Puzzle Piecing

Rating: 9/10 (15 November 2000)

You find yourself in a dimly lit room. You're unsure whether you've been here for just 15 minutes or for weeks. Then the lights come up. Everything seems to be running backwards. Liquid drips up the wall. This scenario seems vaguely familiar. You feel like you might have been here before. But you're not quite sure. You have the vague feeling that you might be watching a movie.
The disjointed story line of "Memento" places the viewer in the same uncertain mental space as the protagonist. As each scene opens you are uncertain whether this place should be familiar. How long has this been going on?
Even at the end the facts aren't stable. They are open to interpretation. You piece the puzzle together in the way that makes the most sense even though your senses are ultimately unreliable.
This film offers an effective metaphor for the act of watching film. You find yourself in the dark, piecing together a memory in images.