Inception

I'm a lazy bum I admit it so that's why I haven't been blogging regularly. Inception deserves to be an exception from my laziness.

I have seen Inception twice now to try grasp the complexities of the plot. Leaving the cinema upon first viewing I was in shock and awe, the greatest film ever, or so I thought. I said that I wouldn't rate it until I saw it a second time and truly understood it. I left the cinema the second time and was no less deterred from it's apparent greatness. Through a series of unfortunate events I was left having to take a 3 hour walk on my own and, I regret to say, this is where it started unravelling.

This is somewhat uncharacteristic because I scold people all the time for being pedants, nit pickers and shit heads but what I'm going to do is list all of the inconsistencies and plot holes which I discovered. I have already ravaged forums, interviews and blogs looking for answers for my questions but couldn't find any. Now, you might call me a hypocrite but you can see that Nolan is obsessed with the "tick-tock logistics" and that is the subject of the film (as opposed to the philosophical substance of dreams.) I have no qualms with him choosing that approach but if I doesn't add up it shouldn't exist.

1. Mal and Cobb have been stuck in Limbo for 50 years, you have seen them when they're elderly so we know people age (as well as Saito) but when they're on the train track about to leave Limbo they are young. Why?

2. Why is Saito so old in Limbo? He wasn't there for that long...

3. To leave limbo you have to realise you are in a dream, Saito did this by a totem, Mal did this through Inception. Why didn't they go the more direct route of Limbo brining their totems with them, seems a lot easier then the synchronised kicks and the time limit.

4. What is Limbo exactly? Mal and Cobb weren't in a sedated state but got there anyway by going to dream from a dream from a dream so really they should have just been able to kill themselves to wake up, they weren't "stuck" there.

5. They said Limbo was "pure, infinite subconscious" AND "nothing." Which? Cobb said "you can't control your subconscious" but they were able to build buildings from it, just like an architect. It was established that's not how it works.

6. Things from the dream above have a direct effect on the dreams on the second level as shown by the gravity shifts. Another example would be when Fischer is being resuscitated lightning appears in Limbo. So why then, when 0 gravity takes hold of level 2 (Hotel) it doesn't then go to level 3 (snow)?

7. They missed the first kick, before the van hits the water. Everyone but Arthur misses it because they are in level 3, Arthur feels the kick but doesn't ride it. Why?

8. They missed the first kick which was all synchronised through music, how would they synchronise the second kick? They wouldn't have know the exact time it would have taken between bridge and water and then been able to work out what note that would have been in the music.

9. This isn't really a plot hole but... I don't really see my subconscious in my dreams being a bunch of milling people, I want my subconscious to be the driving force. Pah.

10. Another thing that isn't really a plot hole just a gripe. The debate about the ending, is it a dream or not? The children are wearing the exact same clothes, the top doesn't fall. On the other hand there is a strong implication that he remembers how he got there, the immigration control the VERY undream-like lighting. I just want to say that it isn't Nolan's job to give fodder for BOTH sides, he just presents something and WE argue over it. That's just wrong.

I might update this post because I know I haven't written everything. My problem isn't that it tries to be a puzzle, Memento was a puzzle and I loved it, but I doesn't amount to anything. There is no question as to what is reality and what isn't, at least the Matrix gave a good attempt, there is not even a mention to it until the last few seconds (and a few hints for second time viewing.) Memento was a puzzle but for one, it made sense and secondly it allowed the audience to feel what it's like to have short-term memory loss, or as close as possible. I'm going to flat out say that Inception has nothing in it that resembles dreams. I love you Nolan but Tim Burton should have made this movie not you.

Spirited Away

A little bit of background goes a long way when looking at the legend that is Hayao Miyazaki. There are a few constants when looking through his collection of works; the themes of the nature, materialism and childhood. As I did with Sunshine I suppose I will just go through them individually.

Animation at the time of Spirited Away had a very clear distinction between east and west. Companies were no longer contented in the money they were earning from making films for children, the focus was to get a larger audience. Shrek was released roughly the same time and took what we considered to be a revolutionary step, it's split haired humour was purposely designed to have a hidden meaning that would fly over the heads of children. This had been the direction most western animated films have been taking since then, excluding the oh-so-fantastic Pixar.

