Memento
Rating: 5/5
By: Nathaniel Simpson
With Memento only being Christoper Nolan's second feature-length film, it should serve as a testament for the kind of filmmaker Nolan was going to become. While it is still a formative time for Nolan to really discover the kind of voice he wants to have in the filmmaking world, he totally changed the game of what a thriller movie could look like. Nolan does a fantastic job of crafting this non-linear narrative that will have the viewers guessing what will happen next and keep them on their toes, even during rewatches. It is awe-inspiring to consider the fact that Nolan was able to make this film when he did, crafting a picture that could arguably be better than other films that directors are making at this age, especially having perhaps a career-best performance from Guy Pearce.
The film follows Pearce's Leonard Shelby, a man who suffers from anterograde amnesia, which forces him to forget things that happens in minutes. He has this condition due to a brutal attack on both him and his wife, which left her dead after being brutally raped. Now only being able to remember everything before and during the attack, he starts to take whatever means necessary to hunt down his wife's killer and avenge his wife.
What I think I love most about this film is how it has us, as the viewer, guessing til the very end. We are placed in Leonard's shoes in a way, constantly wondering what happened to his wife and who would do this. At the same time, there are a string of characters, such as the eccentric Teddy (Joe Pantoliano) and the seductive Natalie (Carrie-Anne Moss) who enter his life and make his search for this missing killer even that much harder. Nolan, who pens this screenplay based off a story by his brother Jonathan Nolan, does a fantastic job of keeping us on this confusing journey to find the man responsible for Leonard's condition and his wife's death.
Nolan shows the audience what he was capable of early on in his career, by telling this story in a very unique, non-linear format. He tells this story from end to beginning, utilizing black-and-white film and color to distinguish the two different formats of storytelling. With these two different formats, he intertwines the story together to make it incredibly coherent for the audience, a feat that is perhaps incredibly difficult. This alone gives this film its five-star rating, and I applaud Nolan for being able to bring these complex ideas together in a way that is accessible for audiences. In terms of the story elements, Nolan keeps you hooked and engaged from beginning to end, making the audience care so deeply about Leonard despite us knowing who he was in the past.
I think the reason Leonard works so well is also attributed to Pearce's fantastic performance. From the voice-over to him trying to remember everything that is going on when it feels impossible to him recounting the story of his client Sammy (Stephen Tobolowsky) and his amnesia, Pearce simply fits this role perfectly. This is one of those performances that leaves you speechless when the movie ends, and I genuinely can't imagine anyone else playing this part. Pearce is fantastic at being able to completely forget what just happened and move on like nothing; this film really does a wonderful job of showcasing Pearce's acting chops. At the same time, the other actors present in this movie do a great job of complementing Pearce. I don't want to give too much away, but most of them have their own personal reasons for doing what they do in this film, and when they are finally revealed, the performances from these actors make it feel like so much more of a gut punch.
It makes me wonder that in 2000, when this film came out, did audiences have an inkling of what Nolan would become and how important he would be to the filmmaking world? This film was just the start of a filmmaking genius, and this movie proves what Nolan has to offer. While this was still a formative time for him and he has gone on to craft much higher-scale movies and really find his voice in this art form, this is a fantastic start to his career, and a movie that still holds up over twenty-five years later.
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