Inception Ponderings (Spoiler warning)

[Sheep]

Some of the more interesting ones IMO is the meta\allegory angle. (read it on CHUD) That one says that the film is about making film. Cobb is the director, the point man is the producer, Eames is the actor, Yusuf is the technical wizard, Ariadne script writer (though personally I think she'd be closer to cinematographer and set designer) and Saito the big money bankroller.

Some film enthusiasts have called cinema the closest thing to an awakened dream state. And going to the movies is the closest thing to a shared dreaming experience we could have right now. But that might be too meta at times.

Don't forget that Fischer represents the audience, for whom the entire production is being put together.

Cobb finally confronted and dealt with his guilt\projection of Mal, got Saito out of limbo*, but at the cost (or maybe reward) of staying in limbo himself. He no longer cares whether or not it's a dream or reality, he's just happy to be able to see his kids faces again. So a bit of a bittersweet ending at best, a phyrric victory at worst.

[...]

Do you think the spinning top fell down, or stayed spinning?

I find most interesting the contrast between the last scene with the top and a similar, earlier scene where Cobb is testing whether he's dreaming with his totem. In the earlier scene, he waits, gun in hand, ready to kill himself to escape if he is indeed in a dream. At the end, however, he doesn't even bother to watch the totem before going to see his children.

I personally think that the top fell down, but that Cobb doesn't care either way, as he's finally back with his kids.

Whether or not the top falling down means he isn't dreaming is up for debate. When Mal was trying to convince Cobb that he was dreaming by enumerating the inconsistencies of his reality, such as faceless corporations hunting him across the globe, it really struck me that the film itself makes dream-sense. As long as it's going, it's perfectly understandable and coherent, but once you're looking back on it, there are a few points that are never really explained: examples of fridge logic.

Is Cobb actually a corporate spy? Would this career really result in a price on his head? Is Saito truly powerful enough to clear Cobb's name with a single phone call?