Synopsis

Leonard Shelby (Guy Pearce) drives a jaguar and wears designer suits. Yet behind this slick exterior lies a man with a severe handicap: he suffers from chronic short-term memory loss. His existence is regimented by the series of notes tattooed on his body. In fact, Leonard’s life has only one purpose: to track down the man who raped and murdered his wife, and robbed him of his memory. Despite his extreme and debilitating condition, Leonard relentlessly searches for clues to avenge his wife. Leonard knows whom he used to be. But as the story unfolds, he is brought to wonder who he has become…

Christopher Nolan was born in London in 1970. His vocation as a director came to in early; by the age of seven, he was already making films, with a camera he borrowed from his father. After reading English at University College, London, Nolan turned to making short, surrealist films. One of them, Lancer , was presented at the 1996 Cambridge film festival. He then moved on to feature films, establishing his reputation as a screenwriter and director with his first film, Following, in 1999. Nolan privileges the artistic process above everything else, a testimony of his experience as a director of short films. Following was praised for its unusual narrative structure, and its visual style, gaining awards at various festivals, including Toronto, Rotterdam, Sundance and Hong Kong. After presenting his latest film, Memento, in competition at Deauville, Nolan plans to adapt a novel by Ruth Rendell, The Keys to the Street .

A psychological thriller with a plot more cryptic than the Times’ crossword, Memento is not a film to see if all you feel like is a bit of light entertainment –or you’re sure to come out of it with a headache. Christopher Nolan builds a highly complex web of intrigue, lies and revenge, which is simply not helped by the fact that the main character suffers from chronic short-term memory loss. After all, you can’t really expect someone with the memory of a goldfish to narrate a plot.

Guy Pearce’s role may be a long way from Neighbours, but no matter many clues are tattooed on his body, one just can’t keep track of what he’s doing. Pierce’s acting is not at fault; but no matter how good the performance, the problem remains the film’s structure. Fragmented narratives have the potential to be brilliant, but despite the equally good performances of Pearce and Carrie-Ann Moss, the film just doesn’t work.

Nolan’s idea is very interesting. Unfortunately, the plot is confusing, and the film lacks pace. But one must give Nolan credit for his highly original ending; the film is refreshingly unpredictable. But as the build up to the concluding scene generates confusion rather than suspense, its impact suffers.

Memento is, neertheless, everything but your run-of-the-mill thriller. Its originality has flashes of brilliance. Leonard’s reconstruction of his memory, through excellent cinematography, make you yearn to find out more about his past. Memento is a psychological thriller which poses a real challenge. So if you have a detective’s mind, maybe you will be able to crack its enigma, which baffles so many…

Christopher Nolan, when asked about the points he tried to emphasise in his film, said that he derived the idea from everyday life. «Leonard’s reconstruction of his identity, his attempt to make sense of the future by recording of the past is simply an exaggeration of what we do every day.»

Svenja O’Donnell