Monday, October 29, 2012

Fanception


The 2010 film Inception, written and directed by Christopher Nolan is an exceptional movie to say the least. This thrilling movie is about a thief who gets a last chance at redemption by receiving a job of mastering the art of inception--- being able to go deeper into dreams. In order to see his family again he has to complete this difficult task for a powerful man named Saito and for his own freedom. But to his surprise, he has something holding him back in his dreams--- his dead wife.  In the last five minutes of the film Leonardo DiCaprio’s character, Cobb, awakes from the dream on a plane along with his team of specialists who just conquered their mission of receiving information through the use of inception on Robert Fischer. Not only did he get his freedom back but also, he was able to see his family again. While his children run up to him with glee and climb into his arms, his totem keeps spinning, which is used to decipher reality from a dream. But what if the ending wasn’t quite as it seemed…

            Cobb awakes on the plane, with his totem clutched in his left hand and crumbs on his suit pants from the peanuts he snacked on before the plane departed. He looks around the plane to realize his team of specialists is slowly awaking from their sleep of a perfect heist. Arthur, his right hand man in the mission, smiles sharply, gives him a nod of endorsement and takes another sip of his Gin and tonic that was a bit watery because he asked for ice hours before. He saves another quick glance for Cobb when they both find themselves gazing out the slightly dirty window on the left side of a plane as they hover over Los Angeles. Saito looks over at Cobb after instructing the airline attendant to fetch him a hot towel, he looks her up and down as if weary of her actions. He blinks a few times, checks his pockets to make sure all of his important items were still in their original places and adjusts his stripped tie around his neck. Cobb eyes Saito’s phone in his pocket initializing the fact that they held a deal: if Cobb completed the mission, Saito would grant him his freedom back through a promised phone call. Saito never touches his phone.
The plane safely lands on the speedway and everyone in first class stands up rubbing the sleep out of their eyes, seizes their personal items and promptly walks off as if they did not know each other from the very beginning. The mission was completed and it was time for everyone to go about their lives; there is no more association. Cobb reaches the airport, picks up his luggage and looks around the crowded airport to see that his specialists were disappearing amongst the frequent flyers and vacationers. Cobb gets a hold of Saito who was standing by a group of men in matching gray suits frequently tapping on their phones and shaking hands. Saito turns around, looks at Cobb’s hand on his shoulder and brushes him away. Cobb asks sternly about the deal they made earlier, rephrasing how he was supposed to be a free man once he touched American soil. Saito, embarrassed at this interruption, excuses himself from the other men with hesitance and apology. Saito looks at his watch eyeing the time that creeps up on five o’clock. He had made dinner plans, in advance, with some old colleagues of his tonight at eight and his car was arriving soon to pick him up and drive him to Malibu. He quietly says, “How do you know me?”
Cobb looks around the airport, furrowing his eyebrows and recollecting his thoughts at once. “Did you forget everything Saito? We made a deal, I helped you and now it’s your turn to help me!”
“How do you know my name?” he looks around the airport with distress. He eyes the men who seem to keep a close eye on him and nod with disapproval. He lowers his head, fixes his suit and straightens his posture. “I don’t know you.”
Cobb laughs with agitation. “Are you senile? We made a deal!”
“I suggest you turn around and walk away from me! I know a lot of powerful people who could have you gone in a blink of an eye. This deal you speak of doesn’t exist, I do not know you!” Saito checks his watch once again as Cobb taps his foot and tried to conceive everything that happened in the past ten hours. Why did everything seem so wrong all of the sudden? Cobb’s heart started to beat faster and faster as panic took over him, attacking his arms first and then his legs. He fell back into a seat and rubbed his temples. “What about Robert Fisher and Arthur? What about me?”
Saito then picks up his phone and dials a number. He looks at Cobb as he puts the phone up to his hear and listens impatiently at each ring. All he says into the phone was the words “yes” and “thank you” and within two minutes, the airport police walk up to Cobb and ask him quietly, to not make a scene, to accompany them in the back. Cobb looks at Saito and then at the men in grey suits before standing up and following the officers. Once they walk into the back room, they cuff his arms behind his back and sat him down next to another man.
Cobb tried to feel for his pockets hoping to find his totem somewhere hidden beneath his wallet but the cuffs were too tight. Cobb catches an officer who walks by and informs him that he was innocent and had kids at home that he was going to see, a son and a daughter.
The police officer laughed and patted his pocket. “Cobb, you say this every time! We find you here almost every month saying the same old things about children, totems, bad deals and some guy named Robert Fisher. I’m surprised that they ever let you out of that Looney bin!”
“What?” Cobb grimaced as if he had a bad taste in his mouth. “I’m telling the truth. Ask my friend Arthur, he’ll tell you everything. ”
“No you’re a schizophrenic Cobb. You were at the psychiatric ward for five years after suffering a mental break down when your wife killed herself. And you keep coming to the airport and bothering strangers and this time we have consent to file a restraining order against you.”
Cobb looks around the room in shock. He takes a few short breaths, winces at the white wall and closes his eyes. This must be a dream, he thought and he wanted to wake up now. He then opens his eyes and waits a few seconds for everything to come back to him. After his pupils adjusted themselves to the intense lighting, he realized the man sitting next to him was indeed Robert Fischer. He opens his mouth to tell the officer that the guys was sitting next to him but before he could let the words dance upon his tongue, the man he knew as Robert Fisher transformed into his wife Mal. He utters her name but she only replies back with a smile. In the softest whisper she informs him that everything would be fine. Suddenly, she disappears leaving Cobb completely distraught.  


Author: Jasmine Brown
Date: 29 October 2012




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