Memento

Guy Pearce (Leonard Shelby	Joe Pantoliano (Teddy)
Carrie-Ann Moss (Natalie)	Mark Boone Jr. (Burt)
Stephen Tobolowsky (Sam)	Harriet Harris (Sam's wife)
Directed and written by: Christopher Nolan	Based on a short story by: Jonathan Nolan.

Leonard Shelby (Guy Pearce) has lost his short-term memory when he goes to protect his wife who was being killed, and is hit on the head from behind by one of the killers. He terms his "condition" (as he keeps calling it) as anterograde memory loss. He remembers everything until the killing and thereafter is unable to remember anything after ten minutes. He devises a method to organize his life by taking Polaroid photographs and making notes on them and tattooing reminders and clues on his body. He has one purpose in life, to avenge his wife's killer.

Rather shady characters from the unglamourous parts of L.A. move into his life. One is Natalie (Carrie-Ann Moss) and the other is Teddy (Joe Pantoliano). These characters appear at times to be truly sympathetic to Leonard and at others just vultures, wanting to use Leonard to further their own ends. Burt (Mark Boone Jr.) the Manager of the inn where Leonard stays, is another shady character though on a much lower scale. The shifting loyalties of these characters keep you guessing. In the end, or, should one say, at the beginning, the story is one complex puzzle, tougher than toughest crossword puzzles.

Though this was released last year, I was tempted to see this movie after seeing "Insomnia" by the same director. Insomnia was so good that I instinctively felt that this must have been a good one too. It turned out to be simply an amazing experience.

It is very tough to review a movie of this type. To be honest, this is one of the most original movies to have hit the scene in a few years. The striking part of the movie is the concept of reverse story-telling. The movie begins with the death of a major character and moves back scene by scene, to the beginning. So what's left then, you might ask. Ah, plenty. The beginning (or the end) does not give a clue and you are so absorbed that the movie just flies by you. Each scene is tantalizing, each frame is dangled before you like a bait for the next scene. Absolutely incredible.

As far as complex psychodramas go, this movie has a very heavy agenda. One, it deals with the concept of truth and reality as we see or perceive (not necessarily as it is). Two, it deals with the complex structure of the human memory and its fallibility. And when you add the reverse story-telling concept, you have a movie that you must pay attention to every minute that you are watching it. Or go back and watch the movie.

Like "Sixth Sense", you are still wondering and thinking about the movie after you finish watching it, the ultimate credit to the director and story-teller.

And there are parallel themes too. Leonard recalls again and again, a case that he investigated as an Insurance Executive of a man who had exactly the similar problem that he faces today. He recommended then that the bills cannot be paid by the insurance company because it is not a physical condition, rather a psychological one. The claimant's wife dies and Leonard recalls that and repents, feeling perhaps that his condition today is a punishment for his lack of faith in Sam's wife.

The movie has several redeeming features. One is that the murder never superimposes itself on the movie. It is always there, in the background, but never overrides the other themes.

The performances are spellbinding. Guy Pearce has been a talented actor. From the time I first saw him in "L.A. Confidential", then in "Count of Monte Cristo" and more recently, "Time Machine", his talent has been obvious. In this movie, the Australian actor has perhaps lived up to his potential. He will of course go many more miles. The others have supported Guy very well indeed with Harriet Harris (Sam's wife) delivering an even better performance than Guy. She is simply outstanding.

The direction is superb. If Nolan continues to produce movies like "Memento" and "Insomnia", he is bound to go down as one of the finest directors of all time. One of the finest movies of our times, it was a commercial failure because it is too heavy a movie for the regular movie-goer.