Christopher Nolan Interview
With the release of ‘Inception’ a week away, we have an exclusive interview with the man behind the high octane sci-fi psychological film for the serious-minded action lover, with Leonardo DiCaprio spearheading a cast that includes Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Ken Watanabe, Marion Cotillard, Cillian Murphy, and Ellen Page.
Synopsis
Acclaimed filmmaker Christopher Nolan directs an international cast in an original sci-fi actioner that travels around the globe and into the intimate and infinite world of dreams. Dom Cobb (Leonardo DiCaprio) is a skilled thief, the absolute best in the dangerous art of extraction, stealing valuable secrets from deep within the subconscious during the dream state, when the mind is at its most vulnerable. Cobb’s rare ability has made him a coveted player in this treacherous new world of corporate espionage, but it has also made him an international fugitive and cost him everything he has ever loved. Now Cobb is being offered a chance at redemption. One last job could give him his life back but only if he can accomplish the impossible—inception. Instead of the perfect heist, Cobb and his team of specialists have to pull off the reverse: their task is not to steal an idea but to plant one. If they succeed, it could be the perfect crime. But no amount of careful planning or expertise can prepare the team for the dangerous enemy that seems to predict their every move. An enemy that only Cobb could have seen coming. This summer, your mind is the scene of the crime.
How did you come up with the idea for this film?
Well, I’ve been interested in the idea of making a film about dreams really since I was a kid. It took various different forms. But about ten years ago, I fixed on this idea of structuring the film like a heist movie, taking it in an action direction, or a thriller direction, and jumping off from this notion of what if you could share a dream? What if you could take away the barriers between our dreams? We all dream every night. It’s a very universal experience, but we don’t get to share it. If you could share it, then that dream space would become a valid, alternate reality. And if you were to fight or fall in love or whatever within that space that would have real meaning as a human interaction. So, for about ten years, I worked on this heist movie idea and eventually managed to find the emotional connection that I needed. And Leonardo DiCaprio coming on to play the part of Cobb invested the story very much with the emotional center that you need. Because when you’re dealing with the human mind, when you’re dealing with the world of dreams, it’s not enough to just have an interesting set of ideas. You really have to have a human connection, an emotional connection for the audience.
Why did you specifically want to work with Leonardo DiCaprio and Ken Watanabe?
I’ve been wanting to work with Leo on something for years, and we would meet on different projects but nothing really came together. With Inception, I was finally able to convince him. And really, what I had to convince him of is that the story needed his talent. Not just his charisma, but his incredible acting talent, to be able to guide the audience through a complicated world. And what he does, in the way he approaches his characterizations, is to really try and find the emotional truth of every action that the character does, and be true to that. And that has really elevated the movie. It’s really opened the movie for the audience. And it was an incredibly important thing. Ken Watanabe plays a very interesting character in the film. I’d worked with him on Batman Begins and found him to be a great pleasure, just a joy to work with. But also, when you would see him in dailies, you’d see this incredible, iconic presence. I thought that really would be perfect for his character, for this character I was putting together in Inception. Because it’s a character that has a lot of power, a lot of importance in the story, but is somewhat ambiguous. Not quite sure whose side he’s on or what he represents. And I think Ken, in the charisma he exudes, in the screen presence that he has, there’s just nobody to touch him. He’s really an extraordinary presence to have in the movie.
Why did you choose to film in six different countries and what were the challenges of that?
On The Dark Knight, we’d shot in three different countries, and I enjoyed that process of moving the company around and shooting in real places. So we expanded that. We went to twice the number, we went to six countries, in this film. We did it, and we photographed as much as possible in-camera, on real locations, specifically for the reason that the idea behind Inception is that dreams feel real while we’re in them. And so the portrayal of dreams in the film had to be realistic. It had to feel to the audience… It had to have the textures of everyday life, of reality, in order for us to invest in these alternate realities. And so it was very important that, when we were using visual effects, we were using them for what they’re best at, which is enhancing things that we’ve shot in-camera. So we put huge demands on our physical crew, in terms of what we needed to shoot in-camera. But these were– A lot of these guys I’d worked with on the Batman films, and they were really up for an amazing set of challenges. And they rose to it at every turn and did some things that I just found extraordinary to watch.
INCEPTION ARRIVES IN CINEMAS ON JULY 16TH