dir: Chris Nolan
“Remember Sammy Jankis”
MEMENTO does a magnificent job at making the viewer as off guard as Leonard. Since the film works backwards, the viewer is sometimes given clues, but lacks the context to put the clues in perspective. Even while starting at the end and working backwards, MEMENTO is still a mystery because the question of who-done-it is really only half of the story. The uneasy, unanswered questions are what make for compelling viewing and causes the viewer to immediately call up all their friends and recommend this film. MEMENTO, with its great script and actors, shows that a low budget film needs only one thing to succeed: originality.
For the first half-hour or so, MEMENTO plays like an interesting experiment, but is a rather cold viewing experience. The structure seems almost to get in the way of the story. However, the viewer slowly becomes engrossed into this story until, by the end, the viewer is riveted to his/her seat. Two things happen. One, Guy Pearce steps in as one of those definitive noir heroes, who is as haunted as the ghosts he is chasing. Pearce pulls off this role better than probably any actor could have. Two, the viewer realizes that MEMENTO must be told in this fashion. The structuring is not a gimmick; it is the point of the whole film. The film is about, to misquote Milan Kundera, the unbearable lightness of being constantly unsure. The viewer shares that uncertainty. By the end, the surface coldness has become an chilling thematic undertone which works its way through the bones.
MEMENTO takes the viewer on one unusual ride. The plot deals with a vengeful widower Leonard Shelby (Guy Pearce) hunting down his wife’s murderer. This may sound like simple plot, but the execution is far from simple. In the first scene of the film Leonard administers justice to the murderer. The film works backwards from there. MEMENTO begins at the end and works its way towards the beginning. If the film had nothing else, this structure would be commendable. A smarter than usual film that is shown on Showtime. However, there is a reason for this structure; this is a film about memory. Leonard suffers from a condition caused by being hit in the head when his wife was attacked. He is not able to make new memories. After fifteen minutes a memory begins to fade. Thus, if he is going to catch a killer, he needs to be disciplined, to write everything down, to take photographs; mementos are an unbreakable rule. Joey Pantoliano and Carrie Anne-Moss as Teddy and Natalie are two friends (or are they?) that provide a few clues (or do they?).
Is anyone else sick of these low budget crime films made by Tarantino wannabes, self-referential, everything is a homage or a theft? For those about to give up on the genre, MEMENTO comes as a right hook across the jaw. MEMENTO is a low budget crime film that substitutes a smart script and good acting for scenes of killers discussing Madonna lyrics.
“Where was I?”