Memento is the film that put Christopher Nolan (one of the most talented and most sought after auteurs working today) on the map. It is a film that shows off Nolan's grasp on storytelling.
The film follows Leonard Shelby(Guy Pearce), a man with short term memory loss who tries to find the man who killed his wife. He gets notes tattooed all over his body and takes polaroids to help himself keep track of everything that is going on.
What makes Memento so special is that the films narrative is backwards. By that I don't mean that the characters walk and talk backwards, but the scenes are in a reverse order. Instead of going scene 1, scene 2, scene 3. The scenes are ordered 3, 2, 1. What this does is it helps the viewer see the world though the forgetful eyes of Leonard, in that we don't know what happened in the previous scene the same way that Leonard doesn't know.
The film is extremely well written, we still get the basic three act structure (Situation,Confrontation, Resolution) despite is being backwards. The film is challenging and multi layered leaving the audience searching for the truth which is hard to do since the protagonist doesn't have a grip on reality.
Memento is a film that demands multiple viewing all of which will keep you glued to the screen as you try to figure out more and more about what is going on.
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