Week 35 – Inception (2010)

• Inception
• Released: 7/16/2010
• Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Ellen Page, Ken Watanabe, Tom Hardy, Marion Cotillard, Dileep Rao, Cillian Murphy, Tom Berenger, Michael Caine, Pete Postlethwaite
• Director: Christopher Nolan
• IMDB Page

Hi there! Welcome back to 52 Films, 52 Portraits! This week’s film was chosen by my cousin, Kevin, who is currently a PhD student studying biological oceanography at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution and living in Falmouth, MA. He grew up in Grove City, PA, with his parents, and three brothers, including his older brother, Drew.

Kevin and I a few years ago around Thanksgiving time.

I knew that Kevin and his family didn’t spend a ton of time watching movies or television growing up, so I was especially interested to hear what movies did make an impact on him as a child, and what types of movies he grew to love as an adult. He told me that he still wouldn’t consider himself to be a big film fan, but he does enjoy the occasional trip to the theater, especially for big blockbuster films. He said that he really likes that films are able to incorporate so many different elements as a storytelling device. It combines writing with the visual and audio elements to create a much larger experience. He said that few forms of media have to handle so many different elements at once, and that’s what makes films stand out. It allows great movies to flourish, but also makes it that much easier for a movie to be brought down from just one sub-par element.

Kevin said that the first film he can remember having a big impact on him was Disney’s The Lion King. He said that it is still one of his favorite movies, along with the other Disney animated features that he grew up on. He said that as he grew a little older into later childhood, films like the Lord of the Rings and Star Wars series became huge parts of his life. He was always drawn to those types of stories and can remember running around in the woods pretending to be those characters. I can definitely remember all of us cousins playing all sorts of games like this in our grandparents’ yard when we were younger.

The love for these genres has stuck with Kevin, and he said that he would now consider action and sci-fi to be his favorite types of movie. The bigger and more “spectacular” a film is, the better. He loves a lot of excitement and a fast-paced plot in his movies. He said that he also loves the superhero genre. Specifically, he told me that he is a big loverof the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Kevin said that he doesn’t usually pay much attention to directors, so he could really say if he has a favorite, but he does have a favorite composer: John Williams. He said that this may have to do with nostalgia, because John Williams composed the music in so many of his childhood favorites.

When I asked Kevin whether he considered any other films, he said that he thought about naming one of the Lord of the Rings films since, as mentioned above, they had such a big impact on his childhood. He also said that he considered picking Remember the Titans, just because it’s one of his favorite films and he has always loved it.

Kevin told me that he decided on Inception for a few reasons. First of all, he said it’s one of those films that he can watch over and over again and still find himself engrossed in the plot. Second, he said that the loves the complexity of the plot and that it can take multiple viewings to begin to unwrap it all and that there are so many layers that all start to connect to each other as the film progresses. Next, he said that the film is very unique, which is something missing from many hits, especially in recent years. Finally, he said it’s just such a grand, exciting movie with a great score and very entertaining story, and that’s what he is looking for in a great film.

I was excited to watch Inception this week, because I don’t think I’ve seen it since it was in theaters. I believe I saw it once and really enjoyed it, but then never revisited it. And that was nearly seven years ago! It was definitely time for a second viewing. I remember that I really liked the film and I had a clear memory of the final shot, and a few other snippets, but other than that, I didn’t remember too much about the plot or other elements of the film. I think that ended up liking it even more this time around. Maybe it has something to do with Kevin’s point about it being a film that takes a few viewings to fully appreciate.

The biggest thing I appreciated about the film was it’s originality and visual style. It really was just a great concept and I feel like they did an amazing job of pulling it off. The special effects were pretty fantastic. I remember being blown away by the scenes in the hotel the first time around and they really held up.

The other thing that I really loved about the film was the incredible cast. Obviously DiCaprio is amazing, but my personal faves in the film are Ellen Page and Joseph Gordon-Levitt, as well as Marion Cotillard. I think this may have actually been the first film in which I ever saw Cotillard. I just remember that she reminded me a lot of Rachel Weisz, which was definitely a compliment.

Overall, I really enjoyed the film and definitely recommend it to those with enough patience to really devote their concentration to a film for two and a half hours. This is not a film for watching in the background. But if you do give your time to it, it is definitely worth it!

Thanks for joining me for another week! Have you seen Inception? What did you think? Let me know all of your thoughts in the comments below and please follow, share, like, etc! Thanks! See you next week!

Up Next: The Belly of an Architect