Years Later, Christopher Nolan Explains Inception's Ambiguous Ending
The finale of Inception has remained a mystery with no clear solution throughout all these years — but now, 13 years later, director Nolan finally explained its meaning.
Christopher Nolan is one of the most renowned movie directors of our century, and he's especially famous for his mind-bending experiments with time and reality.
Inception is one of director Nolan's most popular movies, and it's especially famous for being so mind-bending that even after a dozen years, no one understands what its ending really meant.
2010's Inception became a worldwide phenomenon as soon as it was released and for a good reason.
Apart from being a Nolan movie starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Inception was one of the most beautiful and confusing cinematic experiences the world has seen to date — for this article's sake, the emphasis is on "confusing."
Thirteen years have passed, and the ending of Inception is still a mystery. At first glance, the protagonist finally reunites with his family and his insane plan pays off…
At second glance, there must've been a reason for showing us that damned whirligig that just wouldn't stop spinning and shamelessly implying that it was all a dream!
Christopher Nolan is a master of messing with his audience's minds, and Inception is one of the best examples of the director's "malpractices."
Even after having waited for over a dozen years, Nolan avoids giving a direct, no-BS answer to the movie's main question; instead, he simply states that the answer is completely irrelevant!
"I mean, the end of Inception, it's exactly that. There is a nihilistic view of that ending, right? But also, [Cobb has] moved on and is with his kids. The ambiguity is not an emotional ambiguity. It's an intellectual one for the audience," suggested the director.
For Christopher Nolan, it seems, it doesn't matter whether the final scene took place in reality or in a dream: he sees the emotional conclusion of Cobb's painful journey as the ultimate happy end and redemption for his character, and that is enough for the director — everything else is but details.
If you wanted a proper definitive answer to Inception's ultimate question, we have great news for you: not only did the director allow for this mystery to remain, but he's also admittedly adding another one to the list.
According to him, Oppenheimer 's "complicated" ending has an "interesting relationship" with the finale of Inception.
Thanks, director Nolan, we were only just starting to sleep well after Inception.
Source: Wired