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Inception

InceptionTheatrical release poster

Directed by Christopher Nolan

Produced by Christopher NolanEmma Thomas

Written by Christopher Nolan

Starring Leonardo DiCaprioKen WatanabeJoseph Gordon-LevittMarion CotillardEllen PageTom HardyCillian MurphyTom BerengerMichael Caine

Music by Hans Zimmer

Cinematography Wally Pfister

Editing by Lee Smith

Studio Legendary PicturesSyncopy Films

Distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures

Release date(s) • July 8, 2010 (London premiere)• July 16, 2010 (United States)

Running time 148 minutes

Country •• United Kingdom•• United States

Language English

Budget $160 million

Box office $825,532,764

Inception is a 2010 science fiction film written, co-produced, and directed by Christopher Nolan. The film stars alarge ensemble cast that includes Leonardo DiCaprio, Ken Watanabe, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Marion Cotillard, EllenPage, Tom Hardy, Dileep Rao, Cillian Murphy, Tom Berenger, and Michael Caine. DiCaprio plays Dom Cobb, athief who commits corporate espionage by infiltrating the subconscious of his targets. He is offered a chance toregain his old life as payment for a task considered to be impossible: "inception", the implantation of anotherperson's idea into a target's subconscious.Shortly after finishing Insomnia (2002), Nolan wrote an 80-page treatment about "dream stealers" envisioning a horror film inspired by lucid dreaming and presented the idea to Warner Bros. Feeling he needed to have more experience with large-scale film production, Nolan retired the project and instead worked on Batman Begins (2005), The Prestige (2006), and The Dark Knight (2008). He spent six months revising the script before Warner Bros. purchased it in February 2009. Inception was filmed in six countries and four continents, beginning in Tokyo on June 19, 2009, and finishing in Canada on November 22, 2009. Its official budget was US$160 million; a cost which was split between Warner Bros and Legendary Pictures. Nolan's reputation and success with The Dark Knight helped

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secure the film's $100 million in advertising expenditure, with most of the publicity involving viral marketing.Inception's première was held in London on July 8, 2010; its wide release to both conventional and IMAX theatersbegan on July 16, 2010. A box office success, Inception has grossed over $800 million worldwide becoming the37th-highest-grossing film of all time. The home video market also had strong results, with $68 million in DVDsales. Inception has received wide critical acclaim and numerous critics have praised its originality, cast, score, andvisual effects. It won Academy Awards for Best Cinematography, Best Sound Editing, Best Sound Mixing, and BestVisual Effects, and was nominated for four more: Best Picture, Best Original Score, Best Art Direction, and BestOriginal Screenplay.

PlotDominick Cobb (Leonardo DiCaprio) and business partner Arthur (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) perform corporateespionage using an experimental military technology to infiltrate the subconscious of their targets and extractinformation while dreaming. Their latest target is Japanese businessman Saito (Ken Watanabe). Tiered "dreamwithin a dream" strategies are used and dreamers awaken by a "kick" such as dying in the dream or falling. If thedreamer is the one who awakens, the dream "collapses". Each "extractor" carries a totem, a small object whosebehavior only its owner can predict, used to determine whether a dreamer is in someone else's dream. Cobb's totemis implied to be a spinning top that spins perpetually in the dream state. The extraction fails when sabotaged by amemory of Cobb's deceased wife Mal (Marion Cotillard). Saito reveals, after Cobb's and Arthur's associate sellsthem out, that he was actually auditioning the team to perform the difficult act of "inception": planting an idea in aperson's subconscious while they sleep.Saito wishes to break up the energy conglomerate of his ailing competitor Maurice Fischer (Pete Postlethwaite) byplanting the idea in his son and heir Robert Fischer (Cillian Murphy) to disintegrate his father's company. ShouldCobb succeed, Saito would use his influence to clear a murder charge against Cobb, so he can return to the UnitedStates and his children. Cobb accepts the offer and assembles his team: Eames (Tom Hardy), a conman and identityforger; Yusuf (Dileep Rao), a chemist who concocts the powerful sedative for a stable "dream within a dream"strategy; Ariadne (Ellen Page), an architecture student tasked with designing the labyrinth of the dream landscapes;and Arthur. Saito accompanies so he knows whether Cobb and his team succeeded.When the elder Fischer dies in Sydney and his body is flown back to Los Angeles, the team share the flight withRobert Fischer. Cobb sedates him, bringing him into the shared dream. At each stage, the member of the teamgenerating the dream stays behind to initiate the "kick", the means by which they will be able to awaken from thedream layer below, while the other members sleep within the dream to travel a level deeper. In the first level, Yusuf'srainy downtown dream, the team abducts Fischer; however, Fischer's trained subconscious projections attack,wounding Saito severely. Eames temporarily takes the appearance of Fischer's godfather, Peter Browning (TomBerenger), to suggest Fischer reconsider his father's will. Yusuf drives the team in a van as they are sedated into thesecond level, a hotel dreamed by Arthur, where the team recruit Fischer, convincing him his kidnapping wasorchestrated by Browning and essentially turning him against his own subconscious defences by convincing him thatthey are his defence. In the third level, a snowy mountain fortress dreamed by Eames, Fischer is told they are inBrowning's subconscious, but they are really going deeper into Fischer's. Yusuf, under assault by trained projections,initiates his kick too soon by driving off a bridge, removing the gravity of Arthur's dream world and causing anavalanche in Eames' dream, a kick which all missed. Arthur improvises a new kick using an elevator that will besynchronized with the van hitting the water, while the team in Eames' dream races to finish the job before the newround of kicks.Due to the effects of heavy sedation and multi-layered dreaming, death during this mission will result in entering Limbo, dream space of unknown content where the dreamer could be trapped. Elapsed time in each dream level is roughly twenty times greater than in the level above it; in Limbo, the deepest level of all, the planned ten hours of outer-world time would be experienced as almost two centuries. Cobb reveals to Ariadne that he spent "fifty years"

