Director: Christopher Nolan
Writers: Jonathan Nolan, Christopher Nolan
Starring: Guy Pearce, Carrie-Anne Moss and Joe Pantoliano
Memento is hands-down the best cult film I have ever seen. I will even go as far as to say that it is one of my all-time favorite movies.
The plot is centered around a man suffering from short-term memory loss as he hunts for the person he thinks killed his wife. His disability leaves his mind incapable of creating new memories, and as a result, he is unable to remember things that happened as little as a few minutes prior. In an attempt to lock the viewer into the mind of the protagonist, Jonathan and Christopher Nolan crafted a screenplay that runs backwards - starting at the end and finishing at the beginning. The effect of the reverse-ordered scenes is that they essentially give the viewer their own version of short-term memory loss; like the protagonist, the viewer doesn't know what happened before the scene they are currently watching.
What makes this film so remarkable is the fact that Christopher Nolan was able to tell a story backwards and still make it interesting. Normally, the duration of a movie is spent building up to that one final moment: the climax. So, how does one go about scripting a plot that does the exact opposite yet still reveals information along the way and provides viewers with many shocking twists and turns? It takes a writer with a lot of skill and imagination. The Nolans definitely earned their Academy Award Nomination for Best Writing (Original Screenplay) for this one.
From the first scene, Christopher Nolan hints at the unique nature of his film through a series of images played in reverse: a bullet flies back into a gun, a man comes back to life, even the audio is backwards. The scene then stops and replays, this time in the correct order. This scene is the best/most visible display of the innovative editing done in the film and its ability to add to the plot. The editor, Dody Dorn, deserves praise for the difficult task of putting all of these fragments together and making them flow in a smooth manner.
In addition to the editing, the film is topped-off with excellent directing and solid acting all around. In fact, the film nears perfection, and a lot of it is due to the great attention to detail, originality, and creativity. Even the trailer shows signs of ingenuity and works to expand on the plot:
From its groundbreaking narrative style to its exceptional editing, Memento excels in almost every way. It leaves viewers reflecting on it for days and wanting to watch it over again as soon as it ends (or begins). It is definitely one of Nolan's finest and one of the most memorable movies of all time.
