A Origem

Paradoxo: Um filme pretensamente «super inteligente» que, através da sua admiração pelo invisível, evoca uma sensação de conforto consumista de que tudo nele se encaixa perfeitamente. Se contivesse emoção real e alguma ideia, se retirasse a sua fatalidade e urgência da história e não apenas a música brutal e robusta de Zimmer, se me permitisse conectar-me com os personagens e não me deixasse apenas admirar os seus diálogos mágicos, provavelmente teria sucumbido a esse sentido sedutor de perfeição e evento extraordinário. Mas estes valores, cruciais para o FILME, não estão mais presentes aqui do que há vida na imagem da silhueta monótona dos arranha-céus cinzentos contra o pano de fundo do sonho de cinquenta anos de Cobb e Mal. A Origem é «apenas» uma postura de Matrix extremamente eficaz. (22/07/2010)

We wish to make our dreams come true. We can't really materialize them unless we use film technology to do so. Inception is a perfect example of when dreams become reality and we can escape from reality into a dream. Unfortunately, we perceive it as exactly the opposite of the characters in the film. Two and a half hours go by like only a few minutes. (25/07/2010)

After such movies, everyone thinks and considers how everything really was. In a moment, I managed with a single logical explanation and it was enough for me. But the next day I realized that the film itself does not only have the solution that I dreamed of. In fact, it contains a whole lot of solutions. And more and more people eventually come to them, because the film itself contains something in every scene that incredibly confuses the other version. So at first glance it doesn't look like it, but each scene could suggest a certain piece of one of the explanations, and in the end, it's so complicated that it's not as simple as I first thought. I'm not surprised, Nolan wouldn't shoot such a simple film, where the most fundamental fact would be in the last scene, which would actually slightly brake the finished idea. But I didn't expect him to make such a complex film, where each scene plays an important role in the future narrative. That's why Inception is such an incredible film. But even with a clean conscience, I won't make it to the finish line one hundred percent. Despite being a great film, Inception has a few solid flaws. Mainly, even though it works brilliantly in a complex way, it doesn't include anything that would completely grab me. Sure, the action scenes are definitely great, but the story itself just didn't seem as unique to me at first glance, until later when I started thinking about it and reading various discussions on the internet. I also minded that the film dealt with all the characters separately, but none of them was the true main hero. It should have been Leonardo DiCaprio, but in the end it spread out in all directions and everyone played their important part more or less evenly. When I compare it to DiCaprio's previous film, I can't give it full marks either, because I haven't seen a more brutal ending of a film for a long time like in Shutter Island. All these little things then confirmed what I had been thinking throughout the whole film, that it just didn't nail the fifth. Even though I thought a lot at the end, but I finally gave in. Inception is still a revolutionary film with its on one hand unremarkable story framework, but insanely complex core that people around the world will dissect for decades to come. (06/08/2010)

Inception is an incredibly precise film with a cold and detached perfection that reminded me of the Kubrick’s best (more than the oft-mention The Matrix) – that’s how The Killing would look if it was blended with 2001: A Space Odyssey. The way the script works with so many dream levels would be lethal for about 99% of today’s directors and screenwriters, but Nolan no longer needs to prove anything to anyone. This is a class on its own. Thanks to his mastery, the complex plot is easy to understand, at least at the most basic level. After watching it, I couldn’t sleep trying to find inconsistencies. There are films that don’t have an interpretation and will never make sense, no matter how hard the viewer tries, but I think the opposite applies to Inception. There will be several interpretations and all of them could be correct, though I believe it’s pointless to theorise too much, the true interpretation will be the simplest one, and the details (will it fall or not, and why) will remain up to each viewer. Either way, I must watch it again. I can’t tell which place (in terms of quality) Inception takes in Nolan’s filmography, but I liked it a lot more than the over-hyped and straightforward (though also great) The Dark Night. PS: Does it make any sense to talk about how great the performances of the entire cast are? (my favourite were Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Cillian Murphy). Edit: So, for the second time, a truly wonderful experience. The film is full of emotions, but you don’t have a chance to get them the first time (because you don’t know the twist) – Nolan’s rule of repeated viewings still applies. (23/07/2010)

I'm honestly glad for that light doubter prickle I went to see the film with. The beginning is undoubtedly a great, complex and ambitious work, but from my point of view it did not overcome Nolan's two previous masterpieces. Unlike The Prestige, it is strictly linear and lacks the great narrative finesse that will make me feel good even after watching it many times, and unlike The Dark Knight, it lacks that monumental fatefulness. The idea is brilliant, but the script says everything important from the very beginning, explains too much, and surprises too little. Jonathan would definitely help. And the other thing - DiCaprio plays exactly the same character as in Scorsese's Shutter Island. In exactly the same way. Regardless, these two things pulled me out of the sweet dizziness that so many people had succumbed to. (23/07/2010)