Memento

One hell of a film. Leonard (Guy Pearce) has no short-term memory. He has to write himself little notes and gets tattoos to remind himself what his car is, where he's staying and who these people are. He thinks the last thing he remembers is his wife being raped and killed; and the men who did it hit him over the back of the head and caused this memory loss. He is out to avenge John G., the man his notes tell him is responsible for "the incident". But his best buddy, Teddy - full name John Edward Gammell (Joe Pantoliano) - is a John G. Neither Leonard, nor the audience, knows who to trust.   Especially as things are backward. The whole movie plays in reverse, with intercut scenes in black and white in which Leonard explains his condition and all about Sammy Jankis, remember Sammy Jankis. Five minutes or so of film goes forward, then it cuts back to five minutes before that. It starts to seem to make sense when you figure out how the scenes overlap. You know what happens, but you only learn the characters' back stories in small increments. You're as ignorant and malleable as the memory deficient protagonist.

Comments

Really about empathy?

OK, Memento is an amazing film. But I can't really see what it's got to do with empathy. Can anyone help me with this?

Rating: 
1

Memory & madness

I empathise with the fears of mental instability, of which memory loss is an acute, prevalent, case. I also find myself empathising with the reviewer!

Rating: 
5

Isolation

The film is structured so that the viewer is as lost and alienated as the chief protagonist. This is a neat directorial trick to enable empathy. :)

Rating: 
5
Rating: 
3.666665
Average: 3.7 (3 votes)
Year: 
2000
Film Category: 
Country: 
United States