Film Review : MEMENTO * * * *
Memento (2001)
CAST Guy Pearce, Carrie Anne Moss, joe Pantoliano
DIRECTOR Christopher Nolan
Every once in a while there is a movie madewhere it asks the audience to do more than usual. Where you have to totally throw every muscle of your mind in to the thinking process just to figure out what is going on. Christopher nolan's Memento happens to be one of those kind of films.We are asked to come up with the conclusions with what information is given us.That does not sound too difficult, that is, until you see the film.
Guy Pearce plays Leonard 'Lenny' Shelby. Lenny has a condition which allows him only to remember things that have happened only a few minutes ago. this condition came on at the time of his wifes rape and murder. He can however remember things that happened before her death. His mission now is to find the killer and bring him to his justice. which in Lenny's mind is death.
The story is told in split sequences of color and black and white. The color scenes are the past and the black and white are the present, for the most part. Confused? Just wait.
The first scene in the movie is actually the last scene, or the ending. It keeps going backwards until we are finally at the end of the film which is actually the beginning. So mysterious is this film, that it will frustrate the most radical movie fans. Its undeniably brilliant and hypmotic. It pulls you in and keeps you. this film is almost like a drug you cannot quit.
There are key characters to the plot. Teddy is a guy trying to help Lenny find the notorious John G. The man who supposedly raped and killed his wife. Natalie is a bartender who finds sympathy for lenny and desires to help him also. Both Teddy and natalie have alterior motives for wanting to help him. Natalie seeks revenge on an old drug slinging boyfriend and Teddy seeks money. Lenny constantly has his body tatooed with messages and notes he cant let himself forget. He also takes photos of people, cars and hotels he has stayed in to remind him who he is dealing with.
There is a subplot involving a man named Sammy Jankis. This is such a vital part of the film. It may hold the answers to alot of questions we scratch our heads about throughout the whole movie.
I cant sit here and pretend i really know the conclusion of this movie. Anyone who sees this will come out with a different viewpoint. One thing is for sure. It is great beyond belief and the academy did not give it near enough recognition. this is a great film which needs to be viewed several times to pick up on all the details. I'm looking forward to future Christopher Nolan films.
jblack, the crutial question: What did you think of the movie?
As for the 'conclusion', in his 'Creative Screenwriting' interview, Nolan says that he had a definite conclusion in mind and that he had to tell that conclusion to particular actors so they could have the proper mind set. He also said that when he watches the finished product, he can see his conclusion comes through.
He does say that there is intentional conflict between the info he conveys VISUALLY and info that is relayed via dialog. He says if you favor your visual memory, your visual senses, that you will come out with one conclusion, and if you favor your aural senses and memory, you'll come out with a conclusion.
Since he says there is a definite and only one 'true' conclusion, then either the aural or the visual clues are the correct clues, and the other are false. Which it is, I don't know, and he does not give any indication on this.
The interview was pre-DVD release, and he mentioned that the US release would have an option to play the movie in a liner, chronologically normal sequence. What a thought! He says he has not seen the movie that way yet (as of the interview).
Creative Screenwriting is perhaps the best magazine about this kind of stuff. Anyone know others as good as it?
I'm not a believer in the spoiler alert. People get too curious (like myself) and highlight the hidden spoiler before seeing a film and it ruins it for them. However I will e-mail you what I think the conclusion of it was.