We all need some semblance of order in our lives, an element of control, a stabilising force that our fully-formed minds allow us. We don't question our "normalcy", we view life one step at a time, taking it all for granted, memories, our loved ones, our past, our future. Mental disability is a terrifying notion, something that can strip away each layer of a human life like a flesh-eating virus, stealing a vital element of what it is to be alive. Debuting director, Christopher Nolan has taken this idea and created an ingenious, nightmarish film, the kind of which will positively stay with you well after the closing credits.
Leonard Shelby's wife has been murdered and he wants revenge. His life turns into an obsessed quest to find his wife's killer. When your average movie detective takes a case, he finds suspects, "interviews" them, putting it all together piece by piece in a most logical manner, but Leonard Shelby is far from an average movie detective. Unlike these popular Hollywood archetypes, he has one major disadvantage: a severely short-term memory. He meets people, talks to them, makes progress, he blinks and it's all quickly forgotten, his life lived out in ten minute portions. He is no stranger to this unfortunate condition, (brought on by a vicious attack from the same man who killed his wife) relating the story of Sammy Jenkis throughout the movie, a man he had come into contact with in his prior life as an insurance investigator. Despite this obvious hindrance, Leonard presses on, keeping methodical notes before he forgets once more. He is also helped by two potentially suspicious characters, who, it becomes apparent may very well have their own reasons for being so generous with their time.
Leonard is a man for whom nothing is real. His life can no longer be called a life, now devoid of any real emotion or substance, lived only on pure instinct. No matter how many times his memory is wiped, he can still remember the happier days when his wife was alive, "mementoes" he clings onto dearly. Although he tries to keep aware of the goings-on around him, he is very much reliant on the "kindness of strangers" something that is almost non-existent in the world around him. Memento is very much a psychological horror film, playing as it does with our concept of reality, creating an intimate portrayal of a man essentially bereft of humanity. It draws the viewer into this strange existence, while keeping him/her very much at arm's length, still very much a spectator.
The backward narrative is a stroke of genius, beginning with what should be the last frame of the film, Leonard's well-deserved revenge and then spiralling ever "onward" through the past, creating more tension than your average linear film. This unique approach necessitates complete concentration as the pieces of this very skewered jigsaw puzzle fall into place, the segmented progression at times slightly difficult to keep track of. Each of these segments starts suddenly, throwing the audience into a completely new situation, keeping them thoroughly on the edge of their seats until the next "chapter" opens up, explaining exactly what has gone before.
Guy Pierce holds it all together amazingly while laboured with a unique, potentially frustrating character, someone who must continually start over time and again. Each time he does, your sympathy and patience is with him as the mystery is slowly but surely explained. Guy Pierce basically epitomises the old ideal of "everyone has to start somewhere" coming up from the obscure ranks of Australian soap opera to prove a very talented actor. After LA Confidential, his career trajectory has gone somewhat off course, his choice of follow-up film, William Friedkin's abysmal Rules of Engagement doing him no favours. He really is an actor who deserves a career and I hope it continues at a pace after his superlative work here. In support Carrie-Ann Moss and Joe Pantoliano, Trinity and Cipher from The Matrix are reunited playing characters they know so well. They are actors who fit the film noir mode perfectly, neither is particularly definable, their presence permanently filled with a certain unease.
At the end of the day, Memento is one of the best movies this year, a challenging, engrossing and above all, original film. With its serpentine plot, a second viewing is most certainly required a la Fight Club and The Sixth Sense, indeed this movie would utilise DVD perfectly and should make an intriguing watch winding back through the disc, creating a more traditional if less-satisfying film. If like me you are tired of the typical mainstream fare and like the idea of being challenged by a movie, Memento is a must.
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