Memento: Review

It would be appropriate to begin this review with the verdict, and work backwards to how I reached that. For the sake of continuity though, I'll keep it familiar. 'The start is the end, and the end is the beginning'. This is not a profound metaphor on life or anything like that, but rather the general structure of Christopher Nolan's intriguing movie Memento. Starring Guy Pearce as Leonard, Memento begins with a scene reversed, shown in colour. It then goes on to show another scene in black and white, before again going back to colour. Soon you realise that the colour scenes are being shown in reverse order, and the scenes with a black and white filter being in the correct order but not in chronological sync with the coloured ones. 

Leonard (Guy Pearce) 

The movie revolves around Leonard trying to find a man whom he only knows as "John. G", who is believed to have raped and murdered his wife. I say believed, because Leonard only knows everything he does from many tattoos applied all across his body, hence the name: Memento. 

If it sounds confusing, it's probably because the first time you watch the movie, it is. I have never seen a film attempt such a complex structure, but Memento pulls it off perfectly. The reasoning for this unique presentation of the story is because the main character and narrator Leonard has a mental condition where he cannot create new memories since an accident he had. It is best described by a quote from the movie: "It's like you know what you want to do but don't know what you've just done." This structure of the scenes creates a feeling for the viewer that they can almost empathise with Leonard, desperately attempting to wrap their head around what is happening and what is yet to happen. 

It's difficult to write about Memento because it requires a lot of explaining in advance. This does in no way make it a bad movie, far from it, just a very individual one. Guy Pearce presents the vulnerable and confused yet purposeful character of Leonard exceedingly well, with supporting cast members such as Carrie-Anne Moss and Joe Pantoliano deepening the story even further. Because you're never too sure of the relevance of each character, you are constantly left guessing as to who is really on the side of good. 

Teddy (Joe Pantoliano)

If it's not incredibly obvious, Memento is a rather difficult film to keep up with. You will either stick with it and experience one of my favourite movies I have seen, or you will deem it too complicated and give up. I would highly recommend the former, as it really does all come together very nicely towards the end.

Verdict

Memento is a daring attempt at creating a very unique movie which still manages to tell an interesting and deep story. In my opinion, it succeeds completely, allowing for a movie experience which will stick with you for a long time, almost solely because there is very little at all like it.    9/10

"Can I believe that when I close my eyes, 

the world is still there?"