memento

Memento is the absolute freshest surprise from independent cinema in the last year. The revenge plot may seem conventional but the characters, their story and the way its told are anything but. In fact, backwards told is movie the, time a at information of snippets small only viewer the giving.

The story goes as such: Guy Pearce (who’s currently in our Up and Coming spotlight) plays Leonard Shelby who has….a condition. He has zero short-term memory. He can form no new memories. To remember what few things he can piece together moment-to-moment, he writes notes- lots of them- and even tattoos his body with various messages that are of particular importance. According to what he does remember, his wife was raped and murdered by a man who he knows only by the name John G. And it is now his life’s mission to catch and kill this man to avenge his wife. Who is this John G, though? Well, we know as much as he does and vice versa.

The many psychosocial ramifications of Shelby’s condition that emerge throughout the movie playing on the idea of how one lives within the world but not in the world were especially fascinating to me. If he can’t find a pen, for example, his moment in time- his life at that moment- is lost to him forever. A face. A name. Most importantly: information. What someone tells him is instantly lost if not recorded immediately in some way. What’s to stop someone from betraying him? To stop someone from taking advantage of him as one hotel clerk does in renting him multiple rooms at the same time? Or what’s to help him even remember that he’s avenged his wife’s death when he finally does catch up with his John G? How frustrating it must be for him. In one of the more humorous portions of the film, we catch up in one of the reverse snippets of action with Leonard’s inner monologue starting over again.
“Ok, what am I doing here?” Then he sees somebody. “Oh, I must be chasing this guy.” Then the guy comes after him with a gun. “Or maybe he’s chasing me.”
Constantly readjusting to an ever-changing reality. In a bloodlust quest for vengeance whom can he turn to in trust? And further as the sly tagline suggests, perhaps “Some memories are best forgotten.”

Thankfully, the movie’s backwards psychological gimmick is more fully realized and understood due to its reliance on just a few small supporting characters. I’m not going to tell you too much about them as they are best seen through Leonard’s eyes, especially since with every snippet of the movie, it seems that these characters’ motivations change- more often than not for the worse. And in this case, you will not believe what happens by the end (or shall I say the beginning?) Essentially speaking, there’s Teddy and Natalie. That’s all I’m giving you. Both fresh off the Matrix, Joe Pantoliano and Carrie-Anne Moss are very good in their respective parts. Pantoliano, in particular, is excellent, as I find him to be in most of his roles. (Check out Bound if you want to catch him at his greasy best) What makes him great here is his ability to never let the audience know if he’s a good guy, a bad guy, or even both. No hints here, though. If you read my Chocolat review, you know what I think of Carrie-Anne’s acting abilities when she tries to stretch too far. But here, she returns to her better suited more cryptic form and pulls her role as Natalie off nicely. Both of these actors really capture the duality of their characters and lend themselves perfectly to this suspense/thriller/headscratcher.

I hate to find that I give such positive reviews to most all movies that I have been reviewing for this page, however, I can’t give any response except that these films are exceptional. Memento, in that respect, is no different. This is the best independent film I have seen this year and the most originally inventive since Being John Malkovich. If you’re like me who’s a little slower at understanding the more intricate details of a thinker pic, then by all means take a friend. Most people are going to probably need a helping hand in piecing this one together front to back- though I assure you, all loose ends are tied up, indefinitely. Director Christopher Nolan has truly pulled off something that shows a new mastery of the long-since formulaic, if not dead, genre of suspense. Before you waste your money on Freddie Got Fingered or Joe Dirt (which actually sold out in a sneak preview here, tsk tsk tsk), do yourself a favor and see this challenging masterwork. And if you thought Sixth Sense or Fight Club had good surprise endings, just check out Memento, it’ll knock your socks off- and then don’t forget to revel in the fact that it’s not a surprise ending at all but a surprise beginning(?) Brilliantly delicious.
By Dan
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