Memento review — gritty, thrilling, and thought-provoking

 ☆☆☆☆☆

Leonard Shelby (Guy Pearce), a former insurance investigator, is tracking down the man who raped and murdered his wife (Jorja Fox) with the help of Teddy (Joe Pantoliano) and Natalie (Carrie-Anne Moss). However, Leonard suffers from anterograde amnesia, meaning he has short-term memory loss and cannot remember anything from after the accident. Therefore, he completely relies on Polaroids he's taken and the tattoo memos covering his body.

Spoilers ahead.

I honestly think I need to watch this movie a few more times just to properly process anything. Christopher Nolan's 2000 neo-noir directorial breakout film, Memento (based on Christopher Nolan's brother Jonathan's short story Memento Mori), absolutely lives up to the hype I've always seen about it. And yes, this was the first time I've ever seen it. I figured it was an obligatory watch for anybody who loves cinema (which, mind you, it absolutely is). I knew the basic summary and a few actors and that's it. I think that's the best way to go into this movie, even if it causes some extreme confusion for the first few minutes.

First, I need to talk about the timeline. Memento's narrative structure is non-linear; it goes backwards and forwards at the same time, intertwined amongst each other and depicted through the use of colouring. Where it starts at the end (where Leonard kills Teddy) and goes in reverse-chronological order, it's in colour. Where it starts at the beginning (where Leonard's on a phone call, talking to someone about his condition and Sammy Jankis) and goes chronologically, it's in black and white. This stylised approach to the narrative structure is part of what makes this film so damn interesting.

The central ideology of the film itself is that truth and memory are fragile to deception, and we as humans are capable of deceiving ourselves to fit our own narratives. We are all guilty of some form of confirmation bias. Leonard, as a narrator, is wholly unreliable, as is every character. He lies to himself about John G. to fulfil a sense of purpose and meaning in his cyclical revenge and violence. He lies to himself and allows his fading memories to get twisted just so it can suit him. Lessens the guilt. It's understandable in a way. This idea rises throughout the movie until the climax, where his whole "remember Sammy Jankis" schtick really reflects his own past that he chooses to ignore.

Those around him take advantage of his fleeting memory and trauma; Natalie calls Leonard a retard and his wife a whore, being met with Leonard's physical violence, only for her to claim the blood and bruises were from Dodd to enact her own revenge once the outburst has left Leonard's "present", thus maintaining the constant of violence throughout the film. Teddy does similar, using Leonard for his own gain in a sense.

Leonard has no sense of self. Personal identity is such a prevalent theme. Leonard could tell anyone that his name was Leonard Shelby, that he was from San Francisco, that his wife was dead and that he has this condition— but there is no personal identity in that. That's not who he is at the present moment. His amnesia causes a loss of the self as memory is so deeply interlinked with identity. Without it, there's nothing.

Nolan's Memento (2000) is a profound, well-crafted insight into trauma, memory, personal identity, the nature of "truth", and self-deception for personal gain and the illusion of control over one's life that will more than likely leave you as confused as the amnesiac protagonist. If not a little more so.