Hey folks, Harry here... and I'm dying to see this one for myself. Guy Pearce has had quite a run with cool films like L.A. CONFIDENTIAL, RULES OF ENGAGEMENT and RAVENOUS..... now he has another one with MEMENTO... and he's just signed on to, what will hopefully be a cool adaptation of THE TIME MACHINE... that's great casting, I just hope the script has been getting better since February or so, which was the draft I saw and read. For now though... take a look at this, there are some spoilers... so beware....
Hiya Harry,
Don't know what's happening out there in movie-land, but of late those of us in blighty have been getting some fairly decent films released waaaayyyyyy before you's guys. First we had "Snatch" (british film so understandable), then we had "O Brother Where Art Thou?" (definitely in my top 5 films of the year). Now, however, we have a film that will settle nicely in my top 3 of the year - Christopher Nolan's "MEMENTO".
I'm sure that quite a few of you already know the plot, but for those of you who don't I'll give you a basic run-down, hopefully spoiler free.
Guy Pearce (LA Confidential, Rules of Engagement), is an ex-insurance investigator by the name of Leonard, who is on a quest to find the guy that killed his wife. However, due to a head injury to him whilst the attack was taking place, he doesn't have the ability to form new memories, he can only remember what happened before the "incident". His memory now consists only of minutes. To aid him he takes polaroids of anyone and everything that he feels at the time he may need to remember. These include "associates", his car, the hotel where he stays, etc...you get the picture. Also he tatoos vital information regarding the pursuit of his wifes killer on his body. Now these ain't spoilers - just basic plot facts.
The film itself unravels in a backwards narrative, that is interspersed with cut scenes of him telling his story to someone on the phone. This works in an excellent way, as the first segment of the film is actually the final scene. This backwards narrative means that you as a viewer suffer the same kind of short term memory loss as Leonard, we have no idea why he is doing what he is doing, just as he has no idea.
Leonard's previous job as an insurance investigator brought him into contact with a guy who suffered the same condition, one Sammy Jankis. As Leonard met Sammy Jankis before the incident he can remember everything about him, and his condition (or maybe????), and therefore this gives Leonard a reason to be organised about the things that are important to him.
Guy Pearce - it's hard to believe that this guy (no pun intended) found his footing on the Aussie daytime soap "Neighbours" (yes it IS spelled with a "U"). Our first real glimpse of him outside the soap world was in the very fine "Priscilla queen of the desert", then of course in "LA Confidential" which he basically carried, along with fellow Aussie Russell Crowe. After that we had "Ravenous" with Robert Carlysle, and more recently "Rules of Engagement". He is turning out to be an extremely accomplished and versatile young actor, and he is dead-on perfect for this role. Underplaying it to perfection.
The rest of the cast are also very good. The "Matrix" connection begins with Guy Pearce, who starred with Hugo "Agent Smith" Weaving in "Priscilla", it continues with Joe "cypher" Pantoliano, as "friend" Teddy, and Carrie-Ann "Trinity" Moss as the strange Natalie. Essentially it is a three part player, but it really is the strength of Guy Pearce that makes this movie work.
As for Christopher Nolan, I think that this may be his first film, and it is also based on a short story that he wrote. The direction is confident, and certainly brave in pulling off the backwards-narrative - it really does work, I know I keep harping on about it, but given Leonard's condition, it's the only way it could have been filmed.
It's one of those films that you watch and you think that you have everything, then......well, you start to think about it a little bit more, and it makes you think about it a little bit more. It may seem like there are loose ends, but trust me, think about it enough and everything ties up.
And the ending (which if the film was played forward would be the beginning) - KICK ASS is all I'm gonna say!!!!!!!
I know you guys in the States have to wait until March 1st next year to see this, but my advice is check out the festival circuits and see if it is playing, because trust me - this is one film you don't want to miss.
Til next time
MARK DAINTY
