I recently watched underground, indie film director Christopher Nolan’s Memento (2000) for the first time. This was also the first Nolan film I had ever seen. I was familiar with his work, of course, but I’m not that big into Hollywood blockbusters. Memento, however, was one of his first movies, so the budget was lower and it didn’t feel nearly as Hollywood-overproduced. I like psychological thrillers a lot–Silence of the Lambs, Perfect Blue, even The Sixth Sense. I am a fan of the genre, so Memento seemed like the next mind-bending flick to watch.
If you haven’t seen it, it’s about a guy who can’t form any new memories embarking on a quest to find and kill the man who murdered his wife. That’s the barebones description of it, anyway. Spoilers ahead, by the way–if you haven’t seen the movie, read a different article, there are PLENTY to choose from!! Anyway, the movie is backwards–as it progresses, we gain more context and learn more information about the main character–Leonard’s–overall situation. He remembers everything up until his wife’s death, but during the attack he suffered a head injury that rendered him incapable of forming any new memories. To combat this, he leaves himself notes, takes a bunch of polaroid pictures, and has even resorted to tattooing important information onto his body as a way to permanently remind himself of certain things. From the beginning, the movie really doesn’t tell you anything. I’m not the most perceptive person, either, so I feel like I might have been extra slow to understand–I was very confused. But the pieces start to fit together, and things slowly start to make more sense. You eventually find out that the whole quest that Leonard has been pursuing was completely fabricated by himself, and due to his memory loss, he is able to convince himself that he needs to kill his wife’s attacker, even though he already killed him a year prior. Keep in mind, this is a grossly simplified version of the story–I recommend watching the movie itself for the best experience. DON’T just read the Wikipedia plot summary, either. That’s lame.
When I finished the movie, I was unsure of whether or not I liked it, but this is often the case with me. I usually need to sit on a film for at least a day before forming a proper opinion on it. I came to the conclusion, though, that I did enjoy it! The writing and acting is actually pretty goofy, which upped the slight camp factor–something that I did not know Christopher Nolan had previously been capable of. Unintentional camp is arguably the best type of camp–it sheds all irony.
Anyway, I’d give Memento a good 4 stars out of 5. It was fun, and I recommend it if you’re looking for something thrilling (and pretty confusing).