Christopher Nolan's INCEPTION

[SharkSkin-Man]

I suppose that all makes sense kinda, though why if a film wants you to consider that its all a dream does it end on a note that dosent seem open ended at all?

Quaid's last line in the film is "I just had a terrible thought... what if this is a dream?"

[spagmasterswift]

Not as good as the response "...Blondes!!!"

[rmoxon]

Quaid's last line in the film is "I just had a terrible thought... what if this is a dream?"

Yeah, but when he says it he does so in a throwaway manner (as if the film makers are telling the audience it is not a dream), theres no big scary music cue after it (in fact its quite the oposite) or anything there to make us think that all is not what it seems, that line is there to simply show that hes happy now (for probabaly the first time in the film).

Its a nice happy ending and nothing more, theres nothing sinister about it in the least (not that going on a virtual adventure holliday is really sisnter but you know what I mean).

[SharkSkin-Man]

Well, it's broadly the same ending as Inception if you see it like that.

Dream or not he's happy/content, so to him it doesn't matter which it is.

[rmoxon]

Well its a similar ending from the main characters perspective.

However from the auidences perspective they are two completely different endings, if Total Recall was really all a dream then the film makers must not have wanted us to know as they give us an ending that raises no questions. that is nothing like Inception where the film makers intentionaly leave it up in the air.

[SharkSkin-Man]

The totem is clearly not spinning perpetually, it wobbles (and will therefore fall). If anything that is less ambiguous than Total Recall.

[Roddie]

The wobble is really what creates the ambiguity.

[SharkSkin-Man]

Do you not also hear it fall on the soundtrack, after the cut to black?

[gizmo1990]

The wobble is really what creates the ambiguity.

A little bit of me hopes Nolan stumbles across this thread. Man, he'd be loving it.

[Roddie]

Do you not also hear it fall on the soundtrack, after the cut to black?

There's no sound of it falling on the soundtrack after it cuts to black. Why do people try so hard to read into something designed singlehandedly to be ambiguous.

[SharkSkin-Man]

Yeah, I just watched it (the end) for a second time, that was me going soft in the head it seems.

I didn't like the film enough to care that much either way, but surely just showing him spinning it and then cutting away quickly before one would expect the top to wobble is more ambiguous/open ended. As soon as you show it wobble, you lean heavily towards the fact it is probably going to topple.

[Roddie]

How long do they have to show it spinning? It's a long shot after he's spun it, walked away to greet his kids and it was still solidly spinning after the camera pans back to the table before going to credits. If it doesn't wobble then there's no suggestion it's going to fall over. The fact that it cuts to credits just tells us that we're not meant to know either way.

[SharkSkin-Man]

How long do they have to show it spinning?

For less time than when it was shown spinning earlier in the film, or it really doesn't work.

Don't get me wrong, there is obviously a certain amount of doubt...it just seems heavily weighted towards one outcome.

[Matt]

How long do they have to show it spinning? It's a long shot after he's spun it, walked away to greet his kids and it was still solidly spinning after the camera pans back to the table before going to credits. If it doesn't wobble then there's no suggestion it's going to fall over. The fact that it cuts to credits just tells us that we're not meant to know either way.

Spot On. Without a slight wobble, they'd be no ambiguity. People saying "It wobbles ergo it's real" are missing the point.

Plus of course, there's something to be said for the validity of the totem in the first place. If it's all a dream, then it does indeed fall over in dreams anyway, at least in the upper level(s).

[rmoxon]

The totem is clearly not spinning perpetually, it wobbles (and will therefore fall). If anything that is less ambiguous than Total Recall.

As others have said it wobbles to create the ambiguity, if it didnt wobble then wed be sure it was a dream.

The ending of Total Recall has no ambiguity, theres nothing that happens at the end that points to it being anything other than real.