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In the ending of Inception, there is some doubt that Cobb is in real world. But if he is not in real world then at which level of dream he is? Starting at the presumed starting 'real world' as the first level of the story, I think the final scene it's the fifth level (limbo) because at fourth level they save Fischer, but need clarification. |
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None of the different means you can use to guess whether Cobb is in a dream or not at the end of the movie are completely reliable. The spinning top has huge issues - the fact that it was Mal's totem, that it appears to act in a simplistic way that perhaps other people could dream, hence invalidating its usefulness - and of course the fact that we are never even shown what the top does at the end of the movie. I am unconvinced by how completely watertight the wedding ring theory (referenced in @Eoin's answer), as it seems possible for Cobb to dream the wedding ring when he thinks he is in a dream and not otherwise. Yes it is an interesting theory, but whilst it is certainly a deliberate action from the writers/director - the meaning is not completely clear. Cobb clearly seems to treat the spinning top as his totem (flawed or not), as he uses it when flustered by his dream in Mombassa. So yes, it could be a clue, it could even be his true or second totem - but it is still not completely reliable in my opinion. So is Cobb in a dream at the end? I don't think we can tell. Unlike the other answer, I like the ambiguity in the movie. If pushed to give an answer I would say that the fact that he is such an experienced shared dreamer, it seems likely that he would eventually work out if he is in a dream or not - so I guess he is likely to be in the real world, and the wedding ring therefore might be a true clue to that. So to answer the original question, if this is not the real world, what level is this? Well if the top level of the story is not the real world, and is in fact another dream, then 'who knows' is the only real answer. The question has no real meaning as there are possibly untold levels of dreaming we have no knowledge of. |
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There is a wedding ring theory which leads to the conclusion that he is indeed back in the real world. A quick Google will turn up a number of explanations of that theory. On the otherhand, Christopher Nolan refuses to answer the question, indeed here he seems to go so far as to insist there is no answer. Personally I think that's nonsense: either the wedding ring theory is true, or the person in charge of consistency screwed up in a way that happened to perfectly support the theory. The other thing I believe, is that not having a clear answer to the question is not some wonderful way of getting people to question the nature of reality, rather it's just a cheap trick to avoid a clichéd ending, which is done in such an obvious way that it only leaves people annoyed. I know that sounds harsh, I did truly enjoy the film, but I think the ambiguity at the end didn't improve the message of the film. |
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I know that we can all agree that the ending is up in the air, but were he dreaming in the end, what dream level he is in, can be one of at least two possibilities. 1st level: Although we are introduced to the spinning totem early on in the film and further enlightened to its significance throughout, we only see it spin out once, in the hotel room before Cobb and Arthur catch the helicopter. The next time Cobb spins the top, in the restroom in Mombasa, it doesn't fall, Cobb accidentally knocks it off of the sink. So some think from his sleep in Yusef's basement on is all dream and the entire scheme never takes place. Limbo: Four levels down, in limbo, Cobb confronts his projection of Mal. This limbo is the limbo of the shared dreamers' subconscious. It is filled with what Cobb and Mal had left behind. Cobb describes this to Ariadne that he and Mal washed up on the shores of their own subconscious. When he washes upon the shores at the end, he is washing up on the shores of his and Saido's subconscious. If he and Saido kill themselves and it doesn't wake them up, but keeps them in Limbo, it is Cobb returning to his own Limbo, the otherwise unconstructed dream space that he's filled with his and Mal's house and projections of his children as he remembers them. He also brings in this image of the plane and Saido is there as well, and he follows his own path still within this vast detailed mixed-reality of Cobb's subconscious. There is no real conclusion, but those are two possible levels that the conclusion may leave him. |
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