spoilers. It is NOT a dream: The WEDDING
RING gives it away. It is NOT a dream: The WEDDING RING gives it away
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I have now seen this movie three times. The first time I saw it I thought it was not a dream and he was home. When I saw discussions to the contrary, I saw it again looking for any clues to tell whether he is dreaming the whole time, and questioned the ending thoroughly. It was not until I saw a post about someone saying he is only wearing a wedding ring when he dreams. Multiple people shot it down saying that they saw him wearing it in reality or that he was not wearing it in this dream or that one. My third viewing had me looking for the ring in almost every shot, seeing if his totem ever falls in a dream (Something someone said happened), looking at his children's faces to see if they are the same, etc.
I have watched this movie three times. The first time I watched it, I thought it was not a dream, he was going home. When I saw the opposite argument, I watched it again, looking for any clues that would tell if he was dreaming throughout, and was totally skeptical of the ending. Until I saw a post that he only wore a wedding ring when he was dreaming. Many countered that they saw him wearing it in reality, or that he wasn't wearing the ring in this or that dream. The third time I watched the movie, I looked for the ring in any scene, to see if his totem stopped in the dream (some say it did), to see his children's faces to see if they were still the same, etc.
My analysis as follows
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The Wedding Ring: The Wedding
Ring
We start the movie with Cobb in limbo with Saito, he is wearing a ring. Step back to the beginning, he is trying to convince Saito to let him into his mind to help protect it, this takes place in a dream two layers down. He is wearing a wedding ring. Things go south and we wake up in the apartment, where we think an angry mob is really coming down the street. They threaten Saito's life with him thinking it is reality, only for him to discover otherwise. In this entire scene Cobb is wearing a wedding ring. Wake up on the train, NO WEDDING RING. In the hotel suite on the phone with his kids, NO WEDDING RING. On the roof talking to Saito, NO WEDDING RING. France, the architecture university, NO WEDDING RING. The coffee shop in Ariadne's first shared dream, Cobb is wearing his wedding ring, she freaks out. They wake up in the workshop,NO WEDDING RING. They go back under and Ariadne explores the physics of the dreamworld, again Cobb is wearing a wedding ring.
The movie begins with Cobb (played by Leo) and Saito (Saito) in a dream, wearing a ring. Going back to the beginning, he was trying to convince Saito to let him into his consciousness to protect him, which happened in a 2-deep dream. He wears a wedding ring. Things turned yellow and we woke up in our apartment to a mob of real people marching down the street. They threaten Saito to believe this is reality. In this entire scene, Cobb is wearing a wedding ring. Waking up in the train without a wedding ring. No wedding rings when calling kids from hotel rooms. When talking to Saito on the roof, there is no wedding ring. France, University of Architecture, no wedding rings. In Ariadne's first shared dream coffee shop, Cobb wears his wedding ring and she freaks out. They wake up in the workshop without a wedding ring. They return to the dream and Cobb wears his ring again as Ariadne discovers the physics of the dream world.
Cobb goes to see Eames, the entire time not wearing a ring. He meets the new chemist, still no ring. The chemist gives him a quick taste of his latest potion, in that scene we get a quick glimpse of his hand with a WEDDING RING. Wakes up, no ring. See the pattern?
Cobb went to see Eames, the whole time without a wedding ring. He met the new apothecary, still no ring. The pharmacist gives him the latest medicine to try quickly, and in that scene we see a quick flash of his wedding ring-wearing hand. Woke up with no ring. see it?
So finally, the inception. We are on the plane, we clearly see is not wearing a ring. Level 1, WEDDING RING, Level 2, WEDDING RING, Level 3 WEDDING RING, Limbo he is wearing his WEDDING RING.
So finally, " Inception". We were on the plane and we clearly saw that no rings were on. The first layer, wearing, the second layer, wearing, the third layer, wearing, in the dream he has been wearing the wedding ring.
After he meets Saito as an old man, the conversation continues past what we saw in the beginning, yet even here he is wearing a WEDDING RING still. Then, when Saito reaches for the gun, we are on an airplane. He is not wearing a wedding ring here.
After he sees Saito, who is already an old man, the conversation continues past what we saw at the beginning, when he was still wearing the wedding ring. Then, when Saito went to get his guns, we were on the plane. There, he never wore a wedding ring.
HERE IS THE KEY. As he is walking through the terminal, no ring, as he is greeted by father in law, no ring, when he gets home and spins his totem, no ring.
Here is the key. There was no ring when he passed through the terminal, no ring when his father-in-law welcomed him, no ring when he got home and twirled his totem.
In his dreams he is married to Mal still, as she can still exist there. In reality, he knows she is dead and does not wear a wedding ring as he is no longer married. A simple yet easily unnoticed way to test which parts are reality.
In his dream he is still married to Mal, she can still live in the dream. In reality, he knew she was dead, and not wearing a wedding ring meant he was no longer married. A simple and easily overlooked way to speculate which passage is true.
Not done there, I investigated another thing, Cobb's totem
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I have seen many posts of people saying his totem falls when he is in others' dreams. This is simply not true. People say it wobbles and falls over in the beginning. I watched and listened closely, Saito spins the top and we hear it spinning as the scene cuts to the young Saito. Then, in the end when we see him old again, he looks down and it is still spinning, he knows he is not in reality and goes for the gun.