This direction is one that is patronising to children and I consider not in good taste. Hayao Miyazaki and Pixar decide to tackle universal problems such as age (UP + Howl's Moving Castle) and the environment (Princess Mononoke + WALL-E) a sign of respect to people of all ages. A quote from Miyazaki states who his target demographic was 'For the people who used to be 10 years old, and the people who are going to be 10 years old.'

But ANYWAY, enough about childhood outside the film more about childhood INSIDE the film. Firstly, a popular technique in children films is in viewing the story from the perspective of a child. The beauty comes in the amount of faith Miyazaki puts in his character, it being the viewpoint of a 10 year old Japanese child coming from a very interesting period in Japanese history only adds to the interest.

The first scene is one of countless fairy-tales, a wrong turn into the realm of spirits. The first spiritual clues are the grinning shinto figures. To an elderly Japanese person these are benign, however, when seeing it through the eye's of Sen they are just creepy looking. We enter through a shinto gateway, pass through a dark tunnel, all the usual symbols for going into a different world. If you have seen many studio Ghibli films you'll note that they take place in very distinct locations; Kiki's Delivery Service being an idealised western city etc. etc. Japan is clearly the setting of Spirited Away. This has very strong cultural significance with the Japanese, as since the occupation of Japan by America it had undergone a certain 'cultural cleansing.' Younger generations were unfamiliar with their heritage and traditions, clearly symbolised by Sen's oblivion to her surroundings. The shinto spirits are viewed by her as being monsters, the bath house is seen as exotic wonder as opposed nostalgic beauty. Miyazaki's intended purpose was to revitalise and spark interest from the younger generations in Japan to the richness of their traditions. It is ironic that as a western viewer we are very much in the position of a Japanese child.

Jesus, that was a long paragraph.

We are ultimately in a child's world I think it would be difficult for a western creator to stick faithfully to that decision. Miyazaki's choice in doing so would be the main critical targets of many. By that I mean if you look at the story it is fragmented and incoherent (BUT NOT IN A BAD WAY.) Sen goes to the bathhouse, her parents are turned into pigs, she finds work, looses her name, befriends no face, has to save a stink spirit, no face runs rampant in the bath house, falls in love with Haku, befriends Yubaba's identical twin, has to stop No Face, goes to Zenibaba to save Haku from dying, Haku remembers his name, saves her parents, goes home. Do you get what I'm saying? I'm not even including the bird thing that follows her round or the gigantic baby/mouse. It is like a breathless child trying to retell a story. We are kept at Chihiro's level never knowing what comes next. Magic for the sake of magic, why does it have to have an explanation?

We are in a child's world so we have to follow a child's laws. Her parents were greedy so they turned into pigs, it's oh so reminiscent of Aesop's fables. A quote from spider-man a.k.a. Kamaji 'if you do not work you'll be turned into soot,' like something a parent would say to their children. Perhaps the biggest childhood conceit is when she falls in love with Haku a mystical power propels the plot onwards, 'story is a greater force than gravity.' The topsy-turvy logic follows closely, when Chihiro finds herself in this new world and repeats 'it's all a dream' she slowly fades away. I digress, to the next paragraph!

To keep us so attached to the character Miyazaki employs a technique of the quintessential anime face he has been trademarked for. Chihiro has an androgynous face which we are able to relate to. She is not particularly developed as a character but serves her purpose exquisitely. Remember, it is not a character study it's the basking in Japan's former glory.

Ok, so I was going to talk about the other two themes but this is going on WAY to long. Once again I apologise for typos and grammatical errors.

Japan

As so far as these blogs go, I pick a theme and then talk about it through a particular movie. i.e. talk about sci-fi through Sunshine, Westerns through A Few Dollars More and formulas through Seven. Now, if I said I had a speciality when it comes to film it would be Japanese cinema. So, I thought I might talk about Japan through a string of blogs.

The quintessential Japanese films would be the anime, Spirited Away in this case, the ultra-violent mind-fuck, Battle Royale, and the samurai film, Akira Kurosawa's masterpiece Ran. Should I do this introduction as a separate blog or part of the first film? Yeh, separate blog. Makes it look like I've done more...