This is a heist movie, paying homage to, amongst others, James Bond films, and that’s what important here – not mimicking actual dreams. Nolan creates a universe here with its own rules. The central motifs are strictly adhered to. For example the point about all dreams have no real beginning, you’re just suddenly in the midst of it. Nolan excellently uses this in the first half of the film. None of the scenes are established in the usual sense, we just float from one scene into the next. The mazes are another great example. Even in Mombasa the scene follows the dream structure. Cobb flees from henchmen that behave like dream projections through the labyrinthine city streets. And I just love the impossibly narrow alleyway that Cobb has to squeeze through! That’s the stuff that dreams are made of!