"Memories...they're just an interpretation, not a record"

Rating: 10/10 (6 January 2015)

The most common criticism of this film is that it's "hard to follow" or "too unconventional." Well, that's exactly the point! The movie is intended to disorient the audience so that we feel the way the protagonist (Guy Pearce) feels with his short-term memory condition. After the opening of the film, it works its way backwards to show how we got to this point. Slowly, the entire plot is shown in flashbacks that reflect the character's 15-minute memory. There is also another "timeline" shot in black in white that happens in chronological order, a true showcase of Nolan's skill as a director. We learn that his wife was killed in a break-in that left him with a head injury leaving his long-term memory intact but unable to make "new" memories. He is bent on catching his wife's killer, which proves to be a difficult task given his condition. Before his memory resets, he takes annotated Polaroid's and tattoos himself with clues to which he is after, and what his situation is. However, this allows for him to be manipulated by those around him, and even himself. In his mostly positive review of the film, Roger Ebert seemed to discover a huge plot hole. How does he remember that he was short-term memory loss if the last thing he remembers is his wife's death? That seems like a legitimate observation that should discredit the film's cleverness. However, his memory of this is triggered by a tattoo on his hand of the name of another man (who becomes very important later) who had the same condition. Anyway where was I? Oh! "Memento" is a brilliant, mind-mending film that works both as a thriller and a psychological drama. It will undoubtedly receive very different interpretations from viewer to viewer (just like memories in real life). As the protagonist says: "memories...they're just an interpretation, they're not a record."