Script for Inception now available in book form

I've already written a few posts here gushing about the movie Inception and, depending on how well I hone my writing skills between now and next year, I'm planning on writing a little collection of essays exploring some of the themes, elements, and possible interpretations of the movie. Thanks to my brother John, who usually has his ear to the pulse of these types of things, I've found a new book that will undoubtedly help me in that endeavor.

The book is Inception: The Shooting Script and you can read all about it here. It has the full movie script as well as an interview between Christopher Nolan and his brother, Nolan's own notes which he jotted down in the script, and numerous diagrams, storyboards and concept art. I've ordered it on Amazon already but it says I may not receive it for a month or two. When I do get it, you can bet that I'll have plenty to say about it. I've already seen the film four times in theaters and was all ready to see it a fifth time last week with my girlfriend and her dad but the drive-in movie (yes, they do still exist and they're very cool) we went to wasn't showing it. We settled on The Other Guys, a title that in retrospect seems perfectly apt.

Further 'Inception' Awesomeness

This makes me want to go see the movie a third time.

And then there's this cool graphic representation of the whole dream heist. Click for a larger view and zoom in to study it.

A couple things I didn't catch in my first viewing of the film but which stuck out when I saw it a second time, both involve the chemist Yusuf:

*When they go to meet Yusuf for the first time, he takes them into a dark dreary backroom where people come to take sedatives and dream for hours (in deep dreams that feel like days or weeks). Both Yusuf and his creepy dream den attendant eerily insinuate that they know Cobb and that he's done this before and been there before even though, as far as we can tell, this is the first time he's met these people. It's a very dark, dank, spooky scene that feels like the inside of a cave, and after Cobb tests out Yusuf's special sedative he's a bit of a mess. We see him in the bathroom splashing water on his face and looking in the mirror (very reminiscent to the opening of "Shutter Island") trying to convince himself it's not a dream. When he tries to spin his totem it goes flying off the table and this was actually a part where many people have suggested Dom proved he was dreaming. I'm not so sure about that, but the way Yusuf and the old guy talk to Dom with familiarity is weird and never explained.

*This one is a lot less relevant (or at least I think it is), but I caught on to the line where Arthur derides Yusuf for not going to the bathroom on the plane. Apparently his feeling of having to pee (or, since he's heavily sedated, peeing on himself) is what caused the heavy rain in that dream level.

Scattered Thoughts on "Inception"

**Spoiler Warning: I'll be discussing elements of the story that might spoil the film for someone who hasn't seen it yet. I'm warning you!**

First thoughts after seeing "Inception"

So I saw the film tonight and was pretty blown away just like everybody else.

It's about as good a movie-watching experience as you can have but it's definitely demanding on the viewer. One has to try to figure out and keep up with the complexities of the narrative at a pretty rapid speed. Even without understanding every detail and how some major aspects of the story link together though, you'll understand well enough to be sucked into the action.

I think INCEPTION as a title has many meanings, one of which is that the film itself is planting the idea inside the viewer's mind that everything is not what it seems. Reality is perhaps not so real, everything is just being crafted by us at the same time as we observe it. (This is the basis of quantum physics.)

I'll undoubtedly have a ton more to say about the film and I will be seeing it many more times but for now, I'm gonna try to regain my grip on (what I think is) the waking state. Sunday is my birthday.

"Inception" Excitement

 In case the trailers and rave reviews haven't gotten you excited about the upcoming film Inception yet, consider this quote from a USA Today article on the film's writer/director Christopher Nolan:

The idea for Inception came when he was in college, staying out late and crashing in his dormitory. Nolan slept so lightly he would become lucid — aware he was in a dream state — and began exploring ways to manipulate that faux reality.

He would find himself on a beach and challenge himself to pick up a handful of sand and count out individual grains. "That, to me, suggests infinite creative potential for the human mind, and infinite levels of mystery," he says. "I would do something like take a book off the shelf and open it to see if I can read the page. And I can. The words will kind of make sense and there's this bizarre feedback, part of your brain that's creating just before you perceive it."

I wonder if he inserted any references to Finnegans Wake in the movie.