Does the film 'Inception' use thriller conventions
One thriller convention that is used in Inception is the theme of identity, this is because Dom's identity is often mistaken as he is seen as a thief of peoples minds and the murderer of his wife but as quoted when Dom is in his fathers office he describes himself as 'the person who navigates peoples minds' and at the ending scenes of the film it is revealed that Dom did not kill his wife directly but feels that he may have indirectly contributed to her death.
Another thriller convention that is used in the film Inception is the theme of seeing and reflecting, one way in which this convention is used is when the cut scenes of Mol are used, this has an effect on Dom because this triggers guilty memories from the past. One scene in which this is used is when Dom is on the phone to his son James and he asks 'is mum here still' and then it cuts to a clip of Mol, this reinforces the idea that she is causing him to feel guilt and that because of this guilt he hasn’t told his children what has happened to her. Another way in which the theme of seeing and reflecting is used is when Dom keeps seeing projections of his children and the memories of when he had to leave them, one scene in which this is used in the bar, the glass drops and is ringing and then he sees a projection of his children, this shows us that the children are also causing him to feel guilt about leaving them.
Another thriller convention that is used is that the protagonist has an Achilles heel, Dom's weakness is his wife and that he is unable to forgive himself for her death and she is constantly taunting his subconscious and trying to get him to live in their world. In the ending scene of Inception they are sitting in their old apartment room and she tells him that he must choose between reality or her, but Dom says that she is not good enough any more. Mol then attempts to stab him with a kitchen knife, at this point is seems as though he has finally forgiven himself after being in peril for most of the film and that the problem of guilt has been resolved.
Another thriller convention that is used in the film Inception is that the narrative centres around the crime of theft. This theme is shown or mentioned throughout the film, one key scene in which this is used is when they are trying to crack into Fishers fathers safe, even though this is an attempt to convince Fisher that they are trying to help this still link in with the theme of theft. This theme call also be be shown by the common use of the 'safe' which is commonly stereotyped with security, cracking and theft, the safe is mentioned when Dom and the builder are in the dream talking about the subconscious filling the 'safe' with information and the most important scene in which the safe is used is when Fisher opens the safe to the memory of his fathers last words where he tells him that he is 'disappointed that he tried to be like his father'.
Another way in which Inception uses thriller conventions is the use of ordinary situations in which extraordinary things happen. One scene in which this is used is when Dom and the architect are outside of the café, then he tells her to stay calm, then the coffee starts to shake and the scene starts to explode and the debris shows us that this is not natural and that they are dreaming. Another scene which shows this is when they are in the hotel and the characters are floating as there is no gravity present, again this is an ordinary day to day setting with an extraordinary twist.
I conclude that 'Inception' could be considered as a 'proper thriller' film because it uses the Thriller Conventions and portrays a combination of them throughout the film. These conventions include focusing on the crime e.g. theft, showing the protagonist's weakness and how it is exposed and exploited by the antagonist and the theme of seeing, optical illusions and reflecting e.g. the constant reflection on the children and the guilt that Dom feels when he sees them and that he cannot see their faces as he knows that they will looking at him in disappointment and sadness.
Written by will rathlou
One thriller convention that is used in Inception is the theme of identity, this is because Dom's identity is often mistaken as he is seen as a thief of peoples minds and the murderer of his wife but as quoted when Dom is in his fathers office he describes himself as 'the person who navigates peoples minds' and at the ending scenes of the film it is revealed that Dom did not kill his wife directly but feels that he may have indirectly contributed to her death.
Another thriller convention that is used in the film Inception is the theme of seeing and reflecting, one way in which this convention is used is when the cut scenes of Mol are used, this has an effect on Dom because this triggers guilty memories from the past. One scene in which this is used is when Dom is on the phone to his son James and he asks 'is mum here still' and then it cuts to a clip of Mol, this reinforces the idea that she is causing him to feel guilt and that because of this guilt he hasn’t told his children what has happened to her. Another way in which the theme of seeing and reflecting is used is when Dom keeps seeing projections of his children and the memories of when he had to leave them, one scene in which this is used in the bar, the glass drops and is ringing and then he sees a projection of his children, this shows us that the children are also causing him to feel guilt about leaving them.
Another thriller convention that is used is that the protagonist has an Achilles heel, Dom's weakness is his wife and that he is unable to forgive himself for her death and she is constantly taunting his subconscious and trying to get him to live in their world. In the ending scene of Inception they are sitting in their old apartment room and she tells him that he must choose between reality or her, but Dom says that she is not good enough any more. Mol then attempts to stab him with a kitchen knife, at this point is seems as though he has finally forgiven himself after being in peril for most of the film and that the problem of guilt has been resolved.
Another thriller convention that is used in the film Inception is that the narrative centres around the crime of theft. This theme is shown or mentioned throughout the film, one key scene in which this is used is when they are trying to crack into Fishers fathers safe, even though this is an attempt to convince Fisher that they are trying to help this still link in with the theme of theft. This theme call also be be shown by the common use of the 'safe' which is commonly stereotyped with security, cracking and theft, the safe is mentioned when Dom and the builder are in the dream talking about the subconscious filling the 'safe' with information and the most important scene in which the safe is used is when Fisher opens the safe to the memory of his fathers last words where he tells him that he is 'disappointed that he tried to be like his father'.
Another way in which Inception uses thriller conventions is the use of ordinary situations in which extraordinary things happen. One scene in which this is used is when Dom and the architect are outside of the café, then he tells her to stay calm, then the coffee starts to shake and the scene starts to explode and the debris shows us that this is not natural and that they are dreaming. Another scene which shows this is when they are in the hotel and the characters are floating as there is no gravity present, again this is an ordinary day to day setting with an extraordinary twist.
I conclude that 'Inception' could be considered as a 'proper thriller' film because it uses the Thriller Conventions and portrays a combination of them throughout the film. These conventions include focusing on the crime e.g. theft, showing the protagonist's weakness and how it is exposed and exploited by the antagonist and the theme of seeing, optical illusions and reflecting e.g. the constant reflection on the children and the guilt that Dom feels when he sees them and that he cannot see their faces as he knows that they will looking at him in disappointment and sadness.
Written by will rathlou
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