Video Review by Marilyn Robitaille

Last Updated 12/21/01

Email: robitai@our-town.com

Momento

"Memento" isn't a movie that I'd recommend to just anyone.  Take the following quiz to see if you qualify:

0.       Would you like a movie that leaves you asking more questions than it give you answers?

1.       Do you have the mental dexterity to follow a plot line that unfolds upon itself, and then loops backwards?

2.       Do you have the patience to experience occasional moments of complete confusion?

3.      Do you mind bad-guy blue language, light carnage, and intermittent mayhem? 

4.       Are you willing to pay complete attention to details, foregoing conversation, snacking, and short naps during the movie? 

If you answered "yes" more times than "no," then rent "Memento"; otherwise, you might want to make a tamer, gentler movie selection.

Narrative movement and the absence of linear chronology contribute to the originality of "Memento."   You start at the end and work your way forward and sometimes sideways following the perplexing story of Leonard "Lenny" Shelby (Guy Pearce). Shelby suffers from short-term memory loss as a result of a head injury he received when an intruder entered his home. His wife raped and murdered, Shelby determines to seek revenge and kill the killer—not an easy task for a man who can't remember five minutes ago. Shelby, however, has a system.  He travels with a Polaroid camera, taking pictures of his car, his hotel room, and people he doesn't want to forget. He also tattoos important information on his body.  Along with his various artifacts, he's a walking "memento" of a past that he'd sooner just forget. Shelby falls victim to unscrupulous individuals, some who see the main chance to take advantage of his "condition."  Time and memory, as well as self-delusion, alter his only reality because he lives in present tense. 720Guy Pearce gives a compelling performance as Shelby.  He's both strong and vulnerable, making his way through the chaos created by his loss of memory and controlled by his systematic recording of the facts.   

            This movie makes brilliant use of editing, cutting black and white scenes of past action to supplement and validate Shelby's story. Shelby has no immediate past, nor does the audience.  You never know what happened just before the immediate scene you're watching until action catches up.   If you have the desire and the stamina to experience this innovative movie, you'll find yourself thinking through it for a long time. See it with a friend, so you can discuss the puzzling parts when the final credits roll. I think this might be one to remember.

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