Loading...Memento (2000) is the movie that comes once in a lifetime. Its plot stands high over the conventional thrillers and belongs in a class by itself. Ok, you can put Sixth Sense up there with it. Brilliantly directed by Christopher Nolan, it completely redefines storytelling and keeps its auidence on the edge of their seats throughout.
Guy Pearce plays an insurance investigator, who suffers from a strange 'condition'. His short term memory cannot last more than a few minutes/segments.He has had this 'problem' ever since wife was killed by an assailant and he was knocked cold.He is still very much in love with his wife or as he puts it, [He] cannot remember to forget her.
He is now on the trail of the killer, seeking revenge for his wife. But why? Because it gives him a purpose in life. How can he seek revenge when he cannot remember things for more than a little while? He has worked out a system of organizing his life. He has notes tatooed all over his body about all the important things like the number on his car, etc. He keeps a taking instant Polaroid pictures of people and things of significance with notes scribbled on them. (He still remembers his own handwriting.) He argues that one can depend more reliably on facts than on memory. Memory he says has been prooven unreliable.
However, what makes this movie even better is the fact that it goes from present to past in a few segments and inserted between these segments are black and white segments where the movie moves from past to present.There was an episode from Seinfeld that copied this very idea.
In the first scene he shoots down a man, (Joe Pantoliano of Sopranos' fame) he believes is responsible for raping and killing his wife. The movie then moves backwards in time to give us a reason that let him make this deduction. What left me breathless is during the climax that happened in the past. Great performances add more icing to this cake. This is the 'thinking man's thriller'. Pun Intended.
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