Memento is a unique film in many regards

Rating: 9/10 (24 March 2003)

'Memento' is edited in a way unlike any other movie I have seen. The story in the film is played out backwards in time; this break in the linear timeline of the film is similar to that of 'Last Year At Marienbad'. As you watch the show, you will see about 15 minutes of the story, then it will cut to a scene about 15 minutes before the start of the last segment you saw. So, to try and explain it more clearly, its like if all the scenes in the movies are played in the reverse order (so, instead of going from scene A to scene B, 'Memento' shows the scenes from scene Z to scene Y). This style forces you pay attention to what you have just seen, and remember it. Doing the film this way changes the show into more of a puzzle, a puzzle that you figure out over time. The effect of the movie as a whole is that it causes you to question your own memories (since Leonard Shelby, played by Guy Pearce, does not have the ability to form new short term memories), you question what it would be like if you could not create new short-term memories. For that matter, this film raises the question of if you can trust your own memories (did you really ever go to the store, or do you just think you went to the store?) Personally, this show caused me to considered what it would be like if I could not trust any empirical information or knowledge. Because of how different this film is, and how it forces you to think while you watch it (unlike most movies today), I enjoyed 'Memento' very much.