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Film Review #6
Memento (2000)
Christopher Nolan is largely regarded as one of the most talented modern directors for his work during the 21st century particularly with both The Dark Knight and Inception, two of the most popular and highly acclaimed films in recent times. Perhaps less well known than those two films, ‘Memento’ is a film many people will rate equally as good if not better than them with the film providing a mind-boggling and extremely interesting plot.
Memento follows the story of Leonard Shelby, a young man who suffers from short term memory loss following an ‘incident’ in which his wife was viciously attacked and killed. The story is shown in an interesting way, one which keeps you thinking as two stories unfold in opposite directions as we delve deeper in to Leonard’s live, finding out more clues as we put together the Memento puzzle. The film is not shown in a non-linear way not directly because of Leonard’s condition as you may have expected but instead to keep us thinking and confused, we truly have no idea of what has happened (or happening), in a way it forces us to think like Leonard, we are trying to piece together little bits of information we remember from scenes to get us to the current situation whilst he tries to look at his polaroid photohraphs to understand his current situation and what he is doing.
Leonard is portrayed by Guy Pearce as a strange and curious man who uses a series of notes (on Polaroids) and tattoos to help him deal with his condition and track down his wife’s killer, Pearce is excellent in his role here giving us a startling performance as a mysterious and damaged character. His tattoos include a series of clues or ‘facts’ revealing information about his wife’s killer and his notes are attached to images of various common characters and places to help him remember them.
The film explores a number of complex and equally as mysterious characters such as Natalie portrayed by Carrie-Anne Moss, she according to Leonard’s note will ‘help him out of pity’ and although she originally takes advantage of his condition, manipulating him for her own amusement, she then seemingly develops a genuine want to help him on his quest to track down his wife’s killer.
Teddy Gammell is another key character and possibly the most mysterious in the film, even after the film has finished you’ll be thinking long after just what Teddy’s motives were and what of what he says is actually true? He is portrayed by Joe Pantoliano (he had also worked with Carrie-Anne Moss the previous year in The Matrix) who gives a great performance as a character that is constantly involved as the mystery unfolds, we are constantly changing our thoughts and opinions of the character who shares an important relationship with Leonard, we know that the more we find out regarding the identity of Teddy and what are his intentions then the closer we get to uncovering the truth regarding Leonard.
*Possible ending spoilers in next paragraph*
The ending leaves the absorbing mystery is seemingly unsolved and its lasting affect on the viewer will almost definitely be felt after viewing as you try yourself to put together the pieces of the puzzle you’ve just watched, to attempt to work out the truth. Are Leonard’s versions of the past to be trusted? Is Sammy Jankis really who Leonard says he is? Or is Leonard simply creating his own puzzle to keep his mind occupied, destroying information that he wants to forget and creating his own clues to work with.
Memento is an enthralling and absorbing tale, a mysterious world filled with a mixture of mysterious characters, a puzzle displayed to us by Nolan, made in such a way that you’ll be both fascinated and confused by what you’ve just seen come the film’s end. Whilst some may find it uninteresting and confusing but the film is meant to be confusing and you must focus and take in every detail of the puzzle, you have to sit back and appreciate Nolan’s work, he’s been creative in his idea for the film, it’s unique, fresh and above all engaging. A must watch for any mystery fans.
RATING:
Memento (2000)
Christopher Nolan is largely regarded as one of the most talented modern directors for his work during the 21st century particularly with both The Dark Knight and Inception, two of the most popular and highly acclaimed films in recent times. Perhaps less well known than those two films, ‘Memento’ is a film many people will rate equally as good if not better than them with the film providing a mind-boggling and extremely interesting plot.
Memento follows the story of Leonard Shelby, a young man who suffers from short term memory loss following an ‘incident’ in which his wife was viciously attacked and killed. The story is shown in an interesting way, one which keeps you thinking as two stories unfold in opposite directions as we delve deeper in to Leonard’s live, finding out more clues as we put together the Memento puzzle. The film is not shown in a non-linear way not directly because of Leonard’s condition as you may have expected but instead to keep us thinking and confused, we truly have no idea of what has happened (or happening), in a way it forces us to think like Leonard, we are trying to piece together little bits of information we remember from scenes to get us to the current situation whilst he tries to look at his polaroid photohraphs to understand his current situation and what he is doing.
Leonard is portrayed by Guy Pearce as a strange and curious man who uses a series of notes (on Polaroids) and tattoos to help him deal with his condition and track down his wife’s killer, Pearce is excellent in his role here giving us a startling performance as a mysterious and damaged character. His tattoos include a series of clues or ‘facts’ revealing information about his wife’s killer and his notes are attached to images of various common characters and places to help him remember them.
The film explores a number of complex and equally as mysterious characters such as Natalie portrayed by Carrie-Anne Moss, she according to Leonard’s note will ‘help him out of pity’ and although she originally takes advantage of his condition, manipulating him for her own amusement, she then seemingly develops a genuine want to help him on his quest to track down his wife’s killer.
Teddy Gammell is another key character and possibly the most mysterious in the film, even after the film has finished you’ll be thinking long after just what Teddy’s motives were and what of what he says is actually true? He is portrayed by Joe Pantoliano (he had also worked with Carrie-Anne Moss the previous year in The Matrix) who gives a great performance as a character that is constantly involved as the mystery unfolds, we are constantly changing our thoughts and opinions of the character who shares an important relationship with Leonard, we know that the more we find out regarding the identity of Teddy and what are his intentions then the closer we get to uncovering the truth regarding Leonard.
*Possible ending spoilers in next paragraph*
The ending leaves the absorbing mystery is seemingly unsolved and its lasting affect on the viewer will almost definitely be felt after viewing as you try yourself to put together the pieces of the puzzle you’ve just watched, to attempt to work out the truth. Are Leonard’s versions of the past to be trusted? Is Sammy Jankis really who Leonard says he is? Or is Leonard simply creating his own puzzle to keep his mind occupied, destroying information that he wants to forget and creating his own clues to work with.
Memento is an enthralling and absorbing tale, a mysterious world filled with a mixture of mysterious characters, a puzzle displayed to us by Nolan, made in such a way that you’ll be both fascinated and confused by what you’ve just seen come the film’s end. Whilst some may find it uninteresting and confusing but the film is meant to be confusing and you must focus and take in every detail of the puzzle, you have to sit back and appreciate Nolan’s work, he’s been creative in his idea for the film, it’s unique, fresh and above all engaging. A must watch for any mystery fans.
RATING: