Innovation meets Excellence in Nolan's daring first film

Rating: 10/10 (17 November 2015)

(I am primarily reviewing this right now because I heard the film rights of 'Memento' have been bought and a remake is in production. In summation, there is no need to remake that which is perfect.)
Christopher Nolan is a director that has become far too popular for his own good. After making the landmark film 'The Dark Knight' he essentially doomed the rest of his career to be compared to this film. He became so popular that hating him seems to be 'the cool thing to do' now because whenever something is popular, it inevitably gets backlash.
I would like to take you back to 2000. Forget everything you know about this director, his work, and Hollywood. I am a fan of Nolan but disregard this as I write this review, because anyone who likes his work is flagged as being a 'fanboy/fangirl' and the sheer amount of stupidity that it takes to assume that I would like a film because of whoever's name is on it is so incredibly vapid and idiotic that I might have an aneurysm.
So anyway, Memento is about as close to 'perfection' as you can get.
The less is said about the film's plot the better, if you haven't been alerted as to this movie's ending you should stop reading this and watch the film right now. Cherish the element of surprise. In a nutshell, it is about a man who cannot form short-term memories. He is also attempting to solve his wife's murder, and has a very... unique way of keeping track of everything that he can't remember. The story shows him going through various locations and people that may or may not be leading him the right direction, as well as helping some people with their own issues. Also, the story is played in reverse chronological order AND chronological order, Black and White scenes are in order, color scenes are reversed.
This simple and ingenious idea not only lets us see this story in a unique way, but lets us see it in the way the protagonist sees it. Its confusing, its difficult to decipher, but thats the point, we feel the same way he does. We understand him. But like him, as the mystery of the film unravels, the mystery that IS the film unravels as well.
From a technical point of view the film is incredible. Interesting to see how talented Nolan was with a camera even back then, the shots are beautifully composed, the editing is absolutely phenomenal at conveying both the confusion and the understanding that you and the protagonist go though, and the acting is stellar. Guy Pearce is phenomenal, having to change his emotions and overall state on the fly in every scene is impressive, but the sheer skill he has of reading his more expository lines with such confidence makes me wonder why I don't see him in films more often. I can't decide whether or not this or LA Confidential is his best performance. Carrie Anne Moss also does a phenomenal job, and every other actor, while briefly in the film, plays their part very well, as set-pieces that we go through to uncover the mystery.
The amount of detail and film devices Nolan employs is borderline absurd. Not only do you want to watch the film over and over to understand the chronology, but also the MEANING of everything. There are so many things in the dialogue, the shots, the foreground and background, that allude to elements of the plot, Nolan rewards those who look carefully.
Memento, as a film, is a wonderful experience and an absolute required for any fan of mysteries, as well as good cinema in general. While I love the vast majority of his work, I still believe Memento is his 'best' film. It did something daring to make an already captivating and heartbreaking story more interesting, and the best part is, the way he does it is purely through film. This movie could not have been accomplished in any other medium. Had anyone else made it, it simply wouldn't have been as good.
This, Hollywood, is why this film should not be remade. Even if the remake is good, it would be ultimately redundant. You can't fix what ain't broken, and Memento ain't broken.