Inception: The Ending and What You Think Happened

[Locko96]

Now, reader, keep in mind that you may not want to read this as they do include super plot spoilers. This is only for people that have seen the movie and I don't want to ruin anything for those who haven't seen it.

Spoiler: Inception Ending

Okay. So, in the end of the movie, Cobb goes stays in his level of the dream world while Ariadne leaves. This is because Cobb believes he can still save Saito from dying thus allowing him to go back to his children. For a while all goes well. Saito is found in the dreams, as an old man, and everyone wakes up as normal. Saito makes the call and Cobb is able to go back to his children. However, when back at his house, he takes his "totem", the spinning top, and spins it. Just as it appears to start to topple, the screen cuts to black.

Spoiler: My Thoughts

This discussion is basically about whether Cobb lived in a fantasy world or reality at the end of the movie. Since Nolan gives us no answers (and I don't think he's supposed to} we draw that conclusion himself. As for me, I think that question is entirely irrelevant (I know... it's my question). The entire point for this job was to get back to his kids and that's what he has done, if he lived or died. I don't think he ever left the dream but has instead created an alternative reality in his head.

So Escapist, what do you think?

 

[eggy32]

Methinks you're right, He was in a dream all along, which would explain why that girl was so willing to join them.

 

[blalien]

If Cobb was dreaming at the end, the story doesn't add up. That would mean his wife was right, that the world they were living in wasn't real. So after Mal jumped off the building, she would have woken up in the real world, or at least the level above them. Then Mal would have just slapped Cobb awake. As far as we know, it has been months since Mal's death. And there has never been a situation where a few seconds means several months just one level below.

It is possible that after Mal jumped, for some reason she was unable to wake up Cobb. Or this is a completely separate fantasy Cobb designed for himself since he knew he would never be able to see his children again.

So either the ending was real, or the movie left out significant plot details. My guess? Christopher Nolan said to himself, "Hey, here's a really easy cheap plot twist we can stick in the end. Why not give the Internet nerds something to argue about so they forget I'm dragging my heels on Batman 3?"

 

[Xskills]

It becomes the great Cartesian nightmare and it starts forcing itself into a sequel because you have little idea what happened and what didn't.

 

[TheRightToArmBears]

I like to think the spiining top fell over, and it was not a dream. Partially because I don't want them to make a sequel, partially because I like a happy ending and partially because that would be the most annoying cliche ending ever ('... and it was all a dream').

 

[castlewise]

I have two basic premises:

1. It wasn't _all_ a dream. The top totem falls over numerous times. I take it to mean that that was reality. My take is everything with his wife did happen.

2. The end _is_ a dream. Not just because of the top... His kids were wearing the same clothes and hadn't aged. He had been away long enough to earn a reputation as an extractor and make a bunch of enemies. Even if that was only a year his kids would have grown up some.

So then the question is: If at least some of the movie was real, but the end was a dream, then how does that happen? I think the last time that they are known to be in reality is on the plane right before the mission. So does Cobb kill Saito in the void, (to send him back to the plane) and then construct an elaborate fantasy in the void? That way the end of the movie is all Cobb's imagination in the void and we never really see what happens to everyone else. Or... Is Saito's promise to return him to his family not all it seems to be? Maybe Saito engineers something where Cobb is put into a dream and sent back home.

(This last is my personal favorite. In fact, I like to think that there is actually an additional level of dreaming. When they get on the plane they trick Cobb into a dream which is just a recreation of the the plane. Then the movie proceeds, but at the end everyone is brought fully out of the dream, while Cobb ends up in the plane recreation. Then he gets to go "home" as his reward).

(P.S. And then... After Saito has kept Cobb under for as long as he can, he is forced to wake Cobb up. Cobb realizes his "reward" was a lie, vows to punish Saito for the deceit, and we get Inception 2: The Revengining)

 

[CK76]

I think all films are dreams. The dreams of the creator or director of them and we elect whether or not to accept the dreams as real or not. By giving the power of the ending to the viewer we create the end much in the same way we create everything before scenes start, we don't ask how they got there. So, do we accept the totem as a true way to define reality? Why? Because our protagonist stated it as much? Let's say it did fall over, does that mean it was real? So, then, what is real? If the mind believes it does that make it so, can perception come to define reality itself?

"The dream is their reality, who are you to say otherwise."

Both possibilities could be simultaneous correct based on the perception of either individual, or both are wrong. We are manipulated as viewers in that the director only shows us what they elect to, no more or less. Hence, why the film cut to black when it did and not a second later.

 

[blalien]

(This last is my personal favorite. In fact, I like to think that there is actually an additional level of dreaming. When they get on the plane they trick Cobb into a dream which is just a recreation of the the plane. Then the movie proceeds, but at the end everyone is brought fully out of the dream, while Cobb ends up in the plane recreation. Then he gets to go "home" as his reward".

Then what happens when the plane lands?

"Hey Bob, isn't that the guy who's wanted for killing his wife?"
"Aww, but he's so adorable! Let's just let him sleep."

 

[castlewise]

@blalien: Cobb never gets off the plane. They rig it up so it looks like he is just sleeping, everyone else leaves, and the plane flies back to a different country.

Saito owns the whole airline, so he could have it fly where ever. If Cobb doesn't get off the plane he has no trouble with immigration. Nobody else is going to go up to first class because its a double decker plane. The only one they would have to fool is Fischer, and he didn't freak out when he met Cobb earlier.

 

[blalien]

@blalien: Cobb never gets off the plane. They rig it up so it looks like he is just sleeping, everyone else leaves, and the plane flies back to a different country.

Saito owns the whole airline, so he could have it fly where ever. If Cobb doesn't get off the plane he has no trouble with immigration. Nobody else is going to go up to first class because its a double decker plane. The only one they would have to fool is Fischer, and he didn't freak out when he met Cobb earlier.

I guess that's possible. I don't think his friends would consent to keeping him in a dream world for all eternity, but it is possible. Occam's Razor says the last scene was real, though.

 

[AgentNein]

On a thematic level Nolan needed to keep the ending ambiguous. Because a big part of the movie is the idea of how easy we can confuse dreams with waking life. But no, I don't believe he was dreaming. Would've shit all over Cobb's character arc of finally accepting reality for the sake of being cynical.

 

[AgentNein]

So when they got down to the third or so dreaming level with the wintery complex, did anybody else think "Shadow Moses!" as well?

 

[Giest4life]

My friends debated endlessly as to what would have happened: was it a dream, or was it real? Me? I don't think that's important at all. The point of it is (for me) not to see what exactly is real, but, what exactly is defined as real? It's a subtle difference, but it is a very important epistemological question. If a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it still make a sound?

 

[Wadders]

Just wait for the sequal.

I can see it now. Two and a half hours of the top spinning on the table, then it eventually stops and falls over. The end.



As someone else said, the top falls over at a few points in the film, so I'd like to take that as an indication that it's not all a dream. Which, by the way, is the ultimate cop-out ending.

 

[The Scattered Man]

[Just so everyone knows, it's ALL spoiler-ridden.]

1) Already posted some of this over on Movie Bob comments.

2) Okay, seriously, did Cobb EVER actually check his totem after he went into that dream of the 12 guys in (still not sure, was it Brazil?)? He started to, but he dropped it, right? He NEVER checks it again until the very end. (?)

3) If we finally wakes up, would he be back with the Chemist before the REAL mission ever started?

4) Considering what some of the rest of you have said: yes, maybe the point is: if the audience didn't even get to see whether "the top topples", then clearly Cobb walked away without even trying to watch it long enough. Apparently he no longer cares whether he's in a dream or not.

5) I'm inclined to think that Nolan's ending makes sense to Nolan and is NOT some "audience cheater" / "it was all a dream" b.s. Obviously, someone CAN make a movie in which even the writer doesn't bother to keep straight what was real and what wasn't, but I (for myself) don't believe that is the case here. (probably)

6) I gotta laugh at how much Nolan has us all babbling about this though. Well done, sir. I remember Mark Pauline once saying that his goal was to create a work of art where '100,000 people would all see it, all of them would have different interpretations of what it meant, and NONE of the interpretations could be reconciled with any of the others.' (what a jerk) And Nolan has achieved something similar.

7) I also agree that any TOO elaborate adding of elements to explain things would make Mr. Occam very angry. Postulating 12 things that were never hinted at in the movie to explain one thing that actually WAS in the movie makes for great fan fiction, but doesn't do it for me as analysis.

8) Wouldn't it be sick if they had released different endings to different theaters (like they apparently did back in the days of _Clue_) so some people saw the top fall over and others didn't? ;-) (Lordy, the Internet would perish in flames!)
[Personally, I saw no evidence that the top was even starting to slow down in the theater *I* saw it in... but my eyesight is iffy.]

And
9) My favorite thought is that Nolan has planted the idea "Our world might not be real." in the minds of millions of people. The movie isn't just ABOUT inception, it is an ACT of inception.

[Quote of the day, "In reality as in dreams, what matters is the answer we find in our hearts...." --Stephen R. Donaldson, author of _The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant, The Unbeliever_]

It's been real.

 

[UnkeptBiscuit]

One thing everyone seems to be missing that could be very important to understanding all this is that the top falling over doesn't necessarily indicate reality, it means that Cobb is either in his own dream or in reality, since it wouldn't topple in someone else's dream.

I have no idea how that relates to anything, I just know that it seems important. I'm as confused as anybody as to what actually happened.

 

[The Scattered Man]

BTW, I think Nolan has GUARANTEED some major sales for the extended addition DVD ... especially if it comes with audio commentaries.
[or maybe "audience commentaries" ? Let 12 different fans give THEIR version of what they think was going on in each scene. ]

 

[The Scattered Man]

One thing everyone seems to be missing that could be very important to understanding all this is that the top falling over doesn't necessarily indicate reality, it means that Cobb is either in his own dream or in reality, since it wouldn't topple in someone else's dream.

I have no idea how that relates to anything, I just know that it seems important. I'm as confused as anybody as to what actually happened.

I'm going with the (admittedly arbitrary) theory that "the top toppling" is the only absolute indication of what is "real", but, yeah, that is only my view.
Hmm... you're right though, within the logic of the movie, presumably the reason you never let anyone else handle your totem is so THEY can't fool you into thinking you're in reality when you're still in Their dream. But Cobb would necessarily know what his own totem feels like, and could insert it into his Own dream. ... this bears thinking about....

 

[blalien]

9) My favorite thought is that Nolan has planted the idea "Our world might not be real." in the minds of millions of people. The movie isn't just ABOUT inception, it is an ACT of inception.

And this has never been done before. Especially not in any movie about a 2-dimensional array of numbers. Released in 1999.