Memento: Christopher Nolan's Masterpiece

Rating: 10/10 (2 May 2012)

What can I say. From one of the most intelligent directors of our time comes one of the most thought-provoking and ambiguous films of all time. A man who has lost the ability to create short-term memories seeks the person who raped and murdered his wife. Armed only with the tattoos on his body (as a way of reminding him who he is and details about the murderer) and a pistol, he stakes out a town with the help of his friend Teddy, searching for the mysterious John or James G. While the plot may sound a bit traditional, the presentation is anything but. The story is essentially told in reverse, in order to imitate the feeling of short-term memory loss. While there are little snippets here and there that are told in forward motion, that is only for the sake of continuity when the character reveals his background. Everything else is told in reverse. For most of the movie, you are lost, like this man, caught in a perpetual state of disbelief and confusion. However, as the forward clips and the reverse clips intersect, the story comes together completely. For a movie that ends with what is technically the middle, it has an unbelievable twist. The dialogue is thought-provoking and clever, the direction is flawless, and Guy Pearce gives, in my opinion, his best performance ever. Go and see Memento