Memento

Some people remember what they had for dinner, who they talked to, and what they were talking about. Others don’t, like Leonard Shelby, played by Guy Pearce who is suffering from short-term memory loss, remembering everything up until his accident, when his wife was killed and he was pushed into a mirror. Now, he can only remember things for short periods of time before he doesn’t know what he is doing, or what is going on. He has made it his sole mission to murder the person who killed his wife, making notes on his body in the form of tattoos, charts in his motel room, and taking Polaroid pictures of the people he needs to remember, as those things are triggering his memory.

This film has an interesting format, jumping around from the time before his accident, to the time after, using black and white or color shots to give the audience a sense of where they are in his life. Black and white scenes represent the past, while color scenes show the present. The movie also overlaps itself, showing what he is doing at the moment, and then flipping back to the past to reveal what he was doing before that. When the two scenes are put together, the audience then gets why he was talking to a certain character, or doing a certain thing.

With a small release the film wasn’t widely publicized, but the actors, along with the riveting plot made the film. The audience never knows what Leonard is doing, or what is going to do, if he will get his revenge, and what other people’s motives are.

Actors like Carrie-Anne Moss and Joe Pantoliano playing Natalie and Teddy, respectively, gave convincing performances when they needed to act affectionate or conniving. Guy Pearce also gave strong emotions during intense scenes when talking about his wife, or explaining his story and intent to murder.

Being a thriller with less blood and fighting and relying on the plot to make it good, I thoroughly enjoyed the movie. Others might not, seeing as this is a film you have to think about, in order to get what is going on.