Film Studies: Memento

[StevePulaski]

Memento (2000)
Directed by: Christopher Nolan

Rating: ★★★½

Before Christopher Nolan began mixing the spectacle and the narrative device, along with the real show of characters and eccentric personalities. With the recent Batman franchise, Nolan became more about the darkness aspect of the story and noticeably amplified the action spectacle, but with his directorial debut Memento, he was all about the mystery. Memento is a great film mainly because of its element of surprise, mystery, and its narrative device. Nolan conducts the story atypically from the end of the story all the way to the beginning, focusing on an array of characters that may or may not have anything to do with the outcome of the story. But is the outcome the first scene (the story's conclusion) or the final scene (the story's beginning)?

That is one of the many questions you'll ask yourself when watching Memento for the first time. Seeing it for the first time, I wasn't prepared for the constant mind-race I'd be experiencing. The plot should not be spoiled, so I'll give basic the story's basic framework. Guy Pearce plays Leonard Shelby, a man suffering from a memory disorder after a man apparently attacked and murdered his wife before knocking him unconscious. Now, Leonard wants to avenge his wife's death, but his memory loss makes it more of a challenge than it already is. Leonard can't hold onto newer memories but has all the ones prior to the incident. To keep with the information about his attacker, Leonard tattoos himself with crucial information in his search for the murderer and takes many Polaroids of the people he meets along the way.

That's as far as I'll go in trying to sum up the plot. If you haven't seen it, you don't need to know much else. The story, being told backwards to forwards, intrigues and mystifies, as it should, and heightens the mystery of the entire premise. However, I question the impact the film will have with repeated viewings. Seeing it once and exploring the ins-and-outs of online movie-guides and analyses for Memento, I am seriously skeptical about it being as exhilarating and as gripping as it was the first time around.

Despite my speculation of whether or not Memento will hold up for a second viewing, the film should be commended for its intrigue and intricate use of characters and story development. Sometimes the value of characters' motives - and characters themselves - are questionable, making the film tricky to piece together. This is not a criticism because it makes you connect with the stress and confusion of Leonard. The whole thing is akin to a hazy, vigilante/detective story. Nolan puts us in the position of Leonard so deeply that there's hardly a frame or scene where he isn't there. This gives us the feeling of confinement; the odd and often eerie feeling of embodying a character in a film.

Guy Pearce's enticing performance only levies this. Pearce adds the hazy and disoriented qualities of Leonard's character subtly but effectively as she makes the character sympathetic but simultaneously unreliable. With Leonard's severe condition, even his buddy Teddy (Joe Pantoliano) sometimes seems like a complete stranger. This not only leads to an unreliable narrator, but an unreliable cast of characters, seeing as Leonard feels as if he can't trust his own friends and acquaintances due to his condition. The same applies to us.

Memento is a great thriller thanks to its mystery and high-levels of intrigue. The great performances of Pearce, Pantoliano, and Carrie Anne-Moss as a woman Leonard meets during his search. The scene that rings in my head the most from the film is when Teddy informs Leonard that even if he does kill the person responsible, it isn't like he'll remember it. Leonard has the most logical response there could be. "My wife deserves vengeance. Doesn't make a difference whether I know about it."

Starring: Guy Peace, Joe Pantoliano, and Carrie Anne-Moss. Directed by: Christopher Nolan.