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with Mal in Limbo constructing a world from their shared memories while seemingly growing old together.Returning to the waking world, they found less than three hours had passed, but Mal, convinced she was stilldreaming, committed suicide, trying to persuade Cobb to do so by retroactively incriminating him in her death. Hefled the U.S. and left his children behind, ostensibly in the care of his father-in-law, Prof. Stephen Miles (MichaelCaine).Saito succumbs to his wounds, and Cobb's projection of Mal sabotages the plan by killing Fischer, sending themboth into Limbo. Cobb and Ariadne enter Limbo to find Fischer and Saito, while Eames remains on his dream levelto set up a kick by rigging the fortress with explosives. Cobb confronts his projection of Mal, who tries convincinghim to stay in Limbo. Cobb refuses and confesses that he was responsible for Mal's suicide: having convinced her toleave Limbo by using inception to plant the idea in her mind that the world they had been living in for fifty years wasnot real, and hence the need to kill themselves in order to return to the real world, once back in the real world shecontinued to believe dying would wake her. Mal attacks Cobb but Ariadne shoots her. Through his confession, Cobbattains catharsis, choosing to remain in Limbo to search for Saito. Ariadne pushes Fischer off a balcony, bringinghim back up to the mountain fortress, where he enters a safe room to discover and accept the planted idea: that hisfather wishes him to be his "own man", and that splitting up the conglomerate might not be a radical notion.All team members other than Cobb and Saito ride the synchronized kicks back to reality: Ariadne jumps off abalcony in Limbo, Eames detonates the explosives in the fortress, Arthur blasts an elevator containing the team'ssleeping bodies up an elevator shaft, and the van in Yusuf's dream hits the water. Cobb eventually finds an agedSaito and the two remember their arrangement, presumably shooting themselves and awakening to outer-worldreality on the airplane. Saito honors the arrangement and Cobb passes through U.S. customs once the plane lands inLos Angeles. Before reuniting with his children, Cobb tests reality with his spinning top, but he turns away to greetthem before observing the results.

Cast

The cast at a premiere for the film in July 2010:From left to right: Cillian Murphy, Marion

Cotillard, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Ellen Page, KenWatanabe, Michael Caine, and Leonardo

DiCaprio

• Leonardo DiCaprio as Dominick "Dom" Cobb, a professional thiefwho specializes in conning secrets from his victims by infiltratingtheir dreams. DiCaprio was the first actor to be cast in the film.Nolan had been trying to work with the actor for years and met himseveral times, but was unable to convince him to appear in any ofhis films until Inception. Both Brad Pitt and Will Smith wereoffered the role, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

• Joseph Gordon-Levitt as Arthur, Cobb's partner who manages andresearches the missions. Gordon-Levitt compared Arthur to theproducer of Cobb's art, "the one saying, 'Okay, you have yourvision; now I'm going to figure out how to make all the nuts andbolts work so you can do your thing'".[1] The actor did all of his stunts but one scene and said the preparation"was a challenge and it would have to be for it to look real". James Franco was in talks with Christopher Nolan toplay Arthur, but was ultimately unavailable due to scheduling conflicts.

• Ellen Page as Ariadne, a graduate student of architecture who is recruited to construct the various dreamscapes, which are described as mazes. The name Ariadne alludes to a princess of Greek myth, daughter of King Minos, who aided the hero Theseus by giving him a sword and a ball of string to help him navigate the labyrinth which was the prison of the Minotaur. Nolan said that Page was chosen for being a "perfect combination of freshness and savvy and maturity beyond her years".[2] Page said her character acts as a proxy to the audience, as "she's just learning about these ideas and, in essence, assists the audience in learning about dream sharing". Evan Rachel Wood was Christopher Nolan's first choice to play Ariadne, but she turned it down. Before Ellen Page was

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offered and accepted the role, Nolan considered casting Emily Blunt, Rachel McAdams, Emma Roberts, JessySchram, and Carey Mulligan.

• Tom Hardy as Eames, a sharp-tongued associate of Cobb's. He is referred to as a fence but his speciality isforgery, more accurately identity theft. Eames uses his ability to impersonate others inside the dream world inorder to manipulate Fischer. Hardy described his character as "an old, Graham Greene-type diplomat; sort offaded, shabby, grandeur – the old Shakespeare lovey mixed with somebody from Her Majesty's Special Forces",who wears "campy, old money" costumes.

• Ken Watanabe as Mr. Saito, a Japanese businessman who employs Cobb for the team's mission. Nolan wrote therole with Watanabe in mind, as he wanted to work with him again after Batman Begins. Inception is Watanabe'sfirst work in a contemporary setting where his primary language is English. Watanabe tried to emphasize adifferent characteristic of Saito in every dream level – "First chapter in my castle, I pick up some hidden feelingsof the cycle. It's magical, powerful and then the first dream. And back to the second chapter, in the old hotel, Ipick up [being] sharp and more calm and smart and it's a little bit [of a] different process to make up the characterof any movie".

• Dileep Rao as Yusuf. Rao describes Yusuf as "an avant-garde pharmacologist, who is a resource for people, likeCobb, who want to do this work unsupervised, unregistered and unapproved of by anyone". Co-producer JordanGoldberg said the role of the chemist was "particularly tough because you don't want him to seem like some kindof drug dealer", and that Rao was cast for being "funny, interesting and obviously smart".[3]

• Cillian Murphy as Robert Michael Fischer, Jr., the heir to a business empire and the team's target.[] Murphy saidFischer was portrayed as "a petulant child who's in need of a lot of attention from his father, he has everything hecould ever want materially, but he's deeply lacking emotionally". The actor also researched the sons of RupertMurdoch, "to add to that the idea of living in the shadow of someone so immensely powerful".

• Tom Berenger as Peter Browning, Robert Fischer's godfather and fellow executive at the Fischers' company.Berenger said Browning acts as a "surrogate father" to Robert, who calls the character "Uncle Peter", andemphasized that "Browning has been with [Robert] his whole life and has probably spent more quality time withhim than his own father".

• Marion Cotillard as Mal Cobb, Dom's deceased wife. She is a manifestation of Dom's guilt about the real cause ofMal's suicide. He is unable to control these projections of her, challenging his abilities as an extractor. Nolandescribed Mal as "the essence of the femme fatale," and DiCaprio praised Cotillard's performance saying that "shecan be strong and vulnerable and hopeful and heartbreaking all in the same moment, which was perfect for all thecontradictions of her character".[4]

• Pete Postlethwaite as Maurice Fischer, Robert Fischer's father and the dying founder of a business empire. Thefilm became the first of Postlethwaite's final three film roles before his death in early 2011.

• Michael Caine as Prof. Stephen Miles, Cobb's mentor and father-in-law, and Ariadne's college professor whorecommends her to the team.

• Lukas Haas as Nash, an architect in Cobb's employment who betrays the team and is later replaced by Ariadne.• Talulah Riley as a woman whom Eames disguises himself as in a dream. Riley liked the role, despite it being

minimal – "I get to wear a nice dress, pick up men in bars, and shove them in elevators. It was good to dosomething adultish. Usually I play 15-year-old English schoolgirls."

