The scientific, social and political developments of the 20th century, which resulted in wars, were reflected in the field of art as the formation of movements based on the rejection of tradition. One of these art movements is Surrealism. Surrealism, which turns towards the reality and artistic expression of the subconscious by opposing rationalism and traditional way of thinking, continues its effect on many art fields such as literature, painting, sculpture, photography, graphic design. In this study, the influence of the Surrealism movement on graphic design and the graphic design works of the leading Surrealists were examined. The posters used in the movie ‘Inception’ were analyzed using the semiotic analysis method. According to the data obtained, the plot of the film is the adventures of a team who steal secrets and ideas from dreams, on a different mission. In terms of semiotics, it is referred to the transformation complexity in the perception of reality and reality with a vague transition from a realistic space to an unrealistic space in the foreground of the movie poster. This regulation, which has surrealist effects, can be interpreted as contrasts such as reality and fiction, reality and dream, reality and illusion, life and death. It can be stated that the written and visual elements in the posters examined are used in a way to create an aesthetic integrity and reflect the movie content to the audience, and the elements on the poster are successful in attracting attention, so the poster design has achieved its purpose. When the plot of the movie is examined in the context of intertextuality, it is understood that the movie ties in with very old doctrines.
Keywords: Surrealism, graphic design, semiotic analysis, ıntertextuality