Among other things, Inception is a visual essay about the history of movies. In a lot of ways, Inception is a super movie, seeming to somehow reconcile many eras and themes of film history. Since it is about movies being the shared dream of our culture, evoking as many classics as possible is inevitable and necessary; and the film does without any overcluttering. As I stated in the preceding post, if we are to take the stance that Dom is a regular man dreaming this story, then he likely has seen a lot of movies and his mind then uses the imagery but twists it around but in a way that means something to him personally. Some films are directly referenced while there are others that are only echoed, likely Nolan's own knowledge coming through subliminally. As Dom says to Ariadne, never use an entire memory, just details here and there.
So here is what is no doubt only a partial list, with some comments.
2001: A Space Odyssey - the aged Saito, whose aging effects seem quite similar to those used on Keir Dullea, certainly evokes 2001 as he does that partial turn toward the camera in the very beginning of the movie; several other instances.
Don't Look Now - the element of not being able to see the children's faces, the Venice-like imagery, and use of butcher knife.
Psycho and Halloween - also evoked by the butcher knife.
Planet of the Apes - Imagery of the beach with crumbling structures on it.
Royal Wedding - Fred Astaire dances on ceiling, same effect used for Arthur's fight scenes.
The Shining - one of several films suggested by the solitary structure amidst snow. Also, the scene in which Cobb questions Fischer in a washroom is similar to the scene of Nicholson talking to the ghost of the previous caretaker.
The Manchurian Candidate - The entire sense of unreality; for me, Cillian Murphy's character specifically reminds me of Raymond Shaw, a cold rich young man who is stripped down to his emotional core the story progresses.
Raiders of the Lost Ark - Cobb's chase through Mombasa. Eames evokes Indiana Jones as well as several other film antiheroes, most notably James Bond.
On Her Majesty's Secret Service - The snow fortress and the action surrounding it.
Night of the Living Dead - Projections move like zombies, attacking dream invaders.
Where Eagles Dare - Again, the solitary snow fortress, and it is probably not an accident that during these scenes the film's ominous theme is sometimes played with electric guitar, evoking Clint Eastwood's westerns. This level represents that anti-hero phase of action films.
Star Wars - the scene of Cobbs recruiting Eames to his dream team in a seedy bar, similar to hiring Han Solo.
The Matrix - Most especially Joseph Gordon-Levitt's wirefighting scenes.
The Maltese Falcon - Cobbs having to "let go" of Mal at the end. The old fashioned elevator. I would not be surprised if the actual origin of Mal's name is a shortening of Maltese Falcon - the stuff dreams are made of. Mal of course fits several apt interpretations as will occur in art.
Angelheart - also that old fashioned elevator which took Mickey Rourke to hell at the end; descending into a mythical underworld via elevator just as Dom goes down into the deepest and darkest levels of his own psyche.
Birth of a Nation - suggested by the masks and pillowcases worn over heads in certain scenes.
Casablanca - Cobbs is trying to get "letters of transit", as it were. As everyone was in Casablanca.
Hell in the Pacific - the confrontation between an American and a Japanese man.
Bridge on the River Kwai - same as above. Some dialogue the same.
Superman - The flying scenes.
Reservoir Dogs - The heist feel in general. People shouting at each other, back at a warehouse meeting place, about how things went wrong. And mostly, the scene in which Cobb himself narrates a memory as it is being shown happening, similar to Tim Roth's undercover cop story.
Phantasm - some imagery and the dream theme.
Blade Runner - The case the equipment is carried in, among other elements.
It's a Wonderful Life - The idea of returning home and feeling peace in his life, especially in the case of the version I think of as Dom the Architect, in which he is dreaming most of the story and working out frustrations over what feels like a failed life, and in which Ariadne is then the Clarence, if you will. More later on Ariadne-as-angel.
Wizard of Oz - This is a good argument against those who feel that the entire thing being a dream invalidates the movie, as it is quite well accepted in this classic. In the Dom the Architect version, as he looks around at the other passengers on the plane, he may in fact be saying what Dorothy said, about having the strangest dream and you were in it, and you, and you...
Batman Begins - It's hard to not be reminded of Rhas Al Ghul's fortress in the snow scene, as well as the others named above. Also, when Cillian Murphy has the pillowcase put on his head, suddenly he is like the Scarecrow again. In fact, several of the films done by the actors themselves seem to appear, as in the case of...
Titanic - Leonardo DiCaprio looks on as water suddenly deluges the villa.
Lathe of Heaven - this was a made for TV movie based on a novel by Ursula K. LeGuin that Lukas Haas, playing Nash the "original dreamer" in the early scenes, appeared in, in which he was a man who was able to change the world through his dreams.
Arrival of a Train at La Coitat - This early film showed a train arriving at a station, and it is significant that trains appear so often in Inception, especially when the train suddenly appears on the first level of the dream. It crashes into consciousness just as one can picture the impact of seeing this fim in theaters would be in 1896; for many viewers it would have been the first film they ever saw.
I will likely add to this post as others become apparent.
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