"Fact may be Stranger than Fiction." (Part 2 of 2)

Rating: 1/10 (20 March 2002)

In Part 1 of my commentary(posted earlier in IMDB), I wrote that "Memento" almost fulfilled its ambition of "not only being a film with A Beautiful Mind(pun intended), but also one with A Beautiful Heart(ditto)."

And I stressed on the word, "almost".
In this concluding part of my commentary on this film, I shall proceed to explain my position in making that statement(as promised).
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NOTE:
PLEASE STOP READING NOW IF YOU HAVEN'T SEEN THE FILM BUT INTEND TO. IT IS NEVER MY POLICY TO REVEAL PLOT TWISTS AS IT IS PLAIN EVIL TO DO SO. AS I AM NOT SURE WHETHER WHATEVER I REVEAL BELOW WILL OR WILL NOT SPOIL YOUR ENJOYMENT OF THE FILM, YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED.
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Not wanting to reveal major plot revelation for this mind-altering plot twister, I can only say that this "ALMOST" aspect of the film meant the difference between it becoming my all time No.1 favourite film to just one I respected for its sheer ingenuity.
What truly bothered me about the film, especially after repeat viewing was the dubious intention of the writer/ director(Christopher Nolan I presume).

At first the film looked and felt like its predecessor(e.g. The Usual Suspects, Shallow Grave etc) - smart, intellectual and armed with a modern day cynicism. It maintains a respectful emotional distance from its audience as this is ethical(don't ask me why) and a reasonable price for being the uber-cool pic that it is. Memento would thus have been fantastic if it stayed that way.
But Nolan got greedy, he misrepresented the film with hints that it could be more than the sum of its parts, that it could transcend its genre origins and segue into a realm of cinema reserved by a select few films(e.g. "Magnolia", "Dancer in the Dark"). A film which demanded not only intellectual subscription but a level of emotional investment or even wild abandonment that ensure people like me will embrace it fully, should the investment pay off.
I got hooked by this heightened anticipation and was almost ready to kiss the feet of Mr Nolan by film's half-time. However, the way he chose to end the film rubbed me the wrong way in more ways than I care to describe. At the last minute, he chose to cling on to his "uber-cool film" safety net, suddenly distancing itself from the emotional guise built up throughout the film.
The final revelation? The joke is on me. The audience were being talked down at and made fun of for having feelings, for showing empathy, for being human. There is nothing clever in that.
There goes, this may be my longest piece ever for "a film I struggled to love but may never". Its been months since I last saw Memento. With each passing day, I hold "Memento" in higher esteem as an visionary film from a cinematic standpoint. But with each passing day, I become increasingly disappointed with its sinister agenda of tainting all values that I hold true.
Alas, this to me is thus, "The film that could have been".