Memento ---- **** (out of 5) (2001)
Cast: Guy Pearce, Carrie-Anne Moss, Joe Pantoliano, Stephen Tobolowsky, Harriet Sansom Harris
Director(s): Christopher Nolan
Screenwriter(s): Christopher Nolan
Released on: March 16, 2001
Reviewed on: April 10, 2004
Rated: R - for violence, language, and some drug content
MEMENTO is one of the first films that brilliantly examines the concept of memory, a pivotal key to living a successful life as a human being. MEMENTO continuously toys with our perceptions of memory and our human-like psyche that demands to know and understand things. After the first few scenes have taken place, the film abruptly forces us to start using our minds and being as observant as we can. It's certainly not a very kind film to the infrequent movie-goer, but those looking for some logical, intelligent fare will be delighted to see cinema like MEMENTO that has the cojones to tackle certain ingenius concepts. Yes, I'm talking about memory, the manipulation of memory, the "first glance" perception that makes up a memory, the list goes on.
Leonard Shelby, a former insurance investigator, is searching for a killer. Namely, the killer that proceeded to rape and mercilessly kill his beautiful, beloved wife. After the event, Leonard begins gathering endless clues in a focused effort to track down the murderer and bestow upon him the same thing he gave his innocent spouse: Death. Unfortunately, shortly after the incident, he begins suffering from short-term memory loss, which means that he can only remember what happened over a long period of time but not things that occurred recently. So, in order to avoid the dilemma of forgetting or losing track of the clues he has gathered due to his condition, Leonard uses Polaroids with notes on them, important documents, and tattoos on his own body as a way to accumulate facts about the murder of his wife and of the murderer himself. This leads him (and we the viewers) on an intricate journey full of complex twists, turns, and revelations.
Another important fact about MEMENTO that I promised myself I would write about following the plot description is the fact that the story is told in reverse chronological order. This means that each scene or segment ends where the previous one began, which should lead you to realize that the beginning is the end, and the end is the beginning. One might think that revealing how the entire story ends right on the first strip of celluloid would decrease our enjoyment of MEMENTO. The result is almost the opposite. Once we see how everything began and what caused things to be the way they are for Leonard will help you to see that the only way the film could have worked is if it was told backwards. Not only do the reverse segments go hand-in-hand with the climax of the film, but we get a feel for Leonard's constant confusion of his clues' meanings and where he should turn next. You'll gradually get accustomed to the backwards storytelling about 20 minutes into the film and, with each scene, will be thrust into a plethora of perplexity as if, you too, have short-term memory loss. This greatly enhances how you will perceive the entire experience of MEMENTO as the end credits roll.
MEMENTO has such a fantastic surprise ending that I dare not utter any part of it, or it could entirely ruin your viewing night. It's one of those endings that you'll want to kick yourself after seeing for not deciphering it earlier. Upon realizing how everything goes together, you'll truly discover how overwhelmingly open-ended MEMENTO is. Christopher Nolan has constructed an almost perfect thriller. It makes total sense, it's suspenseful, and it doesn't toss cheap scares at us or a moronic ending that insults our intelligence. It assumes we're smart enough to piece together the jigsaw pieces on our own with our personal perceptions. And, once the climax is thrown at you, you'll realize how easily memory can be distorted.
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