America: Starting with the acquisition of MGM...

Chapter 239, Section 238: Each Displaying Their Unique Abilities

Inception, Christopher Nolan's masterpiece, is a classic that deserves a place in film history.

With over 200 million ratings on Douban, it has a score of 9.4 and a 5-star approval rating of over 72%, higher than 99% of science fiction and suspense films.

It has a rating of 8.8 in the top 250, ranking 14th on the list. Ahead of it is Fight Club, and behind it is Dune 2.

That's right, it's Dune 2.

Although the Dune series isn't very popular in China, it's quite well-known abroad.

Dune 2 and Spider-Man: Into the Universe are also the only two movies to break into the top 50 since 2020.

Of course, 14th place is not Nolan's limit, because his masterpiece "The Dark Knight" scored 9.0 and ranked third on the list.

With a score only 9.3 for the champion "The Shawshank Redemption" and 9.2 for "The Godfather Part I", it is undoubtedly the pinnacle of superhero films.

It elevated the superhero genre to a level almost unbecoming of its own, and built a high wall that was almost impossible for later films to climb over.

Entering a new era, Christopher Nolan is the absolute, well-deserved, and undisputed number one director.

He's not just a Hollywood director, but the world's number one director.

There's an interesting saying about directors in Hollywood: James Cameron is responsible for innovating film technology, while Christopher Nolan is responsible for innovating film structure.

Eric likes him very much, and he would love to work with Nolan if given the chance.

Inside the hotel, a group of people were having a meeting around a round table, mainly discussing the script for "Inception".

More than half a year has passed since Eric provided them with the script, and everyone has read it countless times.

During this time, everyone contacted Eric several times, including when he was with Nicole and Theron, who would ask him related questions, but Eric never gave them a detailed answer.

Now it's time to sort out the plot properly. It would be best if we could have a clear grasp of everything, but if not, we should at least understand our role and part of the story.

If you can't even figure this out, you can still make a film, but the effect will definitely be greatly reduced.

Neill Blomkamp took out the printed scripts and prepared to distribute them to everyone.

Bell waved his hand: "Thanks, I have it with me."

He took out a script with severely creased edges from his handbag, which looked like a textbook used by an elementary school student who didn't like to study, and then took out a black notebook.

"Bell, are these your notes?" Tom Hardy asked, leaning closer.

Bell nodded, opened his notebook, and saw neatly written plot analysis, character biographies, and character psychology.

"Wow! Your handwriting is beautiful. Wait, is this thick book entirely made up of biographical sketches?"

"No, actually I only wrote about half a book, around a hundred pages."

Seeing his nonchalant demeanor, Tom Hardy clicked his tongue in surprise, his heart skipped a beat, and he suddenly felt a surge of pressure.

He had long heard that Christian Bale was known for his dedication, to the point of being obsessed with a role, otherwise he wouldn't have been able to play the part in "American Psycho".

Although we haven't seen his live performance yet, judging from his solid preparations, the rumors seem to be true.

I have a lot of scenes with Bale, so I really can't mess it up.

Tom Hardy knew that this was a great opportunity that Eric had specially given him. He had also given James McAvoy the opportunity to make "Wanted" and Michael Fassbender the opportunity to make "The Storm".

Although James McAvoy and Michael Fassbender played the main characters while I played a supporting role, the production value of "Inception" was top-notch in Hollywood, far superior to "Wanted" and "The Wandering Earth." My treatment as a supporting actor was no worse than that of the two leading actors.

This is where everyone's chance to become famous. If they mess this up, they'll probably only be able to play minor, peripheral roles in the future, and they won't be able to make a comeback for the next five or six years.

He quickly pulled out his own script: "I have one too."

Neil shrugged and looked around, only to see that everyone had pulled out their own scripts.

"Well, it seems I did something unnecessary."

"But at least it's better to be prepared."

Once everyone was seated, all eyes were on Eric. Although he was both a writer and director, he had to juggle a lot of things every day, so he had taken detailed notes.

"Okay, let's figure out the plot of the movie first, and then we can ask questions separately later."

"I'll go through the story chronologically. Bale, Theron, let's start with your story."

