There exists an urban legend among my friend group that one of us, when advised to watch the critically-acclaimed movie Memento, instead typed ‘Momentum’ into the Netflix search bar and spent the next 1 hr. 40 min. of her life on a 28% Rotten Tomato film.
The woman in the story isn’t me. Considering my dedicated readership base is only a couple handful strong, I wouldn’t be afraid to admit if it was.
But heed my warning, nonetheless: Memento, a film about brain damage.
Momentum, it’s one redeeming quality is that it has Morgan Freeman in it.
Scene: it’s a mid-October Saturday night in the great twin cities of Minneapolis / St Paul. I’m single and ready to mingle. So, how do I choose to spend this prime date night? Alone in my apartment with my cat and frozen pizza, naturally.
(someone tell me again how I'm still single)
Murph and I are watching Memento. And, if you’re curious, this film is available for a limited time on Netflix, right alongside the aforementioned Momentum.
If you know anything about the film’s Director, Christopher Nolan – and I do considering my high school’s boyfriend idea of a dream date night was Inception in 3D – this film really shouldn’t surprise you.
High School BF: Inception Me, an intellectual: Memento
Ladies & Gentleman, prepare yourself for a mental mind-fuck in Nolan's first major theatrical release, a dizzy and hypnotic neo-noir thriller where perception is twisted and confusion is the name of the game.
The film stars Guy Pearce (think a lesser known version of Brad Pitt) as Leonard Shelby – Lenny, for short – former insurance claims investigator out to find the man who brutally murdered his wife.
Speaking of murder, this film begins with a murder and a Polaroid of the body. What is going on and how did we get here? Those are two questions Nolan will work to unravel with much cinematic dexterity over the next 2 hrs.
The plot of Memento is told in a non-linear fashion weaving through lapses in memory and time, both past and present. Good luck trying to leave your seat even for a moment to grab another piece of pizza or to pee cause it’s inevitable you’ll miss a crucial plot point… I may be speaking from personal experience…
The confusing narration style is meant to emulate the constant mental struggle Lenny himself faces. Suffering from retrograde amnesia brought on by a head injury sustained while trying to protect his wife, Lenny has short-term memory loss. We, the audience, try to unpack Lenny’s memories and layers of reality as if were truly inside Guy Pearce’s character’s head, and what we end up unpacking is emotional and violent.
“Memory can change the shape of a room; it can change the color of a car. And memories can be distorted. They’re just an interpretation, they’re not a record, and they’re irrelevant if you have the facts.”
So, as you can imagine, strangers are a real hazard for our lead actor. I couldn’t help but think that Lenny’s life would have been made 100x easier with the invention of iPhones. Nothing says ‘what was I doing earlier today’ like Snap Stories. But without the use of any assistive technology, or really any support system whatsoever, Lenny attempts to gain control of his condition & organize fact vs. fiction by writing constant notes-to-self, the most enigmatic of which he reserves for permanent tattoos on his body, and keeping a collection of Polaroids handy.
In fact, this movie might have been the best thing to happen to this now outdated form of photography until Taylor Swift’s 1989 album came along.
I know, I know.
It's hard to tell where Memento ends and Swift begins
That’s where the similarities between Nolan and girl-power's #1 advocate Tay start and stop. I got the sinking feeling very early on in this film that the only female role would be the character of Lenny’s dead wife. (I was half right. Read: ¿trustworthy? Natalie). This has been a longstanding point of contention between Nolan and me: his inability - or lack of desire - to write compelling roles for women (his more recent Interstellar release may be the single exception). Memento, originally released in Sept 5, 2000 at the Venice Film Festival, premiered what would become Nolan’s signature storyline in that