A much talked about movie of 2001, whose DVD I finally got hold off, Memento is an ingenious movie that uses a pretty feeble trick to get your attention-and yet does it well enough to leave you satisfied.
The film, simply put, moves backwards…events start from the murder by a man seeking vengeance for the life of his wife. The reason for the murder progresses in short five-minute spells where a chain of Cause-Effect is built
The twist in the tale is that the movie offers a highly engaging reason for this treatment-the murderer has a certain “condition” where his memory is restricted to only the long term ones-i.e. He Cannot form new memories
So while he can remember his name, childhood, wife’s name etc till the point where she was murdered…his life is a gaping blank after that.
“If I talk to you too long I’ll not be able to say how we started. The next time we meet I’ll think we are meeting for the first time. Wait a minute… haven’t I told you all this before?”
These lines also happen to be the plot!
Our hero trains himself to rely on instinct instead of memory. A collage of scribbled notes, photographs and body tattoos are his only strongholds onto reality and the world around him.
The interesting part is the same notes, photos with footnotes and body art are the only things the viewer is offered too to get to grips with what’s happening on screen.
The plot twists and turns backwards and furnishes a few predictable, a few engaging revelations as it traces a route to the ultimate source for all the mess on display
A film noire feel pervades the movie, as new characters keep popping in and out and the good –old feeling of trust no-one flows through and through
The murky mind of a memory less man full of self-delusions is maintained through out by a brilliant visual treatment (an illustrated man-full of tattoos that tell him the “Facts”, a chart full of events in his life with appropriate photographs and road maps attached etc)-offering all the mementoes of his past centre-stage and THIS elevates Memento over its mediocre contemporaries
The versatile Guy Pearce is convincing as the befuddled hero-yet the performance would have made a far greater impact if he had chosen to exaggerate it a bit like a theatre actor-than understate it like a movie star
Memento lowers itself a notch by trying to tie up all ends-which it ought to have realised is not a basic requisite in film noire
(I cite The Bogart-Bacall classic ‘Big Sleep’, which had atleast three unexplained murders in the end, along with other such stuff.
Yet, people were too busy getting enthralled by its stars, style and slickness, that no one was complaining!)
The end furnished is a bit predictable and unsatisfactory!
All said and done, the movie does keep one glued to it, mesmerised for a full 2 hours and that Deserves four stars!
(P.S. If you watch it on DVD have fun watching the movie presented backwards (i.e. Straight!) through news clips and photographs-Interesting!)