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New Century of Cinema
DOWSE Guide to the
Movies
by Tony Lee editor of
Pigasus
Press
Memento
113 minutes (15) aspect ratio 2.25:1
Director: Christopher Nolan
review by Gary Couzens
Writing a plot synopsis of Memento is more difficult than it would be for most
films. Not so much that I have to be careful of plot spoilers (which of course I will
be), but because of the film's unusual structure. Its central character, Leonard Shelby
(Guy Pearce) survived a violent attack that resulted in the rape and murder of his
wife, but due to a head injury, he has no short-term memory. He can easily forget that
he has met someone before, and five minutes into a conversation he has lost the start
of it. He survives by notes he makes, writing on the backs of Polaroids, even tattoos
on his own body. He vows revenge on his wife's murderer.
The film is told in two timelines, one (in colour) proceeding in reverse
order, the other (in sepia) in conventional chronology. The two lines meet in the
middle, at the end of the film. Two other characters, Teddy (a nicely shifty turn from
Joe Pantoliano) and Natalie (Carrie-Anne Moss), as the film progresses turn out to be
not what they seemed (or will seem) at first. And that's all I'm going to tell you
about the plot.
There's food for thought here: how much of Leonard's identity is determined
by his memory. And how can we trust our memories, because as this film shows, they can
be falsified? In many ways, Memento is a latter-day noir, with a hero (Leonard)
driven by forces he cannot control, and with a maybe-femme-fatale in the person of
Natalie. Time, and repeated viewings, will show if this film is more than a very clever
box of tricks. But it's certainly intriguing, and a promising second feature (his first
being the low-budget Following) for British director Nolan.
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