5 Postmodern Elements of 'Inception'

Inception is a science fiction film written and directed by Christopher Nolan, released in 2010. It follows a complex premise where another person's dreams can be entered to steal information. This only escalates throughout the film so of course there are many elements of the film that break typical conventions and can be classed as postmodern.

1. False Realities - throughout the course of the film the characters go through different realities, some of which are false, as they are someone's dream. This plays into the story quite heavily with people sometimes not being able to be aware if the reality they are in is the real one. This also leaves the audience confused at points. Which I think is the main reason for the false realities in the film, to cause confusion about your own reality.
2. 'Pastiche' - This film can be classed as pastiche due to the moulding together of various genres to create some sort of meta-genre. With aspects of science fiction, action and adventure all merged into one.
3. Time - The concept of time in 'Inception' plays a huge role in the premise of the film. As the characters proceed deeper within the layers of dreams time is perceived differently. Each layer within time perception is increasingly slowed so once they went through several layers the time scale comparatively to the real world is seriously large.
4.  Personal Reality - A lot of the film plays on the idea that everybody has a different version of what they call reality. It brings this into question when someone's reality can so easily be shattered or proven to be an illusion. Does this mean that the reality we experience is nothing more than a dream?!
5. Open Ending - At the end of the film Cobb is awoken on a plane and returns to his family. But it leaves it so the viewer is not sure whether the character is still in a dream or if he has returned to reality. The thin line between reality and dream is blurred leaving the audience confused.

5 postmodern elements of 'Kill Bill: Vol 1'

Kill Bill a two part series written and directed by Quentin Tarantino and the first part released in 2003. Tarantino is known for his beyond unconventional style of film making, which always leads to an interesting result. No matter if you enjoy his films or not you must appreciate the distant break from conventions to produce something different to what everyone is used to seeing. These are the 5 ways in which Kill Bill can be classed as postmodern.

1.  The most notable characteristic of this film that I would class as postmodern is how it doesn't solely follow the rules of one genre. On the face it is a Samurai film, with elements of Westerns, actual anime scenes, black and white samurai scenes, and what seems like a dark horror at other points. This is something that has gone beyond the conventions of writing a story that pertains to a specific genre. This is why many people class this film as 'pastiche'.
2. The purposeful breaks from reality are another aspect of this film that could be classed as postmodern. Whether or not the viewer perceives this as a good aspect of the film it is definitely something that would be considered unconventional and doesn't abide by the norms of film making. Throughout the first part of the story it seems very much grounded in reality. Whilst a very sick and twisted reality it still draws you in and seems believable. It is only when you get to the final few fight scenes and the characters start 'levitating' in the samurai fights. Clearly this is something that takes from classic samurai films but as a viewer it also breaks the reality of the film which some people may not appreciate.
3. Another aspect which could be classed as postmodern is the over the top violence and gore. Whilst a lot of it is not realistic at all it's safe to say that the sheer extremities of the violence and gore goes beyond the norm of most films, apart from gore thrillers such as the 'Saw' series. So for a normal action film this goes beyond the pale. At times it's often unrealistic and overly exaggerated, with people getting limbs and heads cleanly chopped off throughout the film.
4. The choice of music in this film can be considered bizarre, but it's obvious Tarantino knew exactly what he was doing. He hired RZA from the Wu Tang Clan to mostly organise and orchestrate the soundtrack. Their collaboration together for non diegetic sounds leads to a bizarre dystopian feel, where the music obviously isn't fitting to the moment, such as a western sounding tune in a samurai fight scene, but because it is like this the whole way through it seems to fit.
5. The non linear narrative is yet another aspect that would be considered postmodern as it strays away from the conventional norms of story telling. There are few films that risk doing this as often it doesn't work and just leads to confusion. However I think it is pieced together very well in this film and at no point was I confused about the timeline of the film. Except for the beginning two scenes, which is meant to leave the viewer confused and wondering what is happening and why it is happening, but it quickly makes sense as the film goes on.