Memento

Released: March 16, 2001

Studio: Summit Entertainment, Team Todd, Newmarket

Genre: mystery/film noir

Box Office (numbers in millions):

Domestic: 25.54 Worldwide: 39.72

Adjusted for Inflation:

Domestic: -- Worldwide: --

Directing: Christopher Nolan

Screenwriting: Christopher Nolan

Starring: Guy Pearce, Carrie-Anne Moss, Joe Pantoliano, Mark Boone Junior

Review:

Once in awhile a movie comes along that reinvents the possibilities of what can be done with film. Memento, a neo-noir psychological thriller written and directed by Christopher Nolan, is one such film. Nolan would go on to fascinate audiences with Inception, deliver what some what call the ultimate super-hero film with The Dark Knight, and win a Best Director Oscar for the biopic Oppenheimer. However, it was Memento, his second film, that put him on the map.

Based on the short story “Memento Mori” by his brother Jonathan Nolan, Memento studies the life of Leonard Shelby (Pearce) and how he deals with anterograde amnesia, which causes short-term memory loss and leaves him unable to form new memories. In an effort to track down the man who raped and murdered his wife, he relies on photographs, tattoos, and notes to himself to try and keep track of details he would otherwise forget.

To put the viewer in the same state of confusion as Leonard, one of the film’s narratives is shown in reverse order, leaving the viewer always wondering what happened to lead up to those circumstances. The movie “was acclaimed by critics, who praised its nonlinear structure and themes of memory, perception, grief, and self-deception.” ^WK

Memento is a “stylish, well-produced and beautifully photographed film” ^IC that challenges the audience “to paint the picture.” ^IC Films such as this “require an investment by the audience.” ^IC “It’s a courageous idea that works brilliantly.” ^IC It