ยป Inception
Nolan might be my new favorite working Hollywood director. Inception shows an impressive command of the medium, in the sense that (no spoilers) the story makes use of the time dilation effect of jump cuts* as part of the plot, not just as a convention.
Juno’s part, however, is kinda weak. She’s there as the audience-proxy — the newbie to whom the mechanics of the fictive world are explained — and for nothing more besides some light comic relief. I suspect she was bolted on later in development because she feels like a plothack.
All-in, and given the stellar reviews this picture is receiving, I’m left with the feeling that I’m able to see too easily how films are put together. Like comedians who no longer laugh at other’s jokes, or a vegetarian butcher, I wonder if dissecting movies is leaving me unable to completely enjoy them.
But the only way out is through. Hopefully a higher, perhaps archetypal, aesthetic awaits (oh, nice combination of The Shadow and The Lover)!
* EXT. Street — DAY
JOE is behind the wheel of a speeding car. The car SLAMS into a wall.
INT. Hospital room — NIGHT
Joe, covered in stained surgical bandages and with a few day’s growth of beard lies unconscious, connected to life support machines in a hospital bed.
Suddenly, he THRASHES awake, snapping his eyes.
He SCREAMS.
