Disturbing but Powerful Movie

Rating: 8/10 (23 March 2012)

Memento plays with our emotions using Leonard, as he often seems to be an emotional void with a very faint sense of hope that he will "solve" the murder of his wife. Eventually, the audience knows what has happened to her, and that people constantly try to tell him that her case has been solved, but Leonard knows nothing. He essentially sabotages his own mind in order to have that single, missing piece of the murder case continually hanging in the air, making for a very sad, desperate character for whom we feel great pity. The simplicity of the movie is also displayed here, in that the basic action of crossing out a few words means that Leonard must embark upon his desperate search again. He is deceitful to himself, and does not even know it - the audience is left with the mixed emotion of feeling sorry for Leonard, and being angry at him for double-crossing himself at every turn. We do not know what to think of him, meaning that such a character is a powerful tool. I remember that when I saw this in the cinema, certain parts amused the audience greatly, such as when Leonard found the empty bottle, without recalling why he was there in the bathroom, and thought, "I don't feel drunk....". I didn't find this funny at all, nor do I think Nolan was attempting to insert an element of comedy. I simply felt sorry for him, knowing that this is the continual path of his life. This reminds me somewhat of Shutter Island, just a hopeless ending to a good movie.