In the great tradition of Hollywood’s mystery thrillers comes Christopher Nolan’s “Memento” a mind-bending jigsaw puzzle where neither the audience nor the characters can be quite sure what constitutes reality. It’s a kind of film that challenges its viewers and gives them plenty to ponder about even after the credits roll, the lights go off and they reach the parking lot. This is no film for lazy viewers who are in the theaters just for escapism but it’s one for attention seeking viewers who nitpicks in to every detail and tries to find out every single thing that’s unravels in it. The film has a deliberately loose structure (they call it the nonlinear) and the story is told through multiple voice-overs and points of view, you know kind of shifting back and forth methodology.
To describe the plot is to invite spoilers but let me lay out the basics for you -- Guy Pearce’s plays Leonard, an ex insurance investigator suffering from short-term memory loss and one who devotes his life in quest (and vengeance) for finding the person whom he believes to be responsible for the raping and murdering his wife. Wait. I’ll make it easy for you – Imagine Aamir Khan’s Ghajini with the weight and presence of a super smart, psychological neo-noir thriller.
Screenplay of Memento is presented as two different sequences (multilayered) where one sequence is black and white and the other is colored. Black and white sequences are shown chromatically and the colored is shown in reverse order and the two sequences meet at the end of the film producing one common story -- Note: I had to see it two times to figure it out.
The movie first previewed in the prestigious Sundance film festival in 2000 and director described it as a heady mixture of Tarantino’s pulp fiction and Bryan Singer’s usual suspects with the weight and presence of a spooky comic element. I agree with him -- Memento has similarities to both those movies. I think its pulp fiction because it defies the conventional storytelling format and usual suspects because it’s an astonishing feat of rug pulling suspense.
Director Nolan, who made his debut with that super brief mystery thriller i.e., 1999’s following, goes one-step ahead with memento by breaking the conventional storytelling format by beginning with the ending first and narrates the story going mostly backwards. Hitchcock is probably the first director to do such an experiment with his uncut narrative in Rope starring Jimmy Stewart and Nolan here goes one-step further, leaps in to the wild blue ocean and dares us to leap with him with this wickedly entertaining and diabolically absorbing masterpiece.
Catching the film the first time I knew I had to see it once again and it played different notes and nuances the second time. What’s impressive is the performances by Guy Pearce, Carrie-Ann moss and Joe Pantoliano create an emotional reality even with all the confusion swirling around them. It’s like a realistic movie exists in-side the other stuff.
The two overlooked assets of this film are Wally P’fister’s nifty camera work and Dody Dorn’s shrewd editing. There are so many expertly edited sequences in this film that merits that overused term : AWESOME. My favorite is that killer opening scene which involves a murder and a Polaroid photo of the body. Then Nolan runs everything backwards. The photo slips backwards in to the camera, the bullet is sucked back in to the gun barrel and the protagonist starts living in reverse mode. It’s one of the most audacious opening sequences I’ve ever seen in a motion picture since Francis Ford Coppola’s Apocalypse Now.
I like Nolan’s Dark Knight and Inception more than I liked Memento but I must admit this movie holds a special place in my heart as well. Because it’s a sort of film, like David Lean’s Subversive thriller from the 80’s “Blue Velvet” that makes you wonder what is narrative and storytelling in films..? Is it everything..? And if so is there only one way to handle it..?? The movie is a commendable achievement in off-beat cinema especially taking in to account the gigantic task of clubbing two different narratives to form one common story. I’m going with 5 out of 5 with a recommendation not to miss Christopher Nolan’s Memento. It’s that sort of film -- A mind-bending jigsaw puzzle that demands you trust no one. For me Christopher Nolan’s film is an emotional equivalent of observing Hitchcock walk backwards.