by Ailín CrowleyMemento (2000, Christopher Nolan) is, in my opinion, still one of Christopher Nolan’s most inventive and compelling films to date. A riveting and imaginative crime thriller, Nolan has created a piece which raises the bar for directors in terms of cinematography, performances and, most certainly, narrative. For a relatively low budget of 9 million USD, Memento certainly pulls off extremely appealing aesthetics. Nolan uses his usual muted tones throughout, as seen his other works such as The Dark Knight (2008) and Interstellar (2008).One notable scene that is visually pleasing is the opening scene, in which we see Leonard shaking a polaroid photograph, but instead of the photograph developing, it fades to blank. The scene that follows, of Leonard shooting Teddy, is also played in reverse, an ingenious way to set the tone and prepare the audience for the fractured narrative that will follow. Nolan displays his use of ingenious and innovative cinematography in scenes such as this throughout the film, confirming his status as an avant-garde director. In terms of performance, Guy Pearce is most memorable as the protagonist, Leonard Shelby, and successfully conveys the bewildered nature one would associate with having short term memory loss. The audience empathises with Pearce’s portrayal of Leonard; who, despite the film not being over-emotional, evokes their interest in a moving display as he grapples with his condition. Perhaps the most interesting factor of the film, however, is its narrative. The premise is simple; it is the story of a man with anterograde amnesia attempting to find his wife’s murderer, and avenge her death. Certainly appealing as a psychological thriller, however, what makes this story so intriguing, however, is not the plot itself, but rather the way in which the story is conveyed to the audience. The ever-innovative Nolan disregards the typical three-act structure in favour of telling the story ‘backwards’, using what Andrew Dix describes as an ‘unruly time scheme’. (Dix, p.109) A bold decision, and yet he pulls off this feat seamlessly. As Jean Luc Godard said; “a story should have a beginning, middle and end, ‘but not necessarily in that order’. (Godard in Dix, p.110). Coloured scenes are used within the film to progress the present-day narrative as Leonard attempts to discern and locate his wife’s murderer. This narrative is expressed in reverse-chronological order, whereby the film’s opening scenes occur at the end of the narrative and its concluding scenes exist at the start of Leonard’s quest. The placement of reverse-chronological order coloured scenes against black-and-white chronological scenes propel the plot forwards, whilst encouraging the audience to actively watch and engage with the film the entire way through. This is a rare feat in this modern era of cinema; so few of us focus entirely on a film during its course nowadays, due to so many distractions around us. However, Nolan does not allow the audience to sit idle, or to passively enjoy his content. The viewer must remain fully alert during the film, lest they miss out on vital details. Nolan searched for a way to structure his film, so that the audience could experience the same feelings of disorientation and confusion as the main character. As he states in an interview in the Blu-Ray edition DVD of Memento; “How do you give the audience the experience of not being able to remember?” He uses the temporal organisation of the film to temporarily withhold crucial narrative information from the audience, simulating the disorientating experience Leonard endures with his condition. This structure is poignant in a particular scene in Memento, where Leonard wakes up in a bathroom, holding an empty bottle of alcohol. His internalised confusion is made apparent to the audience through the conventional neo-noir genre use of voiceover, yet the narrative truth only becomes evident through the repetition and overlap of each scene throughout the narrative, revealing that Leonard was hiding in the apartment in attempts to assassinate its inhabitant. We as an audience cannot attempt to predict how the narrative may advance as each scene concludes, but rather we are left to question the events that have taken place prior to each scene commencing. Each scene answers a question posed in the previous scene, and poses a question as to how our protagonist wound up there. We must piece the puzzle together with Leonard Shelby, and it is only at the end for all of us that the final question is answered – who is his wife’s murderer? The novelty of a story told in an unusual manner is appealing enough to the average audience member, however, the plot structure would grow tiring on its own, if the audience was left to do all the work. Nolan realised this, and so he eases the audience into the complex framework of the film; the use of scene repetition and internal echoes are first used to guide the audience through the events of the narrative, allowing them to simulate their own interpretations of the series of events. Then, as the narrative progresses, the use of repetition reduces in frequency and elisions between scenes are incorporated. Therefore, the audience becomes ‘conditioned’ to accept and process the non-linear narrative just as Leonard conditions himself throughout the film, using notes and polaroid pictures as reminders in order to ‘replicate’ his old memories. As well as this, Nolan cleverly crafts a plot that leaves us shocked with one final twist at the ‘beginning’, chronologically, despite us knowing all of the events that occur after. Even though we have been given the majority of the puzzle, Nolan still manages to surprise us at the last revelation, when he hands us the final piece, and it all clicks into place. To conclude, Christopher Nolan has created a stellar and masterful film, which both captivates an audience and subverts their expectations. It’s unsurprising, really, that this is a film which has gained such a large cult following. Nolan evidently values his audience’s intelligence, as he said in an interview with The Guardian; ‘I think people’s ability to absorb a fractured mise en scène is extraordinary compared to 40 years ago’. This is simply not just a film that one can watch and subsequently forget about – it is what John Truby describes as ‘the never ending story’, as he ‘creates an apparent’ equilibrium and then shatter[s] it with one more surprise’ (Truby, p.419). This is one of those rare films that garners multiple viewings in order to capture every clue – and I would personally recommend one to view it repeatedly anyways. Works Cited
2 Comments
3/7/2024 07:31:09 pm
Howja like todo lottsa gobbsa
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3/7/2024 07:32:27 pm
Yo! Bro! As you very well know,
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