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incepted
I watched the film Inception. I liked it. I liked it because Christopher Nolan has remembered a basic principle of storytelling: complexity in some aspects should be balanced by simplicity in others. The extremely labyrinthine story was told with plain simplicity. Except for a certain fogginess at the beginning, none of which interfered with getting up to speed once the main plot started, there was no point in the story when I did not understand where they were, what was going on, what the characters were doing, and (almost always) why.
Considering that for part of the movie, the characters are split up and/or reduplicated in four (actually five) different worlds, flashed between with great speed, and that each of these worlds moves at a different speed while being complexly related to the others, it was quite amazing that all of that was maintained perfectly clearly.
The basic structure of the plot is quite simple, actually. After the opening setup, the plot is, in fact, that of a caper film. The first half shows the gathering of the team and the creation of the plan. The second half shows its execution. That's what appears to be going on, and it turns out that's what actually is. No tricks.
In fact, my biggest praise is that, despite what could have been great temptation, and the precedents of Memento (which I liked) and The Prestige (which I detested), Nolan entirely declined to provide Inception with the kind of plot twist telling you that everything you previously thought is wrong. Even the twist in the last second of the film is prepared for, and doesn't really have to otherwise affect anything that's previously happened.
The other plot device I was bracing myself for, but which I was delighted to see didn't happen, is that at no point was there anything romantic or sexual between Leonardo DiCaprio's character and Ellen Page's character. She may have a soft spot for him, but it goes no further than that. It's essential to his makeup that he's still in love with his wife and that he stays that way.
Considering that for part of the movie, the characters are split up and/or reduplicated in four (actually five) different worlds, flashed between with great speed, and that each of these worlds moves at a different speed while being complexly related to the others, it was quite amazing that all of that was maintained perfectly clearly.
The basic structure of the plot is quite simple, actually. After the opening setup, the plot is, in fact, that of a caper film. The first half shows the gathering of the team and the creation of the plan. The second half shows its execution. That's what appears to be going on, and it turns out that's what actually is. No tricks.
In fact, my biggest praise is that, despite what could have been great temptation, and the precedents of Memento (which I liked) and The Prestige (which I detested), Nolan entirely declined to provide Inception with the kind of plot twist telling you that everything you previously thought is wrong. Even the twist in the last second of the film is prepared for, and doesn't really have to otherwise affect anything that's previously happened.
The other plot device I was bracing myself for, but which I was delighted to see didn't happen, is that at no point was there anything romantic or sexual between Leonardo DiCaprio's character and Ellen Page's character. She may have a soft spot for him, but it goes no further than that. It's essential to his makeup that he's still in love with his wife and that he stays that way.
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