Memento (DVD Screening)

(Spoilers)

Memento was recommended to me by a friend, but before that I had actually heard very little about the movie. Picked it up cheap in a second had dvd shop recently and I have got round to watching it fairly quickly. Just as I started the movie I tweeted saying that I was just about to watch it and wow what a response I got, heaps and heaps of praise for the movie and not a word of criticism! So I was quietly confident that I was in for a good watch, although I was careful not to raise my expectations too high.

The way in which Memento is shot is certainly unique and it is no doubt confusing for a while.  It took me about 20 minutes to grasp the concept of the story telling in this movie.  At first I thought that it had lent itself to a lack of suspense as you see the conclusion to the movies events at the start however this does not take away from the suspense or intrigue of the rest of the story and more and more is revealed throughout so starting with the conclusion was really not an issue and was in fact quite clever and done really well. Guy Pearce was a great lead for this film, making his character, Leonard believable and likeable and you really were urging him to find out the truth and to find that place of peace.  This casting was great, I read that Brad Pitt was the first choice however despite my faith in Pitt as a great actor I am not sure that he could have delivered in the same way that Pearce did here. Also I really enjoyed the music in this film, helped to set the tone perfectly.

This is a movie I feel that I won’t properly understand until I watch it another few times however that didn’t detract from my enjoyment the first time round.  Upon watching the movie and then reading up on it afterwards I have learnt that much of the movie is not conclusive and is still largely debated.  Although Christopher Nolan states that all the answers are in the film, however the way in which the story is told does prevent the viewer from being able to understand all of these! This may be frustrating for some film fans but I actually quite liked it, it means you can come to your own conclusions on several aspects.  However the main subject of the movie is quite blatantly stated and can’t be debated, namely Leonard deciding to lie to himself about the identity of Teddy in order to make himself happy.  This firm conclusion is enough for me to be satisfied whilst still allowing me to think and wrestle with many other aspects in the film which to me makes Memento so much more than a movie, it ultimately makes it so much more interactive.  I can understand everyone’s love for this movie and I’m sure that this will be a movie that stack up numerous viewings for me over the years, it’s a fantastic movie that should feature in every film fan’s collection!

BIGGEST FLAW – Was confusing at first (although this isn’t really a flaw)

BIGGEST ACHIEVEMENT – Unique way of storytelling used

Rating – 9/10