"First, there's Bale as the male protagonist Cobb and Theron as Cobb's wife, Mal. You two are pioneers in the dream world, and your shared pursuit of the dream world leads you to decide to explore and experiment on yourselves."

"So you entered deeper and deeper layers of the dream, until you reached the fourth layer. Since the time flow in each layer of the dream is about 20 times faster, the time flow in the fourth layer of the dream was quite slow. So the two of you stayed here for decades until you died of old age."

"After you died, you entered a deeper layer of the Lost Realm. Mel wanted to stay here with Cobb forever and didn't want to return to the real world."

"But Cobb missed his children and wanted to return to the real world. However, as a pioneer himself, he had no idea how to go back. He could only guess that death might bring him back, but it might also prevent him from doing so."

"So he had to take double precautions. On the one hand, he used the spinning top totem to implant the idea of ​​suicide and return into his wife's mind. On the other hand, before committing suicide, he implanted the idea of ​​doubting everything and trying everything into his wife's mind."

"This was also the first time Cobb used implantation to change a person's mind."

"After they committed suicide by lying on the train tracks, they returned to reality, but the side effects of the implant began to appear. Mel completely lost the boundary between dreams and reality, so she chose to commit suicide to free herself from what she thought was a dream, which led to Cobb becoming a murderer and having to flee overseas."

"Then, Watanabe's character, the wealthy Saito, hires Cobb to plant ideas in his competitor, hoping to destroy the competitor's company and monopolize the energy market."

"In order to return home, Cobb had no choice but to assemble a team and set a trap, setting a snare on the plane to steal dreams."

"But unexpectedly, Fisher had received professional anti-dream-stealing training, so the unexpected began to happen, and they could only keep moving towards deeper and deeper levels of the dream."

"Ultimately, due to Saito's death and entry into the Limbo, Cobb had no choice but to perish together with Mel to enter the Limbo to find him and eventually bring him back to reality."

"Okay, that's roughly the plot. Now let's move on to the Q&A session. I'll try my best to answer the questions I can."

Upon hearing this, Nicole looked at Eric in astonishment: "Director, what do you mean by 'try your best to answer'? Does it mean you also have things you don't understand? You're the screenwriter."

Eric nodded nonchalantly: "Inception is a science fiction movie, and science fiction movies are, after all, the crystallization of imagination."

"Imagination that is not based on reality is bound to have problems, and I can't be perfect in every aspect, so this meeting can also be seen as a way to fill in the gaps."

After he finished speaking, everyone looked at each other, thinking to themselves, "You're quite frank, unlike many directors who like to keep things mysterious."

Heath Ledger raised his hand.

"Alright, Heath, there's no need to act like a student. Just say it."

"Director, I want to know how many layers of dreams there are? You just mentioned a fourth layer, so is the fourth layer the Lost Domain?"

"That's also a question I'd like to know," Theron said.

"I have the same doubts," Daniel Bruch said, looking over as well.

He will play the role of Fischer, a rich second-generation heir whose dreams are stolen. At the recent Golden Globe Awards, the film "Goodbye Lenin," starring him, was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. Although he is a German actor, he has made a name for himself in Hollywood.

The point of confusion for the group was also the same issue that many people struggled with after the movie's release. Some people thought the fourth level was Limbo, while others thought it wasn't. The movie didn't offer a clear answer to this question.

Eric nodded: "Good question. My answer is that the fourth layer of dreams is not the Lost Realm; they are two different worlds."

"We can turn to page 49 of the script, where this scene explains some of the dream's settings, including the severe memory loss that occurs once one enters the Limbo."

"Then turn to page 187 of the script, where Fisher is shot by Mel and enters a near-death phase."

"In order to buy enough time to save him, on the advice of Ari Ridene, the dream architect played by Nicole Kidman, they entered the fourth layer of the dream."

Eric almost slipped up, instinctively about to say the nickname, but luckily he stopped himself in time. Theron was focused on reading the script and probably didn't notice.

Nicole's lips curled up slightly, and she gave him a wink.

At this moment, Bell looked up: "Director, so when Cobb and Arielin entered the fourth level, why was everything there the same as the scene where he and Mel committed suicide by lying on the train tracks? Does this mean that the dreamer of the fourth level is Cobb?"