I've seen many people 's post, saying that his totem fell in someone else's dream. This is completely incorrect. People say it wobbled and tipped over at the beginning. I watched and listened carefully, Saito turned the top and we heard it spinning as the picture turned to Saito being young. And then, at the end we see him again in his old form, he looks down, it's still spinning, and he picks up the gun knowing he's not in reality.
When Cobb uses inception on Mal, it continues and never stops. In the hotel after the failed Saito mission, it falls. A funny thing to note is that every scene in which the top spins endlessly he is wearing a WEDDING RING. In the scenes in which it topples, he is not.
When Cobb used inception on Mal, it went on without stopping. It stopped after Saito's failed mission at the hotel. An interesting discovery: in every scene where the top spins endlessly, he always wears a wedding ring. In the scene where it fell, he didn't wear it.
Now, the awakening scene. Looks an awful lot like a dream right? Not really. He wakes up on the plane surprised, but everyone is smiling. They woke up from the sedatives, but Cobb and Saito were down in limbo. When they got back, everyone is happy to see he made it, Saito looks just as stunned only backing up the fact that he really snapped back to reality. They are all getting bags, going through customs, etc. Everyone looks at each other with a grin because they know inception worked and that Cobb is finally home. Not very dream-like except that it seems like a come dream true. Had the scene after he and Saito with the gun been him in his home, him on his way to his home, etc, I would think it is a dream. No, he awakens in EXACTLY the place he went to sleep to start inception. You never really know how you get to where you are in a dream,do you? Then how does he know he is on a plane and just successfully completed inception on Robert Fischer, the man in front of him?
Now let's talk about that wake-up scene. Seeing those idiots is like a dream, right? not necessarily. He woke up unexpectedly on the plane, but everyone was smiling. They woke up from the sedatives, but Cobb and Saito were still dreaming. When they came back, everyone was happy to see him do it, and Saito looked shocked to accept the sudden return to reality. They take the boxes together, go through customs, and so on. Everyone grinned at each other because they knew the inception was a success and Cobb finally went home. If it's not like a dream, it's like a dream come true. The scene at his house after he and Saito got enough guns and the scene where he's on his way home and so on, I guess it's a dream. No, he did wake up back to the place where he slept to start his inception. You never know how you got to your dream world, right? And then how did he know he was on a plane and successfully completed the inception on Robert Fischer who was sitting in front of him?
Finally, the home scene. Looks like a dream? In this case, yes it does. we see the children exactly where they were, doing the same thing, wearing the same clothes. They appear the same age. On my second viewing this was red flag that it was a dream. But on my third viewing I noticed slight differences, such as the kids looking slightly older. The cast list has two sets of kids listed, ones slightly older than the others. They are not voice casts but actual actors in the film. I especially noticed a difference as the camera pans towards the totem, I chose to focus on the back door with the kids. The girl is seen throwing herself on her father, in this scene she looks clearly older than the memory he has of her.
Finally, talk about the scene at home. Looks like a dream? In this case, indeed. We see kids still doing the same thing, wearing the same clothes. They are still the same age. On my second viewing, I found it an irritating sign: it was a dream. But on my third viewing, I noticed subtle differences, like the kids seeming to grow up. The cast lists two children, one slightly older than the other. They are not voice actors but actual actors in the movie. One difference in particular I noticed was when the frame was panning the totem. I focus on the back door with kids. The girl appears to be jumping on top of her father, who in this scene looks noticeably bigger than the child he remembers.
And of course, the totem itself. I watched each spin my third time through. It spun flawlessly for a while, began to wobble slightly, then started a hard wobble then fall. In the final scene it appears to be spinning smoothly for a long time, he probably gave it a lot of power. It starts to slightly wobble, and the screen goes black after it begins a HARD WOBBLE as if it is about to topple, not correct itself.
And of course, the totem itself, my first Finished every spin in three viewings. It spins flawlessly for a while, bumps a little, then shakes a lot and stops. In the final scene, it spins smoothly for a long time, and he probably gave it a lot of power. It started shaking slightly, and just when it started shaking wildly like it was about to fall instead of aligning itself, the screen went black.
Conclusion: The movie isn't a dream, Cobb isn't caught in some "limbo that looks a lot like reality." Cobb spends the entire movie trying to get to his kids in reality, why would he settle for shades in a limbo ? What proof is there that he is dreaming the whole time? If he is dreaming at the end, where is he dreaming? Limbo? So he goes from talking to Saito to just waking up on a plane, all as a part of a dream in limbo? Really? Think about it.
Conclusion: This movie is not a dream, Cobb isn't stuck in anything "Dream looks a lot like reality." Cobb spends an entire movie trying to get back to the child in reality , why let him be satisfied with the shadow in the dream? What proof is there that he has been dreaming all the time? If he dreamed the ending, where did he dream? In a dream? So he went from talking to Saito just to get on a plane, as part of the whole dream? Really? think about it.
Nolan would never take the "eeet was aaaaalll a dreeeeaaaammmmm" cliche way out. But the fact that he cut the film before the top falls over does have a meaning. He is planting a seed of doubt in your mind. He uses inception on the audience to have them question the ending. The concept of the movie thus becomes reality to the viewer, a heavy thing to think about and something that hasn't been done before.
Nolan (the film director) won't come up with "this is~ A~a~dream~" is a cliché. But the fact that he cut out the segment where the top falls down suggests there is a meaning. He planted a seed of doubt in your mind. He uses inception on the audience to make the audience explore the ending. So the idea of the film becomes a reality for the viewer to think more deeply about things that have never been done before.
But all the evidence points to reality
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