Lucas
Versantvoort / 15 September 2014
Memento was only director Christopher Nolan’s second full-length feature film,
but holy shit, is this ever a classic. I’m of the relatively rare opinion – at
least if imdb ratings are anything to go by – that this is Nolan’s best film to date. Despite his popular output, this
film wins in terms of pure originality.
Memento is based on a short story – Memento Mori – written by Nolan’s brother, Jonathan Nolan. There
are similarities (the dead wife, the amnesia) between the story and the film,
but whereas the short story seems to function as an essay on concepts of
amnesia and time, Christopher Nolan adapted these ideas in the form of a
thriller, though it’s anything but straightforward…literally. Leonard (Guy Pearce)
suffers from Anterograde Amnesia which means he cannot form new memories.
Basically, it’s short-term memory loss. He’ll be aware of who he is and where
he is for about 15 minutes (30 if he’s lucky) after which he’ll blank out,
forget who he’s talking to, what he’s doing, etc. He’s been suffering from this
ever since his wife was raped and killed by two men in his home. He was able to
kill one of them that night, but received a blow to the head from the other, resulting
in his condition. His life since then has consisted of one thing: find the
second man and kill him. To combat his condition, he takes photographs of
important things in his life (his car, his motel) and has crucial information
tattooed on his body. He receives ‘assistance’ from two other characters during
his journey who may or may not have ulterior motives.
What’s impressive is that besides being a very well
made revenge thriller, the film also has plenty of time to ask the kind of philosophical
questions the short story asks: what is the point of revenge if Leonard will
forget he avenged his wife anyway? Do things like truth and facts apply to
Leonard’s condition, as in how can he truly know certain things for sure? How
does the concept of time apply to someone like Leonard? What kind of life is
there for Leonard besides avenging his wife? The film functions both as
thriller and commentary on the drama underlying Leonard’s condition.
In the end, what solidifies this film as a classic in
the thriller genre and modern cinema in its entirety is its structure. The film
has two types of scenes: color and black-and-white, and it constantly
alternates between these two types. Also, the B-W scenes are chronologically
correct (1-2-3), but the scenes in color are placed in reverse (Z-Y-X). Mind
you: the don’t literally play backwards, but are placed in reverse. So the
structure can be described as followed: Z-1-Y-2-X-3, etc.). This might sound
confusing, but it will make more and more sense as you watch it. One of the
best things about it, is that the beginning of one color scene is also the end
of the next color scene. So, you’re constantly struggling to remember what came
after, trying to connect the dots. The wonderful thing about it is that, like
Leonard, you are also struggling from (an (artificial sense of) short-term
memory loss, as you never know what came before. Many scenes begin with a
confused Leonard not knowing where he is, which is also the position the viewer
occupies (at least for first-time viewers). Crucially, instead of merely being
a story about amnesia in filmic form, the film succeeds greatly in utilizing the
possibilities of its own medium to great effect, by using editing to put the
audience in the position of someone suffering from short-term memory loss,
never really knowing what came before.
Claims about a plothole have been circulating the
internet. The question that has been asked multiple times is how Leonard is
able to know he has Anterograde Amnesia when he’s unable to create new
memories. I for one have no idea, but I guess we have to implicitly assume it’s
on one of his notes or tattoos. But honestly, when a thriller is so original
and downright exciting as Memento,
who even cares? Would you rather have a mediocre, factually correct thriller or
one with (maybe) one or two plotholes, but executed so well it actually does
what its genre says it should, thrill?
One made so well it made you leap out of your seat? Because that is exactly
what happened to me when I first watched it in my teens. I was so blown away
and ecstatic I had to pause it midway so I could run up to my parents and extol
to them the virtues of Memento. If
that doesn’t motivate you to watch it, then I don’t know what will.
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