This article is an overview of the film “Inception” as a continuation of the director’s filmography. For the review of “Inception,” click here.

“Inception” is, unmistakeably, a Christopher Nolan film.

As with the majority of his efforts, Nolan writes, produces and directs “Inception,” and most of his vices and virtues, more of the latter than the former, are in full swing. At first glance, there are some familiar faces from past Nolan films: Michael Caine, Ken Watanabe and Cillian Murphy. Back too are faces rarely seen by the audience, a team on which Nolan must have placed a lot of trust: cinematographer Wally Pfister, editor Lee Smith and composer Hans Zimmer. It therefore no wonder that the 40-year-old director’s films look and sound alike, a testament not only to his recurring team but also to his emerging, if not already emerged, status as a cinematic auteur.

Similarities among Nolan’s films allow for the dissection of his most recent effort with regards to the films that preceded it.

Alongside his younger brother Jonathan, who wrote the short story behind “Memento” and co-wrote “The Prestige” and “The Dark Knight,” Christopher Nolan has developed a unique writing style that is far from prosaic. While periodically long-winded, dialogue in a Nolan film has a poetic and eloquent quality that makes it a pleasure to listen to. In “Inception,” which spent a number of years in the pre-production stage, the writing has neither increased in precision nor decreased in verbosity. A concept as complex and abstract as dream-stealing guarantees exposition and, in this case, almost iambic verse.

Speaking of concepts – as a rule, Nolan likes to work with complex and original premises somewhat simplified through exposition (à la “Inception”), or simple concepts executed originally and complexly (à la “The Dark Knight”). Theoretically, this is an audience-attracting manoeuvre; box-office sales show this to be the case practically as well. “High-concept” could be used to describe some of Nolan’s filmography, although not in the somewhat disparaging way in which the term has been recently employed.

It is possible that with “Inception” and all of its intricacies the director has begun a transition into the plot-driven film. So far, starting with the prime examples “Insomnia” and “Memento,” he has been creating pictures motivated by concept but unquestionably driven by characters. Thanks in part to the actors that play them, particularly well-focused are his side roles: Caine’s Cutter in “The Prestige,” for instance, and much of his ensemble cast in “The Dark Knight,” culminating with Heath Ledger’s Joker. In “Inception,” the concept is so overpowering that the movie shifts focus away from the supporting characters, leading DiCaprio’s central role as Cobb to outshine the others in both writing and thespian skill. At one point Cobb fittingly labels an idea as “the most resilient parasite.”

That being said, acting is still top notch as in any Nolan effort, indicating that dramatic talent is not only well-cast but also well-directed. “Inception” in particular features very interesting casting choices that could have seemed risky at some point: Ellen Page as young dream architect Ariadne and Joseph Gordon-Levitt as Cobb’s partner Arthur. The roles these actors were assigned are not ones tailored to the skills they showcased in the past; nevertheless, they manage to wear their new outfits with elegance.

One needs to be somewhat attentive to be able to distinguish a Nolan picture using the aforementioned attributes, but there are some qualities that could stand out to even untrained eyes. Cinematography, for instance, is recognizable as signature Pfister / Nolan. In terms of colour, orange is prevalent in indoor scenes, while white, blue and gray overwhelm the outdoors. Alongside this, Nolan loves to alternate between fervent close-ups and very wide, scenic shots, especially if filmed from high up in helicopters. These visual qualities work to create a consistent style indicative of an auteur.

(There is not much to say about the other technical aspect, editing, other than that it’s fluid and the film sails from scene to scene consistently despite its big running length. The difference in time perception in between dreams is well-conveyed.)

Both vices and virtues were mentioned at the beginning of this overview, and one undesirable trend prevalent in Nolan films is noise, a loudness that manifests in various forms with the likely intent of making the film seem bigger. This noise has three primary embodiments: explosions, guns, and overscoring. One can argue that the first two in the list are indispensable to the plot, but their continual use in Nolan’s films is more likely a symptom of a fixation. The “overscoring” can be attributed to composer Hans Zimmer, whose seven Oscar nominations haven’t been entirely justified in his recent career. Zimmer is gifted, but has been increasingly reliant on thunderous and oppressive music, in many cases where underscoring would have done the trick.

Another detrimental tendency is in Nolan’s handling of the action scene. A measured direction of fast-moving sequences is a lost art; too many up-and-coming directors, instead of keeping the camera steady and allowing for the scene to convey motion, revert to the shaky handheld effect before turning to editing for lousy quick cuts, resulting in choppy, dizzying sequences. Nolan appears to be improving in this department, but he still has a way to go to make the action onscreen look as coherent and cohesive as that of a master of the art form like Steven Spielberg.

On the other hand, Nolan is careful to avoid falling to other careless modern practices. For instance, he uses CGI sparingly and tastefully, relying more on physical sets, including an impressive zero-gravity sequence inside a hotel corridor that required physicality from the actors and a contraption from the set engineers instead of sole animation from the effects department.

It is difficult to say whether Christopher Nolan is maturing as a director if one were to judge by “Inception,” a movie in which his virtues and vices are in approximately the same proportion as his previous efforts. However, one has to be fair: the virtues are plenty while the vices are few; the virtues are major attractions, while the vices are minor distractions. Because it is consistent with his recent efforts, “Inception” may not elevate Nolan’s status, but it is further proof that the man is a talent whose lucid dreams materialize into stirring films.

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