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Production

Development

Emma Thomas and Christopher Nolan answer questionsabout Inception. The husband and wife team produced the

film through their company Syncopy Films. Nolan alsowrote and directed it.

Initially, Nolan wrote an 80-page treatment aboutdream-stealers. Originally, Nolan had envisioned Inception asa horror film, but eventually wrote it as a heist film eventhough he found that "traditionally [they] are very deliberatelysuperficial in emotional terms." Upon revisiting his script, hedecided that basing it in that genre did not work because thestory "relies so heavily on the idea of the interior state, theidea of dream and memory. I realized I needed to raise theemotional stakes." Nolan worked on the script for nine to tenyears. When he first started thinking about making the film,Nolan was influenced by "that era of movies where you hadThe Matrix (1999), you had Dark City (1998), you had TheThirteenth Floor (1999) and, to a certain extent, you had

Memento (2000), too. They were based in the principles that the world around you might not be real.".

Nolan first pitched the film to Warner Bros. in 2001, but then felt that he needed more experience making large-scalefilms, and embarked on Batman Begins and The Dark Knight. He soon realized that a film like Inception needed alarge budget because "as soon as you're talking about dreams, the potential of the human mind is infinite. And so thescale of the film has to feel infinite. It has to feel like you could go anywhere by the end of the film. And it has towork on a massive scale." After making The Dark Knight, Nolan decided to make Inception and spent six monthscompleting the script. Nolan states that the key to completing the script was wondering what would happen if severalpeople shared the same dream. "Once you remove the privacy, you've created an infinite number of alternativeuniverses in which people can meaningfully interact, with validity, with weight, with dramatic consequences."Leonardo DiCaprio was the first actor to be cast in the film. Nolan had been trying to work with the actor for yearsand met him several times, but was unable to convince him to appear in any of his films until Inception. DiCapriofinally agreed because he was "intrigued by this concept—this dream-heist notion and how this character's going tounlock his dreamworld and ultimately affect his real life." He read the script and found it to be "very well written,comprehensive but you really had to have Chris in person, to try to articulate some of the things that have beenswirling around his head for the last eight years." DiCaprio and Nolan spent months talking about the screenplay.Nolan took a long time re-writing the script in order "to make sure that the emotional journey of his character wasthe driving force of the movie." On February 11, 2009, it was announced that Warner Bros. purchased Inception, aspec script written by Nolan.

Locations and setsPrincipal photography began in Tokyo on June 19, 2009, with the scene where Saito first hires Cobb during ahelicopter flight over the city.[5]

The production moved to the United Kingdom and shot in a converted airship hangar in Cardington, Bedfordshire, north of London.[6] There, the hotel bar set which tilted 30 degrees was built. A hotel corridor was also constructed by Guy Hendrix Dyas, the production designer, Chris Corbould, the special effects supervisor, and Wally Pfister, the director of photography; it rotated a full 360 degrees to create the effect of alternate directions of gravity for scenes set during the second level of dreaming, where dream-sector physics become chaotic. The idea was inspired by a technique used in Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968). Nolan said, "I was interested in taking those ideas, techniques, and philosophies and applying them to an action scenario".[7] The filmmakers originally planned to make the hallway only 40 ft (12 m) long, but as the action sequence became more elaborate, the hallway's length

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grew to 100 ft (30 m). The corridor was suspended along eight large concentric rings that were spaced equidistantlyoutside its walls and powered by two massive electric motors. Joseph Gordon-Levitt, who plays Arthur, spent severalweeks learning to fight in a corridor that spun like "a giant hamster wheel". Nolan said of the device, "It was likesome incredible torture device; we thrashed Joseph for weeks, but in the end we looked at the footage, and it looksunlike anything any of us has seen before. The rhythm of it is unique, and when you watch it, even if you know howit was done, it confuses your perceptions. It's unsettling in a wonderful way". Gordon-Levitt remembered, "it wassix-day weeks of just, like, coming home at night battered ... The light fixtures on the ceiling are coming around onthe floor, and you have to choose the right time to cross through them, and if you don't, you're going to fall." OnJuly 15, 2009, filming took place at University College London for the sequences occurring inside a Paris college ofarchitecture in the story, including the library, Flaxman Gallery and Gustav Tuck Theatre.[8]

Filming moved to France where they shot Cobb entering the college of architecture (the place used for the entrancewas the Musée Galliera) and the pivotal scenes between Ariadne and Cobb, in a bistro (a fictional one set up at thecorner of Rue César Franck and Rue Bouchut) and then on the Bir-Hakeim bridge.[9] For the explosion that takesplace during the bistro scene, the local authorities would not allow the actual use of explosives. High-pressurenitrogen was used to create the effect of a series of explosions. Pfister used six high-speed cameras to capture thesequence from different angles and make sure that they got the shot. The visual effects department then enhanced thesequence, adding more destruction and flying debris. For the "Paris folding" sequence and when Ariadne "creates"the bridges, green screen and CGI were used on location.Tangier, Morocco, doubled as Mombasa, where Cobb hires Eames and Yusuf. A foot chase was shot in the streetsand alleyways of the historic medina quarter.[10] To capture this sequence, Pfister employed a mix of hand-heldcamera and steadicam work.[11] Tangier was also used to film an important riot scene during the initial foray intoSaito's mind.Filming moved to the Los Angeles area, where some sets were built on a Warner Brothers sound stage, including theinterior rooms of Saito's Japanese castle (the exterior was done on a small set built in Malibu beach). The diningroom was inspired by the Nijo Castle built around 1603. These sets were inspired by a mix of Japanese architectureand Western influences. The production also staged a multi-vehicle car chase on the streets of downtown LosAngeles, which involved a freight train crashing down the middle of a street.[12] To do this, the filmmakersconfigured a train engine on the chassis of a tractor trailer. The replica was made from fiberglass molds taken fromauthentic train parts and then matched in terms of color and design.[13] Also, the car chase was supposed to be set inthe midst of a downpour but the L.A. weather stayed typically sunny. The filmmakers were forced to set up elaborateeffects (e.g., rooftop water cannons) to give the audience the impression that the weather was overcast and soggy.L.A. was also the site of the climactic scene where a Ford Econoline van flies off the Schuyler Heim Bridge in slowmotion. This sequence was filmed on and off for months with the van being shot out of a cannon, according to actorDileep Rao. Capturing the actors suspended within the van in slow motion took a whole day to film. Once the vanlanded in the water, the challenge for the actors was not to panic. "And when they ask you to act, it's a bit of an ask,"explained Cillian Murphy. The actors had to be underwater for four to five minutes while drawing air from scubatanks; underwater buddy breathing is shown in this sequence. Cobb's house was in Pasadena. The hotel lobby wasfilmed at the CAA building in Century City. Limbo was made on location in Los Angeles and Morocco with thebeach scene filmed at Palos Verdes beach with CGI buildings. N Hope St. in Los Angeles was the primary filminglocation for Limbo, with green screen and CGI being used to create the dream landscape.The final phase of principal photography took place in Alberta in late November 2009. The location managerdiscovered a temporarily closed ski resort, Fortress Mountain.[14] An elaborate set was assembled near the top stationof the Canadian chairlift, taking three months to build.[15] The production had to wait for a huge snowstorm, whicheventually arrived. The ski-chase sequence was inspired by Nolan's favorite James Bond film, On Her Majesty'sSecret Service (1969): "What I liked about it that we've tried to emulate in this film is there's a tremendous balance inthat movie of action and scale and romanticism and tragedy and emotion."[16]

