Memento
2000 Directed by Christopher Nolan
Synopsis
Some memories are best forgotten.
Suffering short-term memory loss after a head injury, Leonard Shelby embarks on a grim quest to find the lowlife who murdered his wife in this gritty, complex thriller that packs more knots than a hangman's noose. To carry out his plan, Shelby snaps Polaroids of people and places, jotting down contextual notes on the backs of photos to aid in his search and jog his memory. He even tattoos his own body in a desperate bid to remember.
Cast
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"Top 100 of all time selection"
"Top 50 Films of the 2000's Selection"
"Top 10 Films 2000 Selection""efiw ym deredrum dna depar .G nhoJ"
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I love it. I had not seen it since The Prestige first came out and it has only become more clear how great of a debut it is. There are stunningly modern neo-noir themes unmatched over a decade later. Memento still stands above all noir to come out since (not that there's many contenders). I find it hard to imagine a 21st century filmmaker who has even attempted to write something this dense with mystery. Take away the accomplishments of Tarantino, P.T. Anderson and maybe a few I can't find off the top of my head and I think Nolan is morphing a career richer than most filmmakers today. Now that he's done with superheros, it's really going to be a treat where he goes next.
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How well-developed must a story be to be able to tell it backwards? I'd say pretty well.
I can't specify what really caught me in this movie (I tend to only give 5 stars to films that I feel an exciting, intimate connection with), but it was just perfect from beginning to end. After the first five minutes, I was hooked and greedily staring at the screen. I wanted to know more. Guy Pearce's character - Lenny - is loveable and very easy to relate to. In fact, after giving it a thought or two, I decided that if the story was told in chronological order, he wouldn't be so likeable in my eyes, as at the end - or…
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After the awful experience I had rewatching Inception (review is here ) I felt the need to see if I still liked Memento.
I did. I even liked it better.
The argument surrounding this film will always be about the necessity of the shape it is moulded in. Does it need the topsy turvy narrative? Well, no. But it is marvellous to behold anyway.
The story in itself is rather simple and that's the main reason why the reversed chronology works. The drive the main character has is obvious and easy to relate to, which places us directly beside him, involving us in his quest.
The slow unravelling of the plot is fantastic in any order. It is just very…
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Up until today my favourite Nolan film would've been The Prestige but this re-watch has been quite an experience and I will gladly become part of the crowd that considers this his greatest achievement. Memento is a far more personal film than his big blockbusters, a fairly confined thriller with an interesting storytelling device that proves to have high rewatchability and if enough time has passed to be just as (or in my case even more) surprising and captivating as the last time around. Many years have passed and when I sat down to watch it I wasn't sure if it would hold up but it is so well-crafted and nuanced that it reveals itself more the more you see…
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Όταν το rottentomatoes "κλείνει" τα σχόλια σε κριτικές, γιατί έχουν φτάσει σε σημείο να απειλούνται ζωές, καταλαβαίνει κανείς ότι ο Nolan προκαλεί μία κάποια αναστάτωση. Πραγματικά, δεν μπόρεσα ποτέ να καταλάβω προς τι οι τόσο εκ διαμέτρου αντίθετες απόψεις. Από τη μία διαβάζει κανείς ότι μιλάμε για τον νέο Kubrick ή τον νέο Hitchcock κι από την άλλη για ταινίες βαρετές και χωρίς συνοχή.
Εγώ πάντα θα θυμάμαι τον έρωτα που είχα πάθει με το Memento, και τον παθαίνω κάθε φορά από την αρχή. Δεν με ενδιαφέρει τι λένε ούτε οι κριτικοί, ούτε οι ψυχωτικοί fans, -αν και όλα αυτά αφορούν περισσότερο την τριλογία ή/και το Inception- όταν γράφεις μια τέτοια neo noir ιστορία και είσαι ικανός να μου την…
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One of my favorite movies ever by my favorite director.
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Brilliantly executed given the complexity of how the film is assembled. The colour sequences moving backwards, the black and white forwards.
You have to keep up, but the stories good, and its easy to keep interesting.
Leonard's a unique character, all tattoos, confusion and anger.
I've not seen Guy Pearce in anything else, but you get the impression this isn't his comfort zone (I can't be sure) but he does the best he can, knowing he's doing a good job of it.
Meeting in the middle, you wonder where it's going to end up, but it gets to what is inevitable, and does it well. Worth a watch, go with it.
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Like a puzzle, this movie was amazingly fun to decipher the first viewing, but loses a lot of its charm the second time.
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nice
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OH. MY. GOD.
WHAT. A. FILM.
I don't think I'd be able to say anything meaningful about this film which hasn't been said a thousand times before, but I can now completely understand why Christopher Nolan has such a religious following. Mindblowing.
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Super interessante Erzählweise!
Man muss sich echt gut konzentrieren und sollte sich nicht ablenken lassen! Es lohnt sich! -
I'm pretty sure I'm not the first person to scream 'OH SHIT' at the big reveal.
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Original
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Completely mind boggling. Nolan's use of non-linear storytelling is superb, adding another layer onto an already compelling story. It presents us with different shades of the truth, leading us to an uneasy conclusion.