Memento (Widescreen)

Leonard (Guy Pierce) is hot on the trail of the man who murdered and killed his wife. He, too, was injured in the attack, rendering him unable to record any new memories - everything fades after around 10 minutes. Although he remembers everything until he blacked out, including his wife lying dead on the floor, he has formed no new memories since that time. This unusual condition has obviously rendered his search somewhat problematic, and Leonard is forced to rely on scribbled notes, photographs, maps, and tattoos to attempt to piece together his investigation.

In what has been described alternately as a pedantic, pretentious film-school choice and a masterful way to tell a story, the story is told in 10-minute segments, starting at the END and working backwards. Therefore, the audience can piece things together in a way Leonard cannot, and our reality becomes totally different from the main characters'. In fact, one could make the case that Memento is a meditation on the meaning and reliability of memory in and of itself, but I'll leave that one to the scholars.

With its legions of fans, it's a wonder this DVD wasn't released with more extras on it. In fact, there are FOUR different versions of Memento on the world market, and all four DVDs have their strengths and weaknesses. The American NTSC-format Region 1 version, seen here, has an interview and the incredible Memento website on it (which, I should note, adds to the story, but only look at it after you've seen the movie, because it might spoil some things). The Canadian version of the film, also a Region 1 NTSC DVD by Alliance, has no extras but has an option where you can select the film's chapters in chronological order, allowing you to see the movie "backwards" (forwards, really). The French and Belgian version is Region 2 PAL, and lacks all the extras but has an option where you can actually play the film in chronological order, instead of having to go back to the chapter screen 48 times. And, last but not least, the planned UK Region 2 PAL release (slated to hit the streets on January 14, 2002) will have a director's commentary, the "play chronologically" feature, but none of the American version's extras.

This shouldn't surprise people, as Memento was released first in the UK and did significantly better there at the box office than it did here. However, unless you want to import a DVD from Europe - which requires a DVD player configured not only to play Region 2 discs, but one that can translate a PAL signal to an NTSC signal - the American version will be just fine. The picture and sound are great, and the chronological mode is basically, as a friend put it, a gimmick. And, with a movie as good as this, we can live without a commentary.