Film is Pwn

Disclaimer: I am taking a break from my usual custom of making fun of horribly bad films to talk about not just a film a like a great deal, but my all-time favorite, grand champion of moviedom, numero uno and number one movie ever.  Bad movie talk will be returning soon, but this man subsist solely on stuff like Mega Shark vs. Giant Octopus, Brenda Starr, and . . . what was that crappy Ray Liotta movie I did the other day? . . . oh, yeah!  Unforgettable.

It was about a year ago, back when Tom and I were recording podcasts for the site that we decided to do a series on our top 20 favorite movies, that I put a far, far too much thought into what was # 1.  I believe I put more consideration into my selection of favorite film than most celebrities put into choosing their next spouse.  As those of you who got to listen to the podcast (before our podcast carrier Podango went out of business and Tom was too lazy to find us a new host), I picked . . . (unnecessarily dramatic pause considering the film’s title was revealed in the subject line of the post) . . . Memento.

Memento was one of those great movies that just instantly clicked with me.  I’d heard good things about it and talked Tom into renting it about 8 years ago when Memento was first released on video, when Tom and I were roommates and would routinely cross the street to our local Blockbuster so scour for a movie to kill the evening with.

My preconception going into Memento was, “Its story is told backwards, and it’s supposed to be really good.”  If you start at the end, doesn’t that mean you know what happens and then all you are left with is how it all begins, and what’s the point in that?  I’m not sure what a backward story looked like, and I was curious.

The film opens with a Polaroid picture developing, being shown in reverse.  The picture is of a murder victim Teddy (Joe Pantoliano), and the picture is in the hands of the killer, our protagonist Leonard (Guy Pearce).  This is it; the end of the story, Leonard kills Teddy in a remote location with no witnesses.

Why?  Who are these people?  How did we get here?  Those are the “big questions,” and even when we get the answers to some of them, there is another layer of even bigger, more fascinating questions underneath.  Leonard is looking for his wife’s killer, and Teddy is helping him, or using Leonard for his own reasons.  Perhaps Teddy himself killed Leonard’s wife, or maybe he just believes that to be the case.

The major hook is that Leonard has a condition — it’s not amnesia! — where he cannot create new memories.  When his wife was murdered, he was struck in the head and developed the condition.  He remembers everything about his life up to the incident, but nothing after the event, which makes his quest to find her killer all the more challenging.  Leonard is being chased by a man, and his memory lapses; he has no idea who is chasing him or why.  Until the man fires a shot at Leonard, Leonard actually thinks HE is the chaser, not the chase.

Leonard takes Polaroid pictures of people, places, and things to let him know who his friends are, who not to trust, what hotel he’s staying in, and what his car looks like.  Pivotal clues to the identity of his wife’s killer he tattoos to his flesh, so that his body is a roadmap of the case, partial license plate numbers, an incomplete name, etc.

The story unfolds in interlocking segments, divided up as Leonard’s memory fades.  In one segment, Leonard fades in sitting in a strange, hotel bathroom with a wine bottle in hand.  “I don’t feel drunk,” Leonard thinks to himself.  Leonard sets aside the wine bottle and begins to take a shower, at which point a man enters the hotel room.  The man is startled to see Leonard and vice versa, the man attacking Leonard.  Leonard knocks the man out, not sure who this is or why they just fought.  Boom, the next segment starts earlier, where Leonard is being pursued by this man.  We see Leonard lose him, and then hide out in the man’s hotel room to ambush his adversary, the wine bottle being the only weapon at his disposal.

Memento told in a traditional, linear fashion would still be a fascinating movie, but it’s the precision of the intricate, interlocking segments that make the movie for me.  Each section is its own mystery, revealed within minutes and presenting another series of questions as to how Leonard got where he is, who can he trust (if anybody) and driving toward the larger questions as to who killed Leonard’s wife and why did Leonard kill teddy.

I’ve seen Memento probably ten times or more — this is one of the first DVDs I ever bought when I converted from VHS to DVD, and it’s one of the first Blu Rays I obtained when I made that upgrade — and I am constantly enthralled.  My enjoyment is equal parts appreciation, enjoyment, and admiration.  As a novelist myself, I’ll occasionally come across a story device, a character, or an idea that I think, “Man, I wish that I’d thought of THAT!”  Memento is the epitome of that in every aspect.

I’m a novelist, and often when I’ve written myself into a corner or am experiencing a creative drought, I will pop in Memento, because it makes my mind work like no other movie does.  Even after so many viewings, there is still a lot of mystery to the film, a lot of interpretation.  I don’t want to get too deep into spoilers, but some of the big events, things you take for granted because Leonard has accepted them as fact, are called into question whether they happened that way or not.

Be forewarned: It’s ambiguity like that that turns some folks off to Memento; there’s room for interpretation and plenty of items to debate after screening it for a group.  If you ask me, “Who really killed Leonard’s wife?” Or “How was Teddy involved, if he was all?”  My honest answer is, “I don’t know.”  Although I love having that conversation, but there is not a concrete answer.  Heck, two people can watch Memento and disagree on who the good guy and bad guy is, and a third can contest that there is no good guy or bad guy at all.  Memento is kind of a Rorschach of a film in that regard.

I know several people who didn’t understand Memento and its unique storytelling device, calling it “confusing”, but for me, this remains the most innovative and brilliant film I’ve ever seen.

This is the movie that launched the career of screenwriter/director Christopher Nolan, who has yet to make a bad or even a mediocre film.  Thus far Nolan has made the last two Batman films as well as two great thrillers in Insomnia and the Prestige.  Memento’s star Guy Pearce is one of the greatest working actors, and considerably underrated when contrasted with his talents.

Though many people hold Memento in high regard, it kind of feels like “my” movie.  When I bought the Blu Ray, I gave my regular DVD to Tom, who mentioned that his wife wanted to watch it.  The next few times I talked to Tom, I nervously would inquire if they’d had a chance to watch the movie, because for reasons that I can’t fully explain it meant a great deal to me if she would like or appreciate “my” movie.  (She did like it, for the record.  Huzzah!)

I plucked Memento off the shelf in a Blockbuster with little expectations and was blown away.  I recall saying during the first viewing that Memento “is the best movie I’ve ever seen,” and I stand by that proudly to this day.

–Daniel J. Roos