Daily Dialogue — December 2, 2015

COBB: But I never knew that the idea would grow in her mind like a cancer. That even after she woke… Even after you came back to reality. You’d continue to believe that your world was not real. That death was the only escape.
MAL: You infected my mind.
COBB: I was trying to save you.
MAL: You betrayed me. But you can make amends. You can still keep your promise. We can still be together… right here. In our world. The world we built together.

— Inception (2010), written by Christopher Nolan

The Daily Dialogue theme for the week: Regret, suggested by Pj Woodside. Today’s suggestion by Katha.

Trivia: The slow, gloomy, blaring trombones in the main theme of the film score are actually based on an extremely slowed down version of the fast, high pitched trumpets in the beginning of the Édith Piaf song “Non, je ne regrette rien,” which is used as a plot device in the film. Furthermore, when music is heard by someone who is currently within a dream, the music is perceived as slowed down. Thus, the main theme of the film score is almost exactly what the beginning of “Non, je ne regrette rien” would sound like to a dreamer. This thematic device is brought to its logical conclusion when the song plays at the end of the credits, signaling that the audience is about to ‘wake up’ from the film.

Dialogue On Dialogue: Commentary by Katha: “Meaning well is not the same as doing well. Cobb regrets the inceptions of Mal’s mind so much, that he goes through this whole adventure, and Nolan makes it the theme for the movie.

In the scooting script (I‘ve found here), Cobb adds ‘I‘m sorry’ to ‘I was trying to save you’. It was cut out in the movie. Saying ‘I‘m sorry’ won‘t fix what he regrets.”