Memento
Contains spoilers!
We are confused completely by what's going on. Eventually we figure out that we're seeing the movie scenes played in reverse order. If we're really paying attention, we figure out that the black and white scenes are playing out in chronological order and the color scenes are in reverse order and that they're going to collide at the climax.
It's an interesting trick, and we even get to like Leonard (Guy Pearce) as we watch him struggle to find and kill the man who murdered his wife. The fun of the movie is figuring out what the heck is going on.
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Unfortunately, the movie is only a trick. Directed by Christopher Nolan, who wrote the screenplay, the film is based on a short story by his brother Jonathan Nolan. Although we may root for Leonard, we find out in the end that he's been used and manipulated not only by Teddy (Joe Pantoliano), but by Natalie (Carrie-Ann Moss). And actually, Natalie is the main character here; she's the one we could have had feelings for as she plotted and planned her revenge with stunning originality and great care. But we never get a feel for her loss, for her. If you read the IMDB's bulletin board on this movie, almost all the posts are about figuring out what happened, matching timelines, and figuring out what all the clues were. Few people seem to care about Leonard and Catherine (his dead wife), nor about Natalie. In context, the fact that the characters aren't as important as the plot device is not much of a loss, but it keeps Memento from being what I'd call a good film. It's good entertainment, but it doesn't give you anything to take with you for the rest of your life. Contrast this film with "Betrayal," where the reversal of the unity of Time works beautifully in a script by David Mamet, and you get a brief hour and a half of tragedy that you'll feel for days.
(NOTE: The movie is Memento, not Momento. Memento is a reminder of past events -- Leonard's tattoos are the memento of the movie. If you remember that memento is akin to memory, the word is quite a good title. Jonathon Nolan's short story is Memento Mori, and it's online at
http://www.impulsenine.com/homepage/pages/shortstories/memento_mori.htm
Memento Mori is translated from Latin as "reminder of death" or "remember your death." Either way, also a good title.)
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michuk
Couldn't agree more. I can't understand why so many people think so high of this movie. If the plot was presented in chronological order, no one would give a damn.
Another example of how to mix the events with time in a movie the right way is Pulp Fiction.
Memento was enjoyable but I see no reason to watch it again and after a couple of years I can't even remember what the story was about.
bolo
"I can't understand why so many people think so high of this movie. If the plot was presented in chronological order, no one would give a damn."
It's because some people watch films to get excited, aesthetically pleased, to experience what it'd be like to live in a different world (on another planet, in different times). A film does not have to have a flawless logic and impeccable story line in order to be successful. I liked the Back to the Future series, although it's illogical on so many levels! I liked the sounds of the guns and the engines in Star Wars, although sound does not travel in vacuum. Some people even like 2012 ;)
Having said that, I like Memento primarily because the film gave me a truly unique opportunity: I could have a glimpse of what it's like to have Lenny's mental condition.
philip
I agree with michuk that the film would not have done as well had it been presented chronologically. Bolo, I think you are a rare person to have liked the movie because you see it through the eyes of a sufferer of anterograde amnesia; an admirable view, but I don't think enough people would have watched it for that reason had it been presented "in order."
The people I know who liked the film all got excited about figuring it out and talking about the order of events. I'm sorry to say I compare "Memento" to "Betrayal," and "Memento" comes across as a trick in which I have no deep sympathy for the characters.
But too each his own, and we still could have a conversation in which I would learn to see a different aspect of the movie.
bolo
That's interesting. As far as I recall, all positive comments that I've heard about Memento from my friends where along the lines of: "Wow, I felt as if my memory wasn't working!" rather than "Wow, what a great storyline!"
philip
:-> We have very different friends.
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