MEMENTO (2001)

directed by Christopher Nolan

Goodness, if you had enough life experience and long-term memory to not have your innocence or naivete but didn't have the ability to form new memories, you'd never close your eyes or keep from looking over your shoulder. That seems to be the premise of Nolan's mindfuck of a movie, MEMENTO, which dissects the motivations and subversions of three people who fight each other to use this disability to their own advantage. As far as I can tell, only one of them comes close to winning, and its apparent that one of them, from the get-go, clearly loses.

We know this because of the ingenious way in which this film is given to us. Scenes are shown backwards to forwards with just enough intersecting of events that you're reminded of what came before and you can start to put the pieces of the puzzle together.

Leonard (Guy Pearce) ends the story by shooting Teddy (Joe Pantilioni). Then, layer by layer, we figure out why Leonard would do this and we learn how culpable Teddy is, how every character (including Leonard himself) uses Leonard's disability for their own gain, and how Natalie (Carrie-Anne Moss) fits into all this.

Inbetween each scene is a series of linearly-placed black and white vignettes where Leonard sits on his hotel bed giving himself a tattoo while talking on the phone to an unknown caller about a certain Sammy who's lovelife puts Leonard's lack of one into perspective. As each scene ends and each vignette begins, we get a layer into Leonard's background and simultaneously begin to understand how what is happening here reflects what has happened and is being exposed throughout the rest of the film. Leonard tattoos his body with notes. When he doesn't leave a tattoo, he snaps a polaroid and labels it in a certain way. These mementos (hence the title) serve as Leonard's memory for him. The placement of each separate scene and vignette help us understand what Leonard's world is like for him. The result is pure cinematic genius. A true noir classic for the new millennium.

8.50/10