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CinematographyThe film was shot primarily in the anamorphic format on 35 mm film, with key sequences filmed on 65 mm, andaerial sequences in VistaVision. Nolan did not shoot any footage with IMAX cameras as he had with The DarkKnight. "We didn't feel that we were going to be able to shoot in IMAX because of the size of the cameras becausethis film given that it deals with a potentially surreal area, the nature of dreams and so forth, I wanted it to be asrealistic as possible. Not be bound by the scale of those IMAX cameras, even though I love the format dearly". Inaddition Nolan and Pfister tested using Showscan and Super Dimension 70 as potential large format high frame ratecamera systems to use for the film, but ultimately decided against either format. Sequences in slow motion werefilmed on a Photo-Sonics 35mm camera at speeds of up to 1000 frames per second. Wally Pfister tested shootingsome of these sequences using a high speed digital camera, but found the format to be too unreliable due to technicalglitches. "Out of six times that we shot on the digital format, we only had one useable piece and it didn't end up inthe film. Out of the six times we shot with the Photo-Sonics camera and 35mm running through it, every single shotwas in the movie." Nolan also chose not to shoot any of the film in 3D as he prefers shooting on film using primelenses, which is not possible with 3D cameras. Nolan has also criticised the dim image that 3D projection produces,and disputes that traditional film does not allow realistic depth perception, saying "I think it's a misnomer to call it3D versus 2D. The whole point of cinematic imagery is it's three dimensional... You know 95% of our depth cuescome from occlusion, resolution, color and so forth, so the idea of calling a 2D movie a '2D movie' is a littlemisleading." Nolan did test converting Inception into 3D in post-production but decided that, while it was possible,he lacked the time to complete the conversion to a standard he was happy with. In February 2011 JonathanLiebesman suggested that Warner Bros were attempting a 3D conversion for Blu-ray release.Wally Pfister gave each location and dream level a distinctive look: the mountain fortress appears sterile and cool,the hotel hallways have warm hues, and the scenes in the van are more neutral.[17] This was done to aid theaudience's recognition of the narrative's location during the heavily crosscut portion of the film.[17]

Nolan has said that the film "deals with levels of reality, and perceptions of reality which is something I'm veryinterested in. It's an action film set in a contemporary world, but with a slight science-fiction bent to it," while alsodescribing it as "very much an ensemble film structured somewhat as a heist movie. It's an action adventure thatspans the globe".

Visual effectsFor dream sequences in Inception, Nolan used little computer-generated imagery, preferring practical effectswhenever possible. Nolan said, "It's always very important to me to do as much as possible in-camera, and then, ifnecessary, computer graphics are very useful to build on or enhance what you have achieved physically."[18] To thisend, visual effects supervisor Paul Franklin built a miniature of the mountain fortress set and then blew it up for thefilm. For the fight scene that takes place in zero gravity, he used CG-based effects to "subtly bend elements likephysics, space and time."The most challenging effect was the "limbo" city level at the end of the film because it continually developed duringproduction. Franklin had artists build concepts while Nolan gave his ideal vision: "Something glacial, with clearmodernist architecture, but with chunks of it breaking off into the sea like icebergs". Franklin and his team ended upwith "something that looked like an iceberg version of Gotham City with water running through it." They created abasic model of a glacier and then designers created a program that added elements like roads, intersections andravines until they had a complex, yet organic-looking, cityscape. For the Paris-folding sequence, Franklin had artistsproducing concept sketches and then they created rough computer animations to give them an idea of what thesequence looked like while in motion. Later during principal photography, Nolan was able to direct LeonardoDiCaprio and Ellen Page based on this rough computer animation Franklin had created. Inception had close to 500visual effects shots (in comparison, Batman Begins had approximately 620) which is considered minor incomparison to contemporary visual effects epics that can have around 1,500 or 2,000 special effects images.

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MusicThe score for Inception was written by Hans Zimmer, who described his work as "a very electronic, dense score",filled with "nostalgia and sadness" to match Cobb's feelings throughout the film. The music was writtensimultaneously to filming, and features a guitar sound reminiscent of Ennio Morricone, played by Johnny Marr,former guitarist of The Smiths. Édith Piaf's "Non, je ne regrette rien" appears recurringly throughout the film, andZimmer reworked pieces of the song into cues of the score. A soundtrack album was released on July 11, 2010 byReprise Records. The majority of the score was also included in high resolution 5.1 surround sound on the 2nd discof the 2 disc Blu-ray release Hans Zimmer's music was nominated for an Academy Award in the Best Original Scorecategory in 2011, losing to Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross of The Social Network.

Themes

Reality and dreams

Penrose stairs are incorporated into the film as anexample of the impossible objects that can be

created in lucid dream worlds.

In Inception, Nolan wanted to explore "the idea of people sharing adream space...That gives you the ability to access somebody'sunconscious mind. What would that be used and abused for?" Themajority of the film's plot takes place in these interconnected dreamworlds. This structure creates a framework where actions in the real ordream worlds ripple across others. The dream is always in a state ofproduction, and shifts across the levels as the characters navigate it.[19]

By contrast, the world of The Matrix (1999) is an authoritarian,computer-controlled one, alluding to theories of social controldeveloped by Michel Foucault and Jean Baudrillard. Nolan's world hasmore in common with the works of Gilles Deleuze and Félix Guattari.

David Denby in The New Yorker compared Nolan's cinematictreatment of dreams to Luis Buñuel's in Belle de Jour (1967) and The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie (1972). Hecriticised Nolan's "literal-minded" action level sequencing compared to Buñuel, who "silently pushed us into reveriesand left us alone to enjoy our wonderment, but Nolan is working on so many levels of representation at once that hehas to lay in pages of dialogue just to explain what's going on." The latter captures "the peculiar malign intensity ofactual dreams."

Deirdre Barrett, a dream researcher at Harvard University, said that Nolan did not get every detail accurate regardingdreams, but their illogical, rambling, disjointed plots would not make for a great thriller anyway. However, "he didget many aspects right," she said, citing the scene in which a sleeping Cobb is shoved into a full bath, and in thedream world water gushes into the windows of the building, waking him up. "That's very much how real stimuli getincorporated, and you very often wake up right after that intrusion".Nolan himself said, "I tried to work that idea of manipulation and management of a conscious dream being a skillthat these people have. Really the script is based on those common, very basic experiences and concepts, and wherecan those take you? And the only outlandish idea that the film presents, really, is the existence of a technology thatallows you to enter and share the same dream as someone else."

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Dreams and cinemaOthers have argued that the film is itself a metaphor for film-making, and that the filmgoing experience itself,images flashing before one's eyes in a darkened room, is akin to a dream. Writing in Wired, Jonah Lehrer supportedthis interpretation and presented neurological evidence that brain activity is strikingly similar during film-watchingand sleeping. In both, the visual cortex is highly active and the prefrontal cortex, which deals with logic, deliberateanalysis, and self-awareness, is quiet.[20] Paul argued that the experience of going to a picturehouse is itself anexercise in shared dreaming, particularly when viewing Inception: the film's sharp cutting between scenes forces theviewer to create larger narrative arcs to stitch the pieces together. This demand of production parallel to consumptionof the images, on the part of the audience is analogous to dreaming itself. As in the film's story, in a cinema oneenters into the space of another's dream, in this case Nolan's, as with any work of art, one's reading of it is ultimatelyinfluenced by one's own subjective desires and subconscious. At Bir-Hakeim bridge in Paris, Ariadne creates anillusion of infinity by adding facing mirrors underneath its struts, Stephanie Dreyfus in la Croix asked "Is this not astrong, beautiful metaphor for the cinema and its power of illusion?"[21]

Cinematic technique

Genre

Marion Cotillard photographed by StudioHarcourt, Paris, in 1999. She plays Mal, a

projection of Cobb's subconscious guilt about hisbeloved wife's suicide. Nolan described the

character as "the essence of the femme fatale"–akey trope in film noir.[22]

Nolan combined elements from several different film genres into thefilm, notably science fiction, heist film, and film noir. Marion Cotillardplays "Mal" Cobb, Dom Cobb's projection of his guilt over hisdeceased wife's suicide. As the film's main antagonist, she is afrequent, malevolent presence in his dreams. Dom is unable to controlthese projections of her, challenging his abilities as an extractor. Nolandescribed Mal as "the essence of the femme fatale", the key noirreference in the film. As a "classic femme fatale" her relationship withCobb is in his mind, a manifestation of Cobb's own neurosis and fearof how little he knows about the woman he loves. DiCaprio praisedCotillard's performance saying that "she can be strong and vulnerableand hopeful and heartbreaking all in the same moment, which wasperfect for all the contradictions of her character".

Nolan began with the structure of a heist movie, since exposition is anessential element of that genre, though adapted it to have a greateremotional narrative suited to the world of dreams and subconscious. Or, as Denby surmised, "the outer shell of thestory is an elaborate caper". Kirstin Thompson argued that exposition was a major formal device in the film. While atraditional heist movie has a heavy dose of exposition at the beginning as the team assembles and the leader explainsthe plan, in Inception this becomes nearly continuous as the group progresses through the various levels ofdreaming.[23] Three-quarters of the film, until the van begins to fall from the bridge, are devoted to explaining itsplot. In this way, exposition takes precedence over characterisation. Their relationships are created by theirrespective skills and roles. Ariadne, like her ancient namesake, creates the maze and guides the others through it, butalso helps Cobb navigate his own subconscious, and as the sole student of dream sharing, helps the audienceunderstand the concept of the plot.[24]

Nolan drew inspiration from the works of Jorge Luis Borges, the anime film Paprika (2006) by the late Satoshi Konas an influence on the character "Ariadne", and Blade Runner (1982) by Ridley Scott.[25]

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EndingThe film cuts to the closing credits from a shot of the top beginning to wobble (but not falling), inviting speculationabout whether the final sequence was reality or another dream. Nolan confirmed that the ambiguity was deliberate,saying "I've been asked the question more times than I've ever been asked any other question about any other filmI've made... What's funny to me is that people really do expect me to answer it." The film's script concludes with"Behind him, on the table, the spinning top is STILL SPINNING. And we – FADE OUT" However, ChristopherNolan also said, "I put that cut there at the end, imposing an ambiguity from outside the film. That always felt theright ending to me – it always felt like the appropriate 'kick' to me... The real point of the scene—and this is what Itell people—is that Cobb isn't looking at the top. He's looking at his kids. He's left it behind. That's the emotionalsignificance of the thing."In September 2010, Michael Caine, explained his interpretation of the ending, "If I'm there it's real, because I'mnever in the dream. I'm the guy who invented the dream." Nolan himself noted that "I choose to believe that Cobbgets back to his kids, because I have young kids. People who have kids definitely read it differently than those whodon't". He indicated that the top was not the most crucial element of the ending, saying "I've read plenty of veryoff-the-wall interpretations... The most important emotional thing about the top spinning at the end is that Cobb isnot looking at it. He doesn't care."Mark Fisher argued that "a century of cultural theory" cautions against accepting the author's interpretation asanything more than a supplementary text, and this all the more so given the theme of the instability of any onemaster position in Nolan's films. Therein the manipulator is often the one who ends up manipulated and Cobb's "notcaring" about whether or not his world is real may be the price of happiness and release.[26]

