Summary

• Cobb's past with Mal and his guilt drive the plot in Inception, tying to Edith Piaf's song "Non, Je Ne Regrette Rien."
• "Non, Je Ne Regrette Rien" played as a "kick" song to wake up from dreams, which was key to navigating multi-layered dreams.
• The song was almost cut from Inception, but it symbolizes Cobb's struggle to move on from regrets and make peace with his past.

Inception used Edith Piaf’s song “Non, Je Ne Regrette Rien” as the “kick” for Cobb (Leonardo DiCaprio) and his team during their missions of infiltrating dreams, and it does have a deeper meaning in the story than it seems. The movies of Christopher Nolan have various themes in common, mostly time and identity, and in 2010, he added another layer of complexity to these with the theme of dreams in Inception. Inception introduced viewers to Dom Cobb, a professional thief in a very specific field: dreams, which he infiltrates to steal information.

When Cobb is offered an “inception” mission to implant an idea in exchange for having his criminal history erased so he can return to his family, Cobb gathers a team to make the “inception”, which is a mission a lot more complex than it sounds. Throughout Inception, Cobb fights his past and the appearance of his dead wife, Mal (Marion Cotillard), who interferes with his work. One element from Cobb’s work that stands out is the use of Edith Piaf’s “Non, Je Ne Regrette Rien” as a “kick” song, but this song choice wasn’t random, as its lyrics connect to Cobb’s story.

Edith Piaf's “Non, Je Ne Regrette Rien” Hints At Cobb’s Biggest Problem In Inception

The Song’s Lyrics Link To Cobb’s Story In Inception

At the beginning of Inception, Cobb, Arthur (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), and their first architect Nash (Lukas Haas) were infiltrating Saito’s (Ken Watanabe) dreams when Mal showed up. Mal only appeared in Cobb’s dreams and those he infiltrated as she was part of his subconscious, but she never appeared in the real world as she died before the events of the movie. Mal and Cobb used to work together, and they entered Limbo while experimenting with dream-sharing. Because of this, Mal and Cobb experienced 50 years in one night due to the time dilation with reality.

Throughout Inception, Cobb was haunted by guilt not just for Mal’s fragile mental state after the dream-sharing experiment, but her death and abandoning their children.

After waking up, Mal believed she was still dreaming and kept trying to wake up. One day, one of those attempts led her to jump from a building, but not before trying to get Cobb to do the same so they would both wake up. Cobb was then forced to flee and leave his children behind, and throughout Inception, he was haunted by guilt not just for Mal’s fragile mental state after the dream-sharing experiment, but her death and abandoning their children (who also showed up in his dreams, replaying the last time he saw them).

The song is a direct contrast to Cobb’s personal situation in Inception, as he had to do what the song says but that was his biggest struggle until the end.

“Non, Je Ne Regrette Rien” is about letting go of the emotional baggage one has been carrying for too long. The title’s literal translation is “No, I don’t regret anything”, and the song goes on to talk about making peace with the past – the good and the bad – and making a fresh start. The song is a direct contrast to Cobb’s personal situation in Inception, as he had to do what the song says – make peace with the past, let go of regret, and move on – but that was his biggest struggle until the end.

Why Cobb & His Team Needed A “Kick” Song

A “Kick” Song Was Part Of The Process Of Infiltrating Dreams

To safely wake up from each level, the team needed a “kick”, a method that required a sensation of falling, hitting water, or a sharp jolt to startle the sleeper awake.

To achieve their goal of extracting and implanting information into someone’s dreams/subconscious mind, Cobb and his team designed multi-level dreams, with the one made to perform “inception” on Robert Fischer’s (Cillian Murphy) mind being the most complex in their careers. To safely wake up from each level, the team needed a “kick”, a method that required a sensation of falling, hitting water, or a sharp jolt to startle the sleeper awake. The “kick” has to be performed on the sleeper’s sleeping body, not in their body in the dream within the dream (unless they are the dreamer in a dream to create another layer).

When in a multi-layered dream, the “kicks” have to be synchronized, and for that, a song is played in the ears of the sleeper to warn of the incoming “kick” inside the dream. That way, the “kicks” can be perfectly coordinated on each level of the dream, always taking time dilation into account.

Why “Non, Je Ne Regrette Rien” Almost Didn’t Make It To Inception

Christopher Nolan Almost Got Rid Of One Of Inception’s Most Memorable Elements

“Non, Je Ne Regrette Rien” became one of the most memorable and identifiable elements of Inception, but it almost didn’t make it to the movie. According to Inception music composer, Hans Zimmer (via Los Angeles Times), Piaf’s song was included in the script, but Nolan almost cut it from the movie when Marion Cotillard was cast in 2007’s La Vie en Rose. Zimmer shared that he persuaded Nolan to keep the song and explained that pieces of “Non, Je Ne Regrette Rien” were stretched and manipulated to fit into the score.

Marion Cotillard won the Academy Award for Best Actress for her performance as Edith Piaf in La Vie En Rose.

Edith Piaf’s “Non, Je Ne Regrette Rien” was necessary in Inception to bring the team back from multi-layered dreams in the safest way possible, but it also served a subtle narrative purpose. Cobb ultimately makes peace with Mal’s death and his part in it, but it’s up to each viewer to decide if he truly moved on once he reunited with his children or if he continued being haunted by Mal after Inception.

Source: Los Angeles Times.