Leonard, the central figure, played by Guy Pearce, is a mystery even to himself. Expensively-suited, driving a chic sports car, yet living precariously in seedy motels, he seems to be on a desperate quest to find his wife's killer and avenge her death. He is also up against a rare form of amnesia which makes it difficult for him to remember what has happened to him in the immediate past, although he can recall his earlier life. In order to keep track of where he is and what he is doing he surrounds himself with reminders, and even uses his body as if it were a giant note pad. On his limbs and torso he has indelibly etched messages designed to jolt his deficient memory cells, but which serve only to magnify the enigma.
Nothing is what it seems.
Characters he has trusted turn out to be duplicitous, those who seemed dangerous could well be friends. With more than a nod to Raymond Chandler, Porter plays Jill Fitzpatrick, a street-smart out of work private detective who takes on a job investigating the disapearance of Mickey, a young female poetry student. Jill is soon hurled into a passionate and risky liaison with Diana, who takes her into the surprisingly seamy underworld of poetry. It s a heady time, the Belle Epoque and Moulin Rouge, the district s most outrageous and popular music hall, is doing a roaring trade. High on absinthe and opium, the clientele take in a nightly show - a kaleidoscopic mix of colour, Can Can dancing and courtesans.