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Published: 15 July 2010
by DAN CARRIER

DIRECTOR Christopher Nolan combines two of the standout skills he possesses as a storyteller in this sci-fi thriller. 

It’s a philosophical consideration of the human condition, in this case our grasp on what our perception of reality is, with some very, very, very big bangs across some very, very, very big stage sets. 

The Highgate director first started writing this film 10 years ago, having become fascinated with the subject of dreams: he says he loves the idea of their paradoxical nature, and the idea that whether something is nice, frightening, or fantastic is being produced solely by your own imagination. 

It is from this concept that the story emerged.  Dom Cobb (Leonardo DiCaprio) is a thief who operates in the realm of dreams. Using specially developed chemicals and a Dr Who-style machine that handily lives in a steel briefcase, he dives into other ­people’s sleep time and indulges in corporate espionage, pinching secrets as their owners doze. 

But we learn his talents have cost him dear: his wife Mal ­(Marion Cotillard) was also involved in this surreal, high stakes game, but lost touch with what was a dream, and what was reality. 

The convoluted story has it that she killed herself to snap out of the dream and told him to come with her by leaping to their dream “deaths” from a window ledge, which would jerk them awake in the real world.

Instead, he was accused of her death – she cleverly manufactured it to be this way, leaving “clues” that he is a murderer to persuade him to leap with her – and is on the run, unable to get back home to see his real kids.

Then Cobb is offered the chance to do one last job which will, he is told, take him back to his family. 

As you would expect with Nolan, this film has deeper layers of surreal nonsense than your average sci-fi flick. It is almost as if he has taken a large dose of his fascination with what lurks in the recesses of the human mind, as shown in his breakthrough film Momento about memory loss, and then thrown in the high-budget panache of his Batman movies. 

In many ways it works. It looks ­gorgeous, with giant, impossible cityscapes as a stage form the drama. If androids dream of electric sheep, then this is an urban planner’s nightmare. 

Part of the plot requires an architect to create a dream world with loads of Escher-like impossible stair­cases, bridges that go nowhere, soaring towers that bend and crumple at the whim of the person’s thoughts; they provide the most dramatic and watchable scenes. 

It was as if Nolan had been heavily influenced by an indie internet hit, made by fellow Highgate director Alex Chandon. Called Borderline, you can find it on YouTube. Watch Inception, and then watch Alex’s video, made a good few years ago, and the similarities will be clear. It also feels like the film has relied a ­little heavily on The Matrix – sleek-haired men flying through the air in slow motion as they battle it out in alternate realities.

While the film is superbly polished, has oodles of action and a plot that will make you think, it lacks clarity at times, making it hard to feel any real empathy for the main character – pretty vital when you are supposed to be rooting for him to be reunited with his family. 

Then there is the fact that at well over two hours, it is long-winded and rather complicated.

Nolan’s skills as one of the premier film-makers about today are very apparent, and this is not a bad movie. It is just the leap of faith required to join in the fun and get onboard the rollercoaster he has ­created is at times just too much.