**Obviously, this story has spoilers and if you haven’t seen “Inception” or don’t want your interpretation of the ending ruined, please read something else.**
Christopher Nolan’s brainy summer blockbuster “Inception” has had tongues wagging for a variety of reasons including its twisty, multiple layer narrative; it’s bold action setpieces; and the refreshment that an original idea has been brought to multiplexes wheezing from sequels, remakes, reboots and comic book movies. However, nothing has spurred more discussion (and arguments) than the enigmatic ending to the film.
As you might recall, the film closes with Dom Cobb (Leonardo DiCaprio) finally reuniting in the United States with his children. He enters their home and not quite sure if he’s still dreaming or not, spins his totem and walks off camera to join his family. We continue watching the totem to see if it will waver or not, revealing a dream state or reality, and before we can get a firm answer the scene smash cuts to the end credits. Some swear that the totem was about to topple over while others are convinced that Cobb is still trapped in a dream state. Well, the film’s costume designer Jeffrey Kurland has revealed a key clue in helping to determine the conclusion of the film.
Speaking with Clothes On Film (man, there’s a website for everything isn’t there?) Kurland says that our attention might have been focused on the wrong thing in those closing moments of “Inception”:
COF: How much does costume reflect the inner machinations of the plot, particularly in a film such as ‘Inception?’ For example, Cobb’s children are wearing the same clothes at the end of the story as they are in his dream ‘memory’ throughout the film. Is there something to be interpreted here? JK: Costume design reflects greatly on the movement of the plot, most significantly through character development. Character development is at the forefront of costume design. The characters move the story along and with the director and the actor the costume designer helps to set the film’s emotional tone in a visual way. In a more physical sense the costumes’ style and color help to keep the story on track, keeping a check on time and place. On to the second part of your question, the children’s clothing is different in the final scene… look again…
Wow. We have to admit we were definitely not looking at the children’s clothing at all and now we are definitely going to have to buy another ticket for “Inception” and pay some (even closer) attention. But Kurland’s statement does seem to confirm that Cobb’s job is a success and Saito (Ken Watanabe) holds up his end of the bargain. If this is indeed the case, than Cobb is firmly back in reality at the end of the film and if so…it’s kind of a bummer. We think the film plays much better viewed through the lens of a tragedy.
But regardless of what Kurland says, this won’t end the debate and certainly, given the number of clues and interpretations “Inception” lends itself, part of the enjoyment of the film is finding your own closure to the story.
I definitely prefer interpreting it as a happy ending. I'm usually all for tragedy, but most of Nolan's other films feel like they're made by angsty high school students to me, with sound and fury that often signify not-enough. I found the redemptive ending incredibly moving, and a nice relief from the unrelentingly bleak nihilism of, say, a "Memento."
My version of the ending:
Dom Cobb is the real SUBJECT from the inception and all the film is a dream until the final scene, when he wakes up in the plane. Saito is the real extractor and he is hired by Michael Caine to help Cobb move on after Mal's death and to help him distinguish reality from dream. Saito assembles the rest of the team, and that's why when they wake up in the plane they're all smiling but no one talks to Cobb: that's because, even if he recognizes them from his dream, he really doesn't know them. They all smile because the operation has succeeded, Saito then calls Caine to confirm that the most elaborated dream-within-dream mission ever has been a success. Cobb gets reunited with his children.
As Cobb says during the film, "you never know how you got in a dream". The beginning of the movie is exactly that: it simply begins, therefore it's a dream. Plus the editing seems somehow "broken", like dream sequences all pasted together.
Also, when Robert Fischer wakes up in the plane he doesn't seem to aknowledge the presence of the others. Isn't that weird, if he has dreamt about them? That's just because he hasn't, he never was the target, Cobb was. Fischer is a decoy, possibly an image taken by a member of the team in his dreams after seeing him in the plane.
And take into account "old Saito"'s words when he meets Cobb in limbo: "I’ve come to remind you something, that this world isn't real". Which world? Limbo? No, the world that Cobb thinks it's real. The "movie" world.
Final note: the totem spinning doesn't mark the difference between reality and dreams. Its sole purpose is to know if you're in someone else's dream. Cobb states this in the movie, and so in the end it doesn't matter whether he's in limbo or in the real world, as long as it's not someone else's dream. The totem may do as it pleases after the ending, it's just a distraction.
"Wow. We have to admit we were definitely not looking at children's clothing at all and now we are definitely going to have to buy another ticket for "Inception" and pay some (even closer) attention. "
Nerds.
The ending is not ambiguous at all if you were paying attention.
The children aren't just wearing different clothes, but they're two years older, too. Look at the cast list on IMDB!
The top wobbles right before the end. It's unmistakable. If you want to think that doesn't mean it's about to fall over, then you need a refresher course on basic physics.
If the top is supposed to continue to spin and spin in a dream, it not waver ever — and it would certainly not waver and then right itself and continue spinning. It spun steadily every other time they showed, so either Nolan is pulling some lame bullshit or… it's gonna fall over.
Cobb chooses to believe he's in reality by allowing himself to see their faces so I don't see why he couldn't imagine them in different outfits as well.
Tragic ending in tact!
***Spoiler alert***
Okay, I did see the film again, and I tried to pay attention to the children's clothing. If I'm not mistaken, James appears to wear the same shirt, but there is something slightly different about Phillipa (sp?). Throughout the movie, she is seen in a pinkish/orange dress. At the very end, she is still wearing a pink/orange dress, but she also has a white blouse on. It is a "blink-and-you'll-miss-it" moment, but for me, that was enough to indicate that Cobb was successful.
Are we all forgetting the top was never Dom's totem anyway, revealing the spinning at the end to be altogether irrelevant?
I tend to lean more towards Jordi's excellent breakdown of the film. The most important things I took from the final shot are: 1) He walks away to be with his kids at the end, ignoring the totem; and 2) The totem doesn't really matter, it could be dream logic.
It does seem that DiCaprio is the mark in the end. He has to "Come back to reality" as Michael Caine says early on. Such a great film.
I do love how the entire film is a metaphor for film making and going. Are dreams, despite the inherit "safety" of them (not real, like movies), still consequential, meaningful and insightful? I would venture a bet Nolan thinks so. Especially emotionally. This is his most emotionally satisfying work.
And along with The Prestige, it's his purest thesis on filmmaking. In that great film, the 2 main characters warring together is essentially Nolan's psyche playing out on screen (part of him wants to be a populist showman, while his other half wants to be a pure artist).
I think that the last scene is real.
It's a happy ending because
a) the theme for "time" represents that shift from reality from fantasy, and it's underscores throughout the film are also played when cobb decides to fight for his children despite all odds.
b) The top was a red herring, it was Mal's totem, I like the theory that Cobb's engagement ring is his. It appears in some scenes, but not all. ( It does at the end)
if it's Mal's totem and it doesn't work, why does Cobb use it and spin it often throughout the film?
this was obvious to anyone paying attention. There are also two sets of kids in the credits with different ages.
Inception is the opposite of Memento. The latter has the man staying in his dream to live happily, the former has the man coming back to reality.
Also Cobb only wears a wedding ring when he's in a dream and doesn't when he's awake. Look closer…