'So how... how can I heal? How am I supposed to heal if I can't... feel time?'
So in case you don't know yet, I have this list of films I wanna watch on my laptop (but I tend to procrastinate coz they take time heh, same goes for books). Finally got round to the dark knight rises when I was on the plane back from taiwan, and the other film I wanted to watch was memento but in the end I decided it would probably be a better idea to sleep. Well no matter, I just got round to it eventually anyway.
So as it turns out, memento is pretty much one of the best films I have ever seen. A serious contender for the top spot I'll say.
Memento simply has one of the best plots (well, we are talking about christopher nolan) and if you ask me, I'll say its even better than his recent films and thats saying alot. The method of storytelling is so creative and grips the audience as the puzzle pieces slowly fall into place. I remember when I first heard about how the storytelling was going to be like, I wondered if it would get too confusing, but when I watched it, I see that it was brilliantly executed.
Definitely a must see. To end off, a review from http://www.bigpicturebigsound.com/article_240.shtml:
The device which propels writer-director Christopher Nolan's "Memento" is that the main character has no short-term memory. He remembers everything up until the night his wife was raped and murdered. Her assailant smashed Leonard's head into a mirror, and as a result he "can't make any new memories". The story of Leonard's quest to find and seek revenge on his wife's murderer unfolds in reverse in short pieces. The result is that the audience winds up with the same bewildered feeling as the protagonist.
That man, Leonard Shelby, is played by Guy Pierce in a complete 180 from the sycophantic, ladder-climbing policeman he played in L.A. Confidential. Mr. Pierce occupies nearly every frame of the film, and it succeeds on the shoulders of his solid, perfectly calibrated performance. Joe Pantoliano and Carrie-Anne Moss - together again after The Matrix - provide a solid background of mysterious characters with loyalties that may or may not shift depending on your point of view. And point of view is really what makes "Memento" work so satisfyingly.
The story doesn't rely on surprises endings or twists, in the vein of "The Sixth Sense" or "Fight Club". "Memento" has no trouble living up to scrutiny and, in fact, begs for repeat viewings by the nature of its non-linear structure. But Mr. Nolan isn't telling the story in reverse to make up for substance (the way similar episodes of "Seinfeld" and "The X-files" did). This movie isn't pedaling a gimmick, it has a real story to tell and a real point to make. Where Mike Figgis' otherwise brilliant experiment in simultaneous, parallel storytelling, "Time Code", fell short was that the script failed to provide an exciting story to backup the gimmick.
Mr. Nolan's screenplay is uncommonly interesting and unique, and it never takes an easy way out. Leonard is, by nature of his "condition", forced to be determined and methodical to an unimaginable extreme. He keeps a Polaroid with him at all times and tattoos important information on his body. Each time wakes up, he must relive the discovery of his wife's death. As a result his thirst for vengeance never wanes. The script follows through on the promise of its premise on almost all counts. Of all the ironies which fill the film, the most complementary may be that this is film which will not soon be forgotten.
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