9. Inception Solved?
Ah Inception. A film ripe for theories. It is packed with mystery and symbolism. Twists and turns are constants in the film and with an ending like that, there must be some bonkers theories out there. You would be right. One of the more insane theories I came across involved Ariadne and Fischer being Cobbs kids. Uh-huh. Sure. Or there is the one about Michael Cane sending Ariadne into Cobbs mind as a spy to find out whether he killed his wife or not. Riiiiiight. Christopher Nolan is a clever and extremely talented man. A man with an eye for extreme detail. Surely he would have covered everything he need to leave the ending ambiguous. So whilst the film is open for theories, I was not expecting to include it within this list. But then I came across a surprisingly plausible theory that within the set rules of the films universe could bring the answer we all wanted to know. Is he awake or not? The theory hinges entirely on the last four minutes and a piece of trivia you may not have known. If I asked you what Cobbs totem was, I bet most of you would say his spinning top. You would be right. Technically. There is in fact a second totem that maybe even he hadn't realised existed. In the 'Real world' his wife is deceased. Therefore he has removed his wedding ring. But in the dream world? His wife is still around, and subconsciously he retains that ring. Meaning whenever he is in the dream world we have a way of seeing the ring. Now then obviously by the end he has resolved his issues with his wife, so maybe this would cause the ring to disappear within the dream world too. I don't quite think so as this would a) Go against the films set rules and b) Balls up this whole theory. Now I haven't personally gone through the final scene frame by frame watching Cobbs left hand, trying to get a glimpse of some small glimmer of silver or a lack of. In fact Nolan was obviously aware of this trick as it seems as if his left hand is obscured throughout the whole scene. But all you need is one glimpse. At around
1:18 in this video (HD recommended), his left hand is in clear view. I see no ring. Nolan has gone on record as saying that there is not really meant to be an answer to the film, and it is best for the viewer to make up their own minds. I agree, but then again it's nice to see that there could potentially be a definitive answer, especially one that agrees with your own interpretation.
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