Inception

Last night I watched 'Inception' again, this time on DVD. It's a thoroughly enjoyable SF romp made better by great acting, but the music is dire, and so variable in volume. I had to use the volume control lots during the film just to make it bearable, and not to get complaints form neighbours - hardly conducive to immersion in the drama. It's the first thing people mention when you talk about the film 'would have been great except for the soundtrack...'

Anyway, on the DVD extras there is a 30 min documentary on dreaming, presented by one of the actors from the film who is fascinated by dreams. He seemingly jumped at the chance to make the short film. Many notable scientists and psychologists from the field are interviewed, and the unusual animations and stills that are used to illustrate points have a lovely and really refreshing almost 80's aesthetic - very different from the slick computer generated effects that are so common since 'CSI' hit our TV screens and 'Terminator 2' came to the big screen. By the end of the short film, the two most eloquent, enquiring and thoughtful people featured turned out to be the actor Joseph Gordon-Levitt and the director of 'Inception' himself, Christopher Nolan. Both these people had real insight into the nature and functions of dreaming, drawn from their skill and experience in being part of one of the largest theatres of dream of all time: cinema.

Two stills from the film, the lower one featuring Ken Watanabe (centre), who I would happily watch all day.