Film Form in Inception Silke Botha College

Sigmund Freud, a founder of psychoanalysis, once said that dreams are “the royal road to the unconscious” and I think Christopher Nolan shows that in this film, Inception. Each time Cobb enters a dream, whether it is his or someone else’s, everything that happens in the dream is as a result of what they are fighting within their mind. For example, when Mal, Cobb’s deceased wife, shows up in Cobb’s dreams it is sole because of the fact that he feels guilty that he is the reason she killed herself and now her children are left without a mother (and a father since he had to flee). The essay that follows will explain as well as give examples of specific elements in the film and what their functions are including what roles they play in the plot. I will also give examples of where similarity and repetition occur in the film and why it occurs. I will show my understanding of difference and variation; development; and unity/disunity by giving examples and quoting important theory information from Film Art: An Introduction.

In Inception, there are many different elements with different functions. The main characters in the film have their own function and “job” to do. While the characters are somewhat important, the protagonist, Dom...