Inception being so very, very good (see here for my original comments), I was enticed back to the cinema to see this great movie on the big screen once more. And like many classics, it just gets better with repeat viewings. Having done the hard work following the story the first time round, a further viewing allows you to appreciate the more technical aspects of the movie; how the script is paced, the flow of the action as well as the use of sound and music. And in Inception's case it allows you to view the story from a different perspective.
The first time I saw the film I perceived the film at face value, accepting Cobb's (Leonardo DiCaprio's) version of events. After thinking about the ending and realizing that the film could be interpreted in different ways, I went back to Inception looking at it from Saito and Ariadne's point of view; as if one or both of them are pulling the strings.
Watching the film from Saito's perspective is particularly interesting as it highlights what an influential character he is on every other person in the story. Saito is there, right from the start, fully controlling the extraction job that Cobb and Arthur are attempting on him. He's there to intercept them on a Japanese helipad, to manipulate Cobb into performing inception and he's there, conveniently, in Mombasa to save Cobb from the clutches of the Cobal Corporation. And while he's quite passive during the 'heist', he once again becomes the dominant controlling force as he's the only one with the power to clean Cobb's immigration record.
I've already mentioned previously about the religious parallels going on in the story, but on a second viewing these become more apparent, whether intended to be there or not by the film makers. Saito comes across as an almost messiah like figure. He's the one that encourages Cobb to take the bath that will allow him to reach a place of spiritual peace. He's the one that tries to persuade Cobb to take "a leap of faith" and become "young men again". And he's the only one, at the end of the story, that can fulfill Cobb's wishes (or prayers) to return home to be with his children again.
The parallels are there. Saito dies...and is resurrected from the dead by Cobb, who's the only one to enough have faith to rescue him from Limbo. The subjects in Yusuf's basement are asleep for 8 hours, experiencing 40 days (and nights) in dream time...the same time frame that Jesus was tempted by the devil in the desert. As mentioned before, the ending, all brightly lit and slow motion, suggests a heavenly destination for Cobb, finally being reunited with his loved ones and finding peace.
As for the Adriadne angle, her whole purpose for going on the heist is to manage Cobb and his issues. She certainly manages to manipulate him into a position where she pursuades Cobb to bring her along, and she's beside him every step of the way, pushing him in the right direction so he'll finally come face to face with his unresolved guilt (at one point she's almost too direct when she asks of him in the snowbound dream level, 'what's down there for you'). There's a cool new analysis that can be found here expanding on this point.
What's great though is that no matter which of these perspective you look at the film from, the story is just as compelling and the ending just as emotional.
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