Memento (2000)

Genre

Neo-noir | Thriller

Director

Christopher Nolan

Country

United States

Cast

Guy Pearce, Carrie-Anne Moss, Joe Pantoliano, Mark Boone Junior, Stephen Tobolowsky, Harriet Sansom Harris, Callum Keith Rennie, Larry Holden, Jorja Fox, Thomas Lennon

Plot

Leonard Shelby (Guy Pearce) is a man who is struggling to put his life back together after the brutal rape and murder of his wife. But Leonard's problems are different from those of most people in his situation; he was beaten severely by the same man who killed his wife and his short-term memory has been destroyed.

Incapable of retaining any new information, Leonard resort to copious note-taking and Polaroid photographs in order to keep track of what happens to him over the course of a day (he's even tattooed himself with a few crucial bits of information he can't get along without): he wants to find and kill the man who raped and murdered his wife.

Opinion

The complicated, twisted and involving plot makes of Memento a really interesting film. Director Christopher Nolan did a great job, although the ending was kinda rushed. 

The film editing is a mix of genius and spectacularity: the reverse chronological order makes us, viewers, feel lost as Leonard, since  we have no idea of what happened before. The main topic - the need of having a purpose in life - is common to almost all men, and, as seen on the film, often happiness is not in achieving it but in the steps you take to achieve the purpose.

Guy Pearce gives a brilliant and incredible performance, indelible as much as the tattoo ink covering his body.

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Quotes

Leonard Shelby: I have to believe in a world outside my own mind. I have to believe that my actions still have meaning, even if I can't remember them. I have to believe that when my eyes are closed, the world's still there. Do I believe the world's still there? Is it still out there?... Yeah. We all need mirrors to remind ourselves who we are. I'm no different.

Leonard Shelby: Memory can change the shape of a room; it can change the color of a car. And memories can be distorted. They're just an interpretation, they're not a record, and they're irrelevant if you have the facts.

Leonard Shelby: We all need mirrors to remind ourselves who we are. I'm no different.

Leonard Shelby: We all lie to ourselves to be happy.

Rating

9.5/10