Memento

 

 

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Memento (2000)
Drama, Mystery, Thriller, 113 minutes
Directed by Christopher Nolan
Starring Guy Pearce, Joe Pantoliano and Carrie-Anne Moss

"What's the last thing you remember?
"My wife...dying."

I remember watching Memento on cable and buying it a few days later. It was such an original way of telling a story that I was excited to show it to my friends at the earliest opportunity.

They hated it.

The opening scene shows Leonard Shelby (Pearce) killing Teddy (Pantoliano), but that scene is actually how the story ends. Leonard suffered a head injury when his wife was murdered by intruders and hasn't been able to form short-term memories since the event. He remembers everything up to that point, such as who he is and what he did for a living, but can't build new memories.

What would it be like to wake up every day and wonder where you were? What are you supposed to be doing that day?

In order to place the viewer in a similar position, Nolan tells the story in reverse. We see events unfold and new information is introduced each time. The information changes our perceptions of the events we have already seen and the people we have already met. Who can Leonard trust? How can he keep the information readily available if he's going to forget everything?

Nolan actually tells two stories. One is in black and white and proceeds in normal chronological order. This tells the story of Leonard's life before the accident. He worked as an insurance investigator and one of the claimants, Sammy Jankis, had the same problem with his memory. A tattoo on Leonard's wrist tells him to remember Sammy Jankis, and he's able to because it happened before he suffered the head injury.

A second story shows Leonard's hunt for his wife's murderer. This time, Nolan tells it in color and uses reverse chronological order.

Are you with me so far? Good.

You can see why my friends hated the film. It requires patience and your full attention to understand what is going on. Furthermore, Leonard is an unreliable narrator, so we can't trust everything. Nolan presumably did this to show that Leonard can't trust his own thoughts.

In order to function at all, Leonard employs a series of devices to aid his memory. He also sticks to a routine as much as possible. He takes photos of his car, his motel, and people he meets. As he finds out information about people, he writes notes on the photos.

Teddy is either a crooked cop, a complete liar, or both. He claims to be helping Leonard look for his wife's killer, but he makes several attempts to borrow Leonard's car. When you see the closing scenes, you'll understand what his true motive may be.

Natalie (Moss) is also claiming to help Leonard by providing information. Unfortunately, she also has motives of her own.

Leonard doesn't know who to trust. He also doesn't know how long he's been trying to avenge his wife's death. Because of the nature of the narrative, we aren't even sure that Leonard hasn't already killed the murderer at some point in the past. Are Teddy or Natalie using him for some other purpose? Are they even who they say they are?

I've seen Memento at least twice a year since I first saw it. It has endless replay value and it's interesting to see some of the events unfold when you know the outcome. Nolan gets the little details right as well as the big ones. Notice how Leonard forgets which way the motel door opens and how he brushes his hand against a glass in a restaurant because he's forgotten that he put it there.

Each time I watch a Nolan movie I think it's the best thing he has ever done. Whether it's The Dark Knight, Inception, The Prestige, or Memento, he treats his audience with respect. Rather than spell out every little aspect of the story, he allows the audience to draw its own conclusion. That alienates some viewers, as it did with my friends, but the payoff is worth it if you are willing to pay full attention.

Otnemem (Memento) Is a powerful story of revenge following an Insurance Inspector (Guy Pierce) who witnesses his wife's rape and murder. However, when he tried to stop it he was knocked unconcience and suffered a head wound that kept him from making new memories. The last thing he does remember is her murder. Now he must bring justice to the one who did it. To remember things he must tatoo them to his body. A terrific Film for both Nolan and Pierce.

This is an awesome movie, a must-see for anyone who enjoys a story that requires some mental investment on the viewer's part. And this 2 DVD set has some great features on it (including the ability to watch the scenes in reverse...err...chronological order). However, the DVD menus are so unintuitive that they're really frustrating. It's amusing that they decided to model the menus after an aspect of the movie, but doing so makes it too easy to miss many of the features on the discs, or two difficult to find features you're looking for. Nearly all of the features are essentially Easter Eggs. Still, I wholeheartedly recommend this DVD set. There are many websites that expose DVD Easter Eggs, and most of them will tell you exactly how to get to the features on these two discs.

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3.0 out of 5 stars Momento
Very confusing movie which takes a lot of concerntration to watch .... don't get me wrong, it's a good movie,but don't watch it with demanding kids, drunk friends or distractions... Read more

Published 4 months ago by danny4178

5.0 out of 5 stars on time, great shape. just as stated
just what i expected, new blue ray, arrived on time. Excellent movie! Packaging was sufficient to protect the blue ray and it was the tenth anniversary edition, as stated. Thanks!

Published 12 months ago by britt

5.0 out of 5 stars a Christopher Nolan gem
it's hard to comment on this title without giving away major plot
points.basically,the gist of it is this,a man has no short term memory
due to an assault during which... Read more

Published on Jan 6 2010 by falcon

5.0 out of 5 stars Memento is well thought out
Rarely have I watched a film that demanded that I pay such rapt attention to detail. Its series of segments, progressively reveal more of what happened but in backwards order. Read more

Published on Sep 27 2007 by Jenny J.J.I.

1.0 out of 5 stars This film is horrible. Please, don't waist your time.
I don't have to say much about this movie to let you know don't waist you time or money. I paid $21 for it through Columiba house. Read more

Published on July 10 2004 by B. Ascher

4.0 out of 5 stars One major flaw!
I thought this was an excellent film. The script was absolutely original and really kept you guessing until the very end. Read more

Published on Jun 27 2004 by r2thet

3.0 out of 5 stars More Mystery Than Murder.. Still an Ingenius Movie
Just goes to show that you act on instinct when your memory goes....It's as simple as that

Published on Jun 25 2004

5.0 out of 5 stars Bravo!
This is one of the best, and by far, the most original movie I have ever sceene. Its hard to follow at first becasue the sceenes go in revese order, but that is one of the aspects... Read more

Published on Jun 24 2004 by payasyouexit

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the most original and satisfying movies ever made
Just effing brilliant. The type of movie you can watch over and over again, not necessarily to learn new things, but the very concept leads to thought-provoking inner dialogues... Read more

Published on Jun 22 2004 by J A W

5.0 out of 5 stars Awsome movie, not recommended for stupid people
Everyone who rated this less than 4 stars was too dumb to figure out what was going on, so this movie requires at least a certain amount of intelligence. Read more

Published on Jun 20 2004 by Nuwan Weerahandi

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