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Short independent reviews of both blockbusters and overlooked small movie masterpieces.

Memento

Posted by pantherion Labels: , , ,

Frankly, I am beginning to wonder why nobody reads this blog. There are a few possible answers, one of them being the so called 'niche appeal' of most of the films I am telling you (myself?) about. Well, I'm afraid that this will not change – why would I describe the movies I don't give a toss about or those everybody knows everything about already. I'll carry on writing about the ones that inspire me. So, dear children, today's topic is Memento, the debut feature of Christopher Nolan, who most recently has brought us a little-known kitchen-sink drama called The Dark Knight. While his first piece is not as good as his latest one, Memento is definitely still worth watching. It is a story of a guy (Guy Pearce, to be precise) looking for the killers of his wife. This description may sound like the film is not too original, but there is one twist. It is shot backwards – first we see the ending, then the chain of events that led to it, the beginning of the story being seen in the last few minutes of the feature. It is not just a gimmick, all this is very well determined by the plot and this device makes perfect sense. Actually, the film itself does too, but it may take a few viewings to fully grasp it. It requires constant focus and it is very rewarding when all the pieces of the puzzle match together. Better than crosswords.
7/10

1 comments:

  1. Vassago

    A striking thing about this film is the use of Matrix actors - Cipher plays Teddie while Trinity plays Natalie. Makes you realise how good Keanu would have been as Leonard. But Guy Pearce does a fine job.

    It takes more than one viewing to appreciate - but then it's one of those films you want to see again anyway.

    Also - get it on DVD and watch the scenes in reverse order, so it's the right way round.

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