I just saw this on my yahoo home page. First thing that came to my mind was this movie and "OMG limbo is real!" Then I started reading the article and found out it wasn't what I thought. haha
Just watched for the second time last night, and I picked up on a very subtle, but possibly very telling detail in the movie. Shortly after failing the original Saito job, we see Cobb sitting in a hotel room with a gun drawn. He spins the totem to verify that he's in reality, and when the totem topples, he places the gun down on the table in front of him. This would appear to indicate that he was indeed in reality. Nothing particularly notable about that. But here's where it gets fishy... Cobb receives an unexpected call from his son. I'm sure we all remember that he had this conversation, but stop and think about it for a second. His son calls him. If we are willing to accept that fact as reality, we're also accepting that Cobb's (2 year old?) son was capable of pin pointing the whereabouts of his father, who was currently on the run in a location known only to the members of his team, while hiding from a huge corporation that wanted to do very bad things to him. Personally, I can't accept that. Although I know what some of you are thinking at this point... That can be explained in two ways. First, if the movie picks up with Cobb already in a dream, then you can't believe anything you see, especially that the totem is some end-all-be-all indicator of what's reality and what isn't. But even if the totem concept were true, it's stated very clearly by Arthur that totems cannot be shared, and in fact, can only be touched by the original owner of the totem because otherwise "that would defeat the purpose". What's interesting about that, is we later discover that Cobb's totem isn't actually his totem at all. It's a hand-me-down from Mal. So it's possible that this makes it null and void, based on what Arthur said to Ariadne about totems. It's also worth noting that totems were a concept created by Mal herself, so it's possible that Cobb's subconscious projection of Mal has some sort of control over whether the totem spins or topples. So what do you all think? After spending 10 years writing the movie, I have to believe that the phone call from Cobb's son was a deliberate choice on Nolan's part.
<a target='_blank' title='ImageShack - Image And Video Hosting' href='http://img830.imageshack.us/i/94262999.png/'><img src='http://img830.imageshack.us/img830/4590/94262999.png' border='0'/></a>
or the phone call could still be reality, and the boy is actually older than 2, and then the end, showing the boy still at the age of 2 was a dream. Don't you think its a little risky to call your dad, who has fled the country because he is blamed for killing your mother? I can see how the phone call part was a dream
if you look at the credits, they actually have 2 sets of actors listed for the kids, one for the boy at 20 months and girl at 3 years old, and another for the boy at 3 years old and the girl at 5 years old. so at least according to the credits, it appears we're supposed to think the kid are about 2 years older at the end and not exactly the same. after watching the movie the first time, i thought we were supposed to think it was all a dream, but between the different kids and his wedding ring apparently being on only in the dream and never in what is supposed to be reality, thus possibly making that his real totem (i'm going on what other people have said because i kept forgetting to look for the wedding ring the 2nd time i watched), and the top definitely falling at the beginning and end of the movie, i'm starting to feel like it really was reality at the end.
I'm not letting myself think anything other than the ending was real. I wanted a happy ending. I didn't know that about the kids in the credits- thanks! I had read the wedding ring stuff before, but I did not take that into account in my previous post.
I'm not sure I follow you here. If it's reality, the kid is clearly still 2-ish years old. His voice is clearly that of a little boy, and he doesn't understand the concept of where his dead mother is. How much older are you suggesting he might be at the time of the call? 3 or 4? That doesn't make a difference in my observation. I doubt an adult could have tracked him down given the circumstances, so a little kid doing it is totally implausible to me. And if you're saying that the phone call could have been part of a dream, then you're conceding that Cobb's totem means nothing, because he spun it and if fell right before the phone call.
How can you say the top was definitely falling at the end. If there were anything definite about it, there would be no point for Nolan's choice to cut away. The totem, when spun earlier in the movie, would wobble slightly even when Cobb was (supposedly) dreaming. It was never an absolutely motionless spin.
okay here is my final thought on it. The phone call is reality. The boy said his grandma was right there with him and his sister. Remember he said she was shaking her head or something. I assume that the grandma called Cobb for the kids, although she did not want to talk to Cobb. She wasn't going to deny the kids the right to talk to their father.
So how did the grandmother track down Cobb? He just finished a secret mission and was trying to avoid being found. Why would he make his whereabouts known to anyone outside of his team? Especially a woman (the grandmother) who doesn't have his best interest in mind. Doesn't make sense at all. If grandma could have found him all on her own, Cobal could have found him too. That much should be clear.
hmm... looks like Nolan must've slipped up. kidding. maybe. I don't get what you mean by the phone call being deliberate by Nolan. To make that scene be a dream? Do you think the wedding ring was his totem? if so, was he wearing it in that scene? I need to see this movie again
I've always assumed his father knew where he was, hence that's how the call came. I've been feeling the same way, really need to give it another whirl, wish I would have instead of watching Salt last week
His father? Are you referring to his father-in-law, played by Michael Cane? I don't know what would lead anyone to believe that he knew Cobb's whereabouts before the point where Cobb showed up in his class room. Watched SALT last night after Inception and my oh my...what a terrible, terrible movie.
Correction Father in Law, I'd assumed that he knew were he was at because he was aware of his profession in general and seemed willing to introduce him to Page's character. I feel you about Salt, just incredibly stupid.
Here's one thing that I keep thinking about. Cobb's father was a professor at a university in Paris IIRC. So, two things kind of stand out. 1) the american student, Ariadne. 2) Why was he in America at the end of the film? I mean that just doesn't seem to make logical sense.
