Semiotics

Inception

Discourse

• The signifier, the title 'Inception', connotes the act of cutting, entering into something. It also implies the whole premise of the film which is based on the possibility of entering people's minds and placing alien thoughts there. Because it is a mash-up word, it could also symbolise the internet culture we live in, where most website names and titles are created the same way, e.g.: YouTube, Facebook, MySpace etc.

• The signifier, one of the team members, 'the architect', denotes architecture and connotes planning and building, which points more towards the structures in real life than to the randomness of dreams. It creates slight confusion in the audience about which part of the story is real and which one is imagination.

Can humans control each other?

• The signifier, the metaphor, which compares thoughts to contagious parasites, connotes the popular media term 'addiction', which is commonly employed describing the love of computer games, films and other physically not addictive forms of entertainment. It could also lead to aspirations of brainwashing such as in communism, as it is pictured in Orwell's 1984 or in sci-fi movies about alien invasion e.g.: Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of Crystal Skull.

Do aliens control us?

• The signifier, the place called 'limbo', connotes the state of being lost, perished or stuck between dimensions, such as in many ghost stories and horror films, or even in the weird scenario of Matrix Revolutions, where some characters are waiting for a train forever being trapped between two worlds.

Visuals

Posters of The Dark Knight (2008) and Inception (2010)

• The signifier, the dark urban setting, connotes film noir and horror genres. Cities like New York serve as general locations for comics (such as Spiderman, Batman etc.), detective stories (e.g.: M by Fritz Lang) and film noir (such as Sin City). The greyish colours resemble to those in horror and thriller as in Se7en and let's not forget that Sixth Sense was set in the cold and rainy Philadelphia.
• The signifier, the silouette of the character who turns his back to us, symbolises the villain or an unreliable hero who would disappoint those who trust him.