderaudiences?
The ‘MacGuffin’
Inceptionhadbeencriticisedforhavingaweakandindifferentplotdevice-aperson,objectorsituation thatgives theplotmomentumandsignals theendof thenarrativeonceitisobtained,solvedordealtwith.SomegoodexamplesofplotdevicesincludethebombonthebusinSpeed(1994),thesharkinJaws(1975)ortheArkoftheCovenantinRaiders of the Lost Ark(1983).Plotdevicesareotherwiseknownas‘MacGuffins’–aphrasecoinedbyAlfredHitchcock.
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©Film Education July 2011. Film Education is not responsible for the content of external websites.
www.filmeducation.org www.nationalschoolsfilmweek.org
z WhoorwhatisInception’sMacGuffin?z WhathappensoncetheMacGuffinisdealtwithattheendofthefilm?z Whydoyouagreeordisagreewiththecriticismoutlinedabove?
An unconventional blockbusterInceptionbreaksanumberofHollywood ‘rules’ thatcouldhavealienatedmainstreamaudiences,yetitwasoneofthemostsuccessfulfilmsof2010takingnearly£36mattheUKboxoffice.FilmCriticMarkKermodevotedInceptionthebestfilmof2010becauseitprovedthatHollywoodblockbustersdidn’tneedtobe‘dumbandstupid’inordertobeacriticalandcommercialsuccess.
z WhatelementsofInceptioncouldhavealienatedaudiences?z Are the various dream levels differentiated in anyway so that audiences cankeeptrack?Canyouexplainhow?z Whatisuniqueaboutthefilm’sopeningsequenceandtheclosingshot?z Is Inception the ‘brainiest’blockbusterever?Findanddiscussotherpossiblecandidatesforthistitle.
Written by Gareth C Evans
* Tasker, Y., Dumb Movies for Dumb People: Masculinity, The Body, and The Voice in Contemporary Action Cinema in Screening The Male: Exploring Masculinity in the Hollywood Cinema (S. Cohen & I. R. Hark eds) Routledge, 1992 (pp. 230 – 244)
