Review of Memento (2000) by Frank F — 18 May 2013

The first time I watched Pulp Fiction, it took me a bit of time to fully grasp its nonlinear storytelling by trying to figure out when each event occurred to be able to know the occurrence of events chronologically. Now having watched Memento, I have come to realize that despite Pulp Fiction's unique narrative, Tarantino made a story that is still easy to grasp.

At first I didn't get the memo that Memento presents its story in reverse chronological order, and having figured that out in a few scenes in, it felt like I was falling behind in a race, struggling to catch up. And not only that, but the flashbacks scenes are shown in regular chronological order to make the pace even more insanely hectic for me. I think it is safe to say that everyone can benefit from watching this movie more than once to piece everything together, if one loses track the first time watching it. My first viewing, to say the least, was mindboggling, but thanks to subtitles and having a bit of patience with my second viewing, I managed to tie up a lot of loose ends that were beginning to drive me crazy.

And that's one of the things that makes Nolan such a talented director. When you watch Memento, you have to literally change the way you watch movies to grasp it. It is not a stylistic choice just for the sake of being innovative. Nolan utilizes this reverse storytelling technique to execute the drama in a very unique way, having the same effect as putting a puzzle together to know what the full picture looks like. As we go back into the past, that is when we discover the answer to the mysteries of what is really going on underneath it all, as opposed to a conventional movie where we get the bigger picture of the situation as the story progresses in regular chronological order, followed by a conclusion. Whereas the ending of Pulp Fiction occurs during the middle of all the chaos, we get our true conclusion to Memento at the beginning where everything started. Whereas we know the destiny of every character with Pulp Fiction, there is a bit of uncertainty as to what will happen next for the protagonist.

What I love about Memento is that it perfectly encapsulates the strange feeling of deja vu. While the protagonist is unaware of everything that happens to him, we the viewer begin to see the full picture in the last scene in the movie and we come to a shocking revelation of the events we just witnessed. I don't want to elaborate more and run the risk of potentially spoiling anything, but all I can say is that this is one of the most innovative mystery thrillers concocted by Nolan, and the subtle film noir influences gives it an extra charm. Watching this movie, you wouldn't predict he would he even direct the batman movies and that shows not only Nolan's diversity but also his versatility as a director.