Eric nodded: "That's right, Cobb moved everything he and Mel built to the fourth floor, which is why it looks so similar."

"Okay, I understand. Here's a suggestion."

"What?"

"Should we add this line to the script? If we just add the statement that Cobb is the dream master of the fourth layer, then this will make sense."

"Huh? Didn't I write it?" Eric flipped back through the pages and found that he couldn't find the line.

Charlize Theron said with a smile, "Director, it seems you haven't checked the script carefully enough."

"Okay, that's my question. That's the purpose of this meeting. Anyone else have a question?"

Nicole turned to the last few pages of the script: "Eric, the final description freezes on a spinning top."

"The spinning top seems to be Cobb's totem, right? So if it's still spinning even after it's fallen off, doesn't that mean he's still dreaming? Has Cobb actually returned to reality?"

Everyone else looked over as well, it seemed that everyone had the same question.

Eric smiled. The question was actually easy to answer, but it might be confusing if you only looked at the script text.

He explained, "Cobb will of course return to reality. The spinning fall is a little trick. The final shot will actually freeze at the moment when the top slows down and is about to fall."

"I haven't put this description into words, but the final film will present it in this way."

"I also have a question for you: Is Le Corbusier's totem really a spinning top?"

"No!" Theron and Bell answered simultaneously.

Bell gestured for her to proceed, and Theron began, "The script only says that this is Mel's totem, and that Cobb carries it with him, but it doesn't give any clear information that this is Cobb's totem."

"After comparing the descriptions of his dream-entering experiences in the script, I think his real totem might be the ring."

"Because every time they enter a dream, the description of Cobb includes a mention of a ring, while there is no such description in the daily scenes."

"Eric, since the script specifically emphasizes the ring element, there must be a reason."

"That's my opinion too." Bell nodded at Theron.

"Correct answer, the answer is the ring. It seems this will be a smooth shoot because you've studied the script very thoroughly."

Ken Watanabe suddenly realized: "So the final spinning top scene was also a smokescreen; the spinning top doesn't represent anything at all."

Eric laughed and said, "Inception is a film that blends suspense and science fiction elements. It's part of the fun in it to confuse the audience a little."

"Director, I also have a question."

Tom Hardy had already noticed the questions others were asking while reading the script. Seeing that others were about to ask all the questions he wanted to ask, he quickly raised his hand to answer, so that Eric wouldn't think he hadn't studied the script properly.

"Speak, Tom."

"My question is about Saito's death. In the script, he was injured in the first layer of the dream and then died in the third layer. He was later rescued from Limbo by Cobb."

"Since Cobb can go into the Lost Realm to rescue people, why not let Saito die directly on the first level? Let Cobb go and rescue him anyway, so he won't become a burden on the second and third levels."

"I've thought about that question too, and perhaps I can try to answer it," said Maurice Chestnut, who plays the pharmacist.

As a character with less distinct features, Eric changed the pharmacist's race from Indian to Black.

He didn't have a good impression of Indians, and the Indian market wasn't a major box office draw, so using Indians wouldn't be as effective at boosting the box office as using Black people.

"I think the reason is the flow of time. If Saito really dies in the first layer of the dream, then the time he spends in the Lost Realm will be much, much longer than if he dies in the third layer."

"Although the script doesn't explicitly compare the time flow in Limbo to that in the real world, it must be extremely exaggerated."

"If Saito had entered even a minute earlier, he might have already spent ten more years in the Lost Realm."

"When Cobb found Saito, he was already nearing the end of his life. If he had stayed for another ten years, he would have died of old age in the Limbo without Cobb even coming to find him."

"According to the setting, once a person dies of old age in the Limbo, although they will return to reality, their brain consciousness will be severely damaged. Saito was essentially a vegetable, and Cobb's hope of returning home with his help was naturally dashed."

"That's my guess, director. What do you think?"

After Maurice Chestatt finished speaking, Eric looked at him with some surprise. It seemed that this guy's understanding of the script had reached a certain level.

Working with excellent actors is a pleasure; they not only enjoy studying the script and characters but also help the director fill in any gaps in the script.

It's easy to imagine that this filming will go very smoothly.

"Hmm, that's a very good explanation, Morris. It seems I'll need to add some lines to the script."

(End of this chapter)