Re-experiencing "Inception".

Some movies, and there is nothing particularly wrong with this approach, only really need to be seen once.  They are what many believe movies to be: quite simply, two hours (give or take) of entertainment for the sake of entertainment, designed to be viewed, perhaps even enjoyed, and then forgotten about.  Other movies can be revisited like comforting old friends, making us laugh yet again at the same lines we recite with our friends and enjoy as a fun experience, or even a way to bond with and relate to others.  Others still reach us in a different way on those repeated viewings.  They are the movies that, while first watching them, affected us in such a way that we are compelled to revisit them to get back in touch with those feelings we had when we first saw them, whatever they were.  Though it is occasionally unsuccessful, we at least remember the feelings we had if we are unable to recreate them.

Finally, there are those rare few movies that we return to for fresh new perspective, to reassemble familiar puzzle pieces into an image we can now better understand, and see and appreciate the detail of.  One of these movies is "Inception."

"Inception" (2010)

Without reveal of specific plot points "Inception" is equal parts action-packed heist film, sci-fi wonder world, existential examination of reality, and very human love story carefully crafted and folded into each other like the film's famous dream world buildings in the previews we've all seen.  This special effects driven "wow factor" is what probably got so many people interested in seeing this film in the first place.  Once could almost think of this to the film's concept of dream structure, an entry level into this world.  And it is on subsequent viewings, eased into the intricate story by the eye-popping special effects, that we as viewers advance further into the details and truly see and feel the characters' motivations.  As soon as we hit "Play" we already know how Cobb's story is going to end.  But this is the information we use to really understand him when we watch it again, to feel his painful losses along with him and follow his story to its conclusion.  And this is by not just observing, but absorbing details we may have missed while we were waiting to see people fly around in hallways.  Perhaps we even decide to devote some time and attention to the other story at the heart of "Inception", the reason these characters are here in the first place: the relationship between Robert Fischer (Cillian Murphy), his recently deceased father, and father figure Peter Browning (Tom Berenger).  There are so many stories, so many layers to the film that a single viewing could never possibly be enough to process each one.  Each viewing brings a new level of understanding, and draws the viewer that much deeper into the characters' world, a dream world the viewers themselves may not be ready to leave once reality sets in for them as it does for us all.

Re-watching "Inception" is not merely revisiting the familiar and comfortable.  It is opening a new layer of the film to be examined and experienced.  And, perhaps, to provide additional perspective for the next, allowing us to see (and possibly feel) even more than we had before.