Directed by:
Christopher NolanScreenplay:
Christopher NolanCinematography:
Wally PfisterComposer:
David JulyanCast:
Guy Pearce, Carrie-Anne Moss, Joe Pantoliano, Mark Boone Junior, Jorja Fox, Stephen Tobolowsky, Harriet Sansom Harris, Thomas Lennon, Callum Keith Rennie (more)VOD (3)
Plots(1)
Leonard Shelby, an insurance investigator has developed short-term memory loss after attempting to intervene in his wife's murder, and uses notes and tattoos in an attempt to hunt down her killer. (official distributor synopsis)
Videos (1)
Reviews (12)
Brilliant! Without doubt, this is the only film that would make more sense than the usual if you watched it from the end to the beginning. But then it would be a only boring and routine crime drama instead of a perfect example of smart filmmaking with an excellent script and a totally unpredictable ending (well, beginning). Guy Pearce, a total unknown to me, shines and Christopher Nolan gets more bonus points – and a lot of them!
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Even though I was slightly bothered by the ending, which seemed a bit lost, maybe because the film ultimately tries to convey something more, this is so brilliantly directed, edited, and executed that I simply don't have much else to criticize. I was captivated by the film and its structure the first time, and I am even more so the second time, and I will probably be several times more.
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Narrative excellence where the inverted form of narration is the means, not the purpose. Nolan, in his first overseas outing, gives credit to his favorite properties (the man still wears his wedding ring after losing his wife) and teases with simple and economical filmmaking, where the characters and the plot play the primary role, where watching them is a challenging sport, and where even a moment's inattention can leave you in the dark. I'm fascinated by how, despite knowing the "good" ending, Nolan puts the pieces of the puzzle together impressively, with the reverse form creating tension even more strongly than traditional chronology. Who knew that this same person would one day make the most distinctive comic book trilogy and be able to afford to make spectacular sci-fi without using green screens, but... in retrospect, it feels like a deliberate journey by a purposeful filmmaker, just like this film.
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One of my most beloved movies. The main pros have been listed here hundreds of times, but what I definitely have to mention is one of the best movie resolutions of all time. The fact that many or perhaps most misunderstood it, in my opinion, is based on the fact that Leonard's final/initial decision is completely outside the mindset of the standard American hero and thus hard to digest. Guy Pearce also proves an excellent choice, his resignedly confused expressions certainly matching the film's overall deliberate bewilderment. The absence of an Oscar for the screenplay should be a crime. I guess the Academy didn't get the film either.
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Christopher Nolan's second feature clearly demonstrates his screenwriting genius and proves once again, unequivocally, that even the early works of this now great filmmaker are of great value. What’s more, I consider Memento unique out of Nolan's entire oeuvre, as it places considerable demands on the viewer, offers perfectly nuanced acting performances, and showcases highly suggestive direction. The pressure on the grey matter is immense and at times it took all I had to keep from completely unraveling all those cerebral threads; and yet the final impression (or rather the initial one?:)) is indescribable and I certainly cannot say that I was fascinated "only by the visual aspect and due to the difficulty of the script I gave up on any deeper understanding". The interpretation here is definitely not straightforward, but I think that was kind of the intention from the start. Maybe I'll see it from a different perspective the second time around, who knows. But it certainly won't affect my rating.
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