memento review

Rating: 10/10 (1 June 2011)

When 'Memento' first released in 2000, there was an immediate hype around the movie. The movie wasn't just popular because of the quality of the movie, but especially because it was a film that was different from all the other films.
Memento is film that is based on a character called Leonard Shelby (which is played by Guy Pearce), who used to earn his money as a detective for an insurance company. He can't do this anymore since he got a strange form of amnesia when his wife was murdered. He remembers everything from before the murder of his wife, but now he can't remember everything longer than 15 minutes. Every 15 minutes he wakes up again, without knowing where he is and why. He does know about his own condition and so he tries to deal with it. Because of his condition he isn't really able to find the murderer of his wife, but he still tries. To help him in this quest he has tattoos all over his body, which contain hints and clues.
The thing that makes 'Memento' so special is the structure of the movie. Nolan tells the story backwards in which he starts with Leonard dealing with the murderer of his wife (Joe Pantoliana). Then the story is flashed back to the beginning. This is done in segments of about ten minutes. In between these segments, there are also the black-and-white sequences in which Leonard is seen in his motel room having a conversation, with god-knows-who, and telling a story about the past when he still worked for the insurance company. These sequences are chronological.
The most thrilling thing about this movie is the fact that you don't have a clue of what is going on until the movie is finished. This gives the viewer a lot of suspense and tension while watching and also makes it more ambiguous than watching an ordinary thriller. If you aren't a patient person and you don't like to pay a lot of attention while watching a movie this is not the right movie for you. The fact that Leonard had a form of amnesia makes him forget everything he has done. Each scene starts with the last part of the previous scene so you see some parts of the movie double. The fact that this is repeated is crucial though because it helps you understand the movie a lot better. This movie is very interesting and well put together. The order of the movie is very confusing but it interacts with the audience a lot. The viewers really need to ''puzzle'' all the scenes of the movie to form a coherent storyline. We thought the movie was very confusing at first but when the movie ended everything fell into place. After the movie is done you will be still confused for what happened earlier but also surprised. Guy Pierce did a wonderful acting job and you will be dragged into the movie as soon as he starts his story. The plot is very simple but the fact that the chronological order very different compared to other movies makes the movie that challenging.
We came to the conclusion this movie is not made for people who just want to have relaxing evening and watch a movie without really paying attention. This movie will confuse you and make you an investigator. We did find this amusing and very interesting to watch but we would understand why people wouldn't like this movie. People who enjoy challenging movies should definitely watch memento. This movie was well developed, had some wonderful performances, a clever structure and is very original.