Release

MarketingWarner Bros. spent $100 million marketing the film. Although Inception was not part of an existing franchise, SueKroll, president of Warner's worldwide marketing, said the company believed it could gain awareness due to thestrength of "Christopher Nolan as a brand". Kroll declared that "We don't have the brand equity that usually drives abig summer opening, but we have a great cast and a fresh idea from a filmmaker with a track record of makingincredible movies. If you can't make those elements work, it's a sad day." The studio also tried to maintain acampaign of secrecy—as reported by the Senior VP of Interactive Marketing, Michael Tritter, "You have this moviewhich is going to have a pretty big built in fanbase... but you also have a movie that you are trying to keep verysecret. Chris [Nolan] really likes people to see his movies in a theater and not see it all beforehand so everything thatyou do to market that—at least early on—is with an eye to feeding the interest to fans."A viral marketing campaign was employed for the film. After the revelation of the first teaser trailer, in August 2009,the film's official website featured only an animation of Cobb's spinning top. In December, the top toppled over andthe website opened the online game Mind Crime, which upon completion revealed Inception's poster. The rest of thecampaign unrolled after WonderCon in April 2010, where Warner gave away promotional T-shirts featuring thePASIV briefcase used to create the dream space, and had a QR code linking to an online manual of the device. MindCrime also received a stage 2 with more resources, including a hidden trailer for the movie. More pieces of viralmarketing began to surface before Inception's release, such as a manual filled with bizarre images and text sent toWired magazine, and the online publication of posters, ads, phone applications, and strange websites all related to thefilm. Warner also released an online prequel comic, Inception: The Cobol Job.The official trailer released on May 10, 2010 through Mind Game was extremely well received. It featured an original piece of music, "Mind Heist", by recording artist Zack Hemsey, rather than music from the score. The trailer quickly went viral with numerous mashups copying its style, both by amateurs on sites like YouTube and by professionals on sites such as CollegeHumor. On June 7, 2010, a behind-the-scenes featurette on the film was

Inception 11

released in HD on Yahoo! Movies.

Home mediaInception was released on DVD and Blu-ray on December 3, 2010, in France, and the week after in the UK and USA(December 7, 2010). Warner Bros. also made available in the United States a limited Blu-ray edition packaged in ametal replica of the PASIV briefcase, which included extras such as a metal replica of the spinning top totem. With aproduction run of less than 2000, it sold out in one weekend.[27]

Putative video gameIn a November 2010 interview, Nolan expressed his intention to develop a video game set in the Inception world,working with a team of collaborators. He described it as "a longer-term proposition", referring to the medium ofvideo games as "something I've wanted to explore".

Possible sequelsWhen asked if there will be a sequel, Nolan responded “It’s not something I want to say no to, but it’s not somethingI’ve given a lot of thought about.”[28] Tom Hardy said he and the rest of the cast had signed on for possible sequels,but is unsure if there will be any.

Reception

Box office earnings

Film Release date Box office revenue Box office ranking Budget Reference

UnitedStates

UnitedStates

International Worldwide All time UnitedStates

All timeworldwide

Inception July 2010 $292,576,195 $532,956,569 $825,532,764 No. 43 No. 30 $160,000,000

Inception was released in both conventional and IMAX theaters on July 16, 2010. The film had its world premiere atLeicester Square in London, United Kingdom on July 8, 2010. In the United States and Canada, Inception wasreleased theatrically in 3,792 conventional theaters and 195 IMAX theaters. The film grossed $21.8 million duringits opening day on July 16, 2010, with midnight screenings in 1,500 locations. Overall the film made $62.7 millionand debuted at No.1 on its opening weekend. Inception's opening weekend gross made it the second-highest-grossingdebut for a science-fiction film that was not a sequel, remake or adaptation, behind Avatar's $77 million openingweekend gross in 2009. The film held the top spot of the box office rankings in its second and third weekends, withdrops of just 32% ($42.7 million) and 36% ($27.5 million) respectively, before dropping to second place in its fourthweek, behind The Other Guys.Inception grossed US$292 million in the United States and Canada, US$56 million in the United Kingdom, Irelandand Malta and US$475 million in other countries for a total of $823 million. Its five highest-grossing markets afterthe USA and Canada (US$292) were China (US$68million), the United Kingdom, Ireland and Malta(US$56 million), France and the Maghreb region (US$43 million), Japan (US$40 million) and South Korea(US$38 million). It was the sixth-highest grossing film of 2010 in North America, and the fourth-highestinternationally, behind Toy Story 3, Alice in Wonderland and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 1. Thefilm currently stands as the 37th-highest-grossing of all time. Inception is the third most lucrative production inChristopher Nolan's career—behind The Dark Knight and The Dark Knight Rises— and the second most forLeonardo DiCaprio—behind Titanic.

Inception 12

Critical receptionInception was critically acclaimed. Rotten Tomatoes gives the film a score of 86% based on reviews from 284critics, with an average score of 8/10. The website reported the critical consensus as "smart, innovative, and thrilling,Inception is that rare summer blockbuster that succeeds viscerally as well as intellectually." Metacritic, anotherreview aggregator, assigned the film a weighted average score of 74 (out of 100) based on 42 reviews frommainstream critics, considered to be "generally favorable reviews." In polls conducted by CinemaScore during theopening weekend cinemagoers gave Inception an average score of "B+".While some critics have tended to view the film as perfectly straightforward, and even criticize its overarchingthemes as "the stuff of torpid platitudes," online discussion has been much more positive. Heated debate has centeredon the ambiguity of the ending, with many critics like Devin Faraci making the case that the film is self-referentialand tongue-in-cheek, both a film about film-making and a dream about dreams. Other critics read Inception asChristian allegory and focus on the film's use of religious and water symbolism. Yet other critics, such as KirstenThompson, see less value in the ambiguous ending of the film and more in its structure and novel method ofstorytelling, highlighting Inception as a new form of narrative that revels in "continuous exposition".Whatever its meaning, the film has had excellent reviews in general. Perhaps playing off the film's game imagery,Rolling Stone magazine's Peter Travers called Inception a "wildly ingenious chess game," and concluded "the resultis a knockout." In Variety, Justin Chang praised the film as "a conceptual tour de force" and wrote, "applying a vividsense of procedural detail to a fiendishly intricate yarn set in the labyrinth of the unconscious mind, thewriter-director has devised a heist thriller for surrealists, a Jungian's Rififi, that challenges viewers to sift throughmultiple layers of (un)reality." Jim Vejvoda of IGN rated the film as perfect, deeming it "a singular accomplishmentfrom a filmmaker who has only gotten better with each film." Relevant Magazine's David Roark called it Nolan'sgreatest accomplishment, saying, "Visually, intellectually and emotionally, Inception is a masterpiece."Empire magazine rated it five stars in the August 2010 issue and wrote, "it feels like Stanley Kubrick adapting thework of the great sci-fi author William Gibson ... Nolan delivers another true original: welcome to an undiscoveredcountry." Entertainment Weekly gave the film a B+ rating and Lisa Schwarzbaum wrote, "It's a rolling explosion ofimages as hypnotizing and sharply angled as any in a drawing by M.C. Escher or a state-of-the-biz videogame; thebackwards splicing of Nolan's own Memento looks rudimentary by comparison." The New York Post gave the film afour-star rating and Lou Lumenick wrote, "DiCaprio, who has never been better as the tortured hero, draws you inwith a love story that will appeal even to non-sci-fi fans." Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times awarded the film afull four stars and said that Inception "is all about process, about fighting our way through enveloping sheets ofreality and dream, reality within dreams, dreams without reality. It's a breathtaking juggling act." Richard Roeper,also of the Sun-Times, gave Inception a perfect score of "A+" and called it "one of the best movies of the [21st]century."BBC Radio 5 Live's Mark Kermode named Inception as the best film of 2010, stating "Inception is proof that peopleare not stupid, that cinema is not trash, and that it is possible for blockbusters and art to be the same thing."In his review for the Chicago Tribune, Michael Phillips gave the film 3 stars out of 4 and wrote, "I found myselfwishing Inception were weirder, further out ... the film is Nolan's labyrinth all the way, and it's gratifying toexperience a summer movie with large visual ambitions and with nothing more or less on its mind than (asShakespeare said) a dream that hath no bottom." Time magazine's Richard Corliss wrote the film's "noble intent is toimplant one man's vision in the mind of a vast audience ... The idea of moviegoing as communal dreaming is acentury old. With Inception, viewers have a chance to see that notion get a state-of-the-art update." Los AngelesTimes' Kenneth Turan felt that Nolan was able to blend "the best of traditional and modern filmmaking. If you'researching for smart and nervy popular entertainment, this is what it looks like." USA Today rated the filmthree-and-a-half stars out of four and Claudia Puig felt that Nolan "regards his viewers as possibly smarter than theyare—or at least as capable of rising to his inventive level. That's a tall order. But it's refreshing to find a director whomakes us stretch, even occasionally struggle, to keep up."

Inception 13

Not all reviewers gave the film positive reviews. New York magazine's David Edelstein claimed in his review to"have no idea what so many people are raving about. It's as if someone went into their heads while they weresleeping and planted the idea that Inception is a visionary masterpiece and—hold on ... Whoa! I think I get it. Themovie is a metaphor for the power of delusional hype—a metaphor for itself." Rex Reed of The New York Observerexplained the film's development as "pretty much what we've come to expect from summer movies in general andChristopher Nolan movies in particular ... [it] doesn't seem like much of an accomplishment to me." A. O. Scott ofThe New York Times commented "there is a lot to see in Inception, there is nothing that counts as genuine vision. Mr.Nolan's idea of the mind is too literal, too logical, and too rule-bound to allow the full measure of madness." DavidDenby, writing in The New Yorker, considered the film not nearly as much fun as Nolan imagined it to be,concluding "Inception is a stunning-looking film that gets lost in fabulous intricacies, a movie devoted to its ownworkings and to little else."Several sources have noted many plot similarities between the film and the 2004 Uncle Scrooge comic The Dream ofa Lifetime.In March 2011, the film was voted by BBC Radio 1 and BBC Radio 1Xtra listeners as their ninth favorite film of alltime. In 2012, Inception was ranked the 35th Best Edited Film of All Time by the Motion Picture Editors Guild. Inthe same year, Total Film named it the most rewatchable movie of all time.

AccoladesInception appeared on over 273 critics' lists of the top ten films of 2010, being picked as No.1 on 55 of those lists. Itwas the second most mentioned film behind The Social Network and one of the most critically acclaimed films of2010, alongside the former, The King's Speech and Black Swan.The film won many awards in technical categories, such as Academy Awards for Best Cinematography, Best SoundEditing, Best Sound Mixing, and Best Visual Effects, and the British Academy Film Awards for Best ProductionDesign, Best Special Visual Effects and Best Sound. In most of its artistic nominations, such as Film, Director andScreenplay at the Oscars, BAFTAs and Golden Globes, the film was defeated by The Social Network and The King'sSpeech. However, the film did win the two highest honors for a science fiction or fantasy film: the 2011 BradburyAward for best dramatic production and the 2011 Hugo Award for best dramatic presentation, long form.

References[1][1] Production Notes 2010, p. 7.[2][2] Production Notes 2010, p. 8.[3][3] Production Notes 2010, p. 11.[4][4] Production Notes 2010, p. 9 and 10.[5][5] Production Notes, 2010, p. 13.[6][6] Production Notes, 2010, p. 14.[7][7] Heuring, July 2010, p. 32.[8] http:/ / www. british-film-locations. com/ Inception-2010[9][9] Production Notes, 2010, p. 17.[10] The historic medina is south west of the cited "Grand Souk", which is no longer even a market place, just a busy transportation junction,

Production Notes, 2010, p. 18.[11][11] Production Notes, 2010, p. 19.[12][12] Production Notes, 2010, p. 20.[13][13] Production Notes, 2010, p. 21.[14][14] Production Notes, 2010, p. 22.[15][15] Jolin, July 2010, pp. 93.[16][16] Jolin, July 2010, pp. 91.[17][17] Heuring, July 2010, pp. 35.[18][18] Production Notes, 2010, p. 12.[19] Paul, I. A. Desiring-Machines in American Cinema: What Inception tells us about our experience of reality and film (http:/ /

sensesofcinema. com/ 2010/ feature-articles/

Inception 14

desiring-machines-in-american-cinema-what-inception-tells-us-about-our-experience-of-reality-and-film/ ) Senses of Cinema, Issue 56.Retrieved October 4, 2011

[20] Lehrer, J. The Neuroscience of Inception (http:/ / www. wired. com/ wiredscience/ 2010/ 07/ the-neuroscience-of-inception/ ), Wired, July26, 2010. Retrieved October 8, 2011.

[21] Dreyfus, Stéphanie "Inception", allégorie onirique sur l'illusion cinématographique (http:/ / www. la-croix. com/ Culture-Loisirs/ Culture/Actualite/ Inception-allegorie-onirique-sur-l-illusion-cinematographique-_NG_-2010-07-20-554535) La Croix, July 20, 2010. RetrievedJanuary 3, 2012

[22][22] Production Notes 2010, p. 9[23] Revisiting INCEPTION (http:/ / www. davidbordwell. net/ blog/ 2010/ 08/ 12/ revisiting-inception/ ) www.davidbordwell.net, August 12,

2010. Retrieved October 6, 2011.[24] INCEPTION; or, Dream a Little Dream within a Dream with Me (http:/ / www. davidbordwell. net/ blog/ 2010/ 08/ 06/

inception-or-dream-a-little-dream-within-a-dream-with-me/ ) www.davidbordwell.net. August 6, 2010. Retrieved October 6, 2011[25] ( Translation (http:/ / translate. google. co. uk/ translate?u=http:/ / www. excessif. com/ cinema/ actu-cinema/ dossiers/

inception-par-christopher-nolan-interview-references-indices-5926972-760. html& sl=fr& tl=en& hl=& ie=UTF-8))[26] Fisher, Mark "The Lost Unconscious: Delusions and Dreams in Inception", Film Quaterly, Vol. 64, No. 3 (Spring 2011), pp. 37-45

University of California Press[27] Inception BD/DVD Briefcase Gift Set (http:/ / www. wbshop. com/ on/ demandware. store/ Sites-WB-Site/ default/

Product-Show?pid=INWBDVDBDBC& src=EINBC& adid=1110InceptEml& AID=10501819#). Warner Bros. Retrieved November 23,2010.

[28] Nolan Says ‘Dark Knight Rises’ is His Last Batman; Talks ‘Inception’ Ending, Sequel & Videogame (http:/ / screenrant. com/chris-nolan-dark-knight-rises-inception-ending-sequel-videogame-schrad-90115)

Further reading• Johnson, David Kyle (Editor); Irwin, William (Series Editor) (2011). Inception and Philosophy: Because It's

Never Just a Dream. John Wiley & Sons. ISBN 1-118-07263-4.• Nolan, Christopher (Author); Nolan, Jonathan (Preface) (2010). Inception: The Shooting Script. Insight Editions.

ISBN 1-60887-015-4.• Crawford, Kevin Ray (Author) (2012). The Rhetorics of the Time-Image: Deleuzian Metadiscourse on the Role of

Nooshock Temporality (viz. "Inception") in Christopher Nolan's Cinema of the Brain. ProQuest LLC.

External links• Official website (http:/ / www. inceptionmovie. com/ )• Inception (http:/ / www. imdb. com/ title/ tt1375666/ ) at the Internet Movie Database• Inception (http:/ / www. allrovi. com/ movies/ movie/ v480818) at AllRovi

Article Sources and Contributors 15

Article Sources and ContributorsInception  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=576155428  Contributors: -5-, 069952497a, 1007D, 123BRS, 2601:9:1680:72:4CDD:C9B4:1C6C:403A,2A02:1205:C68A:5E90:BDB0:DC25:2001:5A30, 2beawriter, 2k11yeahboiz, 5150pacer, 5Q5, 5theye, A wild Rattata, A. Parrot, ADobkin, AP526, Abc-mn-xyz, Abhinc08, Acbistro, AccessDenied, Acdx, Acebloo, Aceofelves, Acmilan15, Active Banana, Adacus12, Adadau, Addihockey10, Adithyachinky, Adjameson, AdmiralGT, AdventurousSquirrel, Aed24PITT, Afarkas,Afl2024, AgadaUrbanit, AgentSniff, Agentdemon, Agustinaldo, Ahda, Ahodges7, Ahurah, AidanPalmer, Airplaneman, Ajtennis510, Akitstika, Al Fecund, Alanl, Alchemist1330, Alcmaeonid,AlexanderHaas, Alexandru Stanoi, Alexk785, Alientraveller, Alistair2am, All Hallow's Wraith, AllPurposeGamer, Allthestrongbowintheworld, Alphaboo, Amulyabhatt23, Amy.hannahjones,And1987, AndrewWickliffe, Andrzejbanas, Andyc3030, Andycjp, Anebolos, Angel caboodle, Animecheck, AnonMoos, Anonymous Dissident, Antarctic-adventurer, Antiquax, Anton-2492,Antonypal, Applepwnz, Aradek, Arbero, Arbor to SJ, Archer sasuke new, Arfaz, Arman Cagle, Artaxus, Arthurprica, Artoasis, Ashmoo, Ashton 29, Asmym xix, AstroHurricane001, Ataraxy22,Atheuz, AtomSmasher22, Attilios, Avaya1, Avengingangel2, 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Hinrik,Honette, Horkana, Hot Stop, Hotnhumid, Howcheng, Hux, Huxley49, Hyliad, Hyperbarney, I dream of horses, I.gracea, ILJthe1st, Iankhou, Idlejim, Igordebraga, Ihnatko, Ilva, Imdb movie,ImplyingAuthority, Inception007, Inception98, InceptionNerd2027, Incredibledash44, InfamousPrince, InfernalTyrant, InfoThiem, Ingolfson, Insomniac4, Instaurare, Interchangeable, InternetInformant, Invertzoo, Inyesta, Ionutzmovie, IronGargoyle, Irrypride, J.D., J.delanoy, JAR88, JFraser93, JPTodd, JTBX, JaGa, JaaayDee, Jackjia1996, Jafeluv, JaffaCakeLover, Jagged 85, Jakash,Jal11497, Jalvini, JamesAM, JamesBWatson, Jamesbanesmith, Jamesd9007, Jarjarbinks10, Jarry1250, Javsav, Jaybling, Jaydiem, Jbeau18, Jclemens, Jcollins157, Jcrook1987, Jdperkins, Jedi94,Jeff G., Jenaveev16, Jenks24, Jenlight, JennSD, Jennavecia, Jeremiestrother, JesseRafe, Jetlagorange, Jezzabr, Jhenderson777, Jim1138, JimVC3, JimmyDarmodyRules, Jimmybobbyson,Jimvarghese, Jket123, Jmankovecky, Jmg38, Jmrowland, Jncobbs, JoeLoeb, 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Image Sources, Licenses and ContributorsFile:InceptionCastPremiereJuly10.jpg  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:InceptionCastPremiereJuly10.jpg  License: Creative Commons Attribution-Sharealike 2.0 Contributors: Craig Grobler at http://www.theestablishingshot.com/

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File:Emma Thomas & Christopher Nolan at WonderCon 2010 1.JPG  Source:http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Emma_Thomas_&_Christopher_Nolan_at_WonderCon_2010_1.JPG  License: Creative Commons Attribution-Sharealike 3.0  Contributors:BrokenSphereFile:Impossible staircase.svg  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Impossible_staircase.svg  License: Public Domain  Contributors: SakuramboFile:COTILLARD Marion-24x30-1999b.jpg  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:COTILLARD_Marion-24x30-1999b.jpg  License: Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Contributors: COTILLARD_Marion-24x30-1999.jpg: Studio Harcourt derivative work: Materialscientist (talk)

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