The question on everyone’s mind this past summer – well besides, “what came first the chicken or the egg?” – has been “did the spinning top drop at the end of Inception?”
SPOILERS AHEAD
Cinesnobs and other pretentious movie elite maintain that the true ending can only be revealed by Christopher Nolan, and he’s not getting tired of keeping the secret. But, it seems that Inception star Michael Caine has had it with the interrogations. Caine spoke on BBC Radio’s The Chris Moyles Show and revealed what the director’s intentions really were. He said:
“[The spinning top] drops at the end, that’s when I come back on. If I’m there it’s real, because I’m never in the dream. I’m the guy who invented the dream.”
So, strutting Leonardo DiCaprio goes home and finally sees his kids. Seems clear cut right? Still, we believe Caine’s statement can be interpreted in many ways.
– The top drops, and everyone is in the real world now.
– Leo isn’t real because he’s just a figment of Caine’s dream. So, yes it is real – real in Caine’s dream world so nothing in the movie was intended to be real.
– Inception is real, and Caine just planted that idea in our head. He’s sick of moviegoers asking him if the top dropped or not.
The only true answer will be when Nolan finally speaks on the topic, and judging from the fact that he’s going to be directing Batman 3 he’s got too much on his plate to stop and talk about spinning tops. Plus, part of the fun of the movie is leaving it up to your own personal interpretation so maybe that question should never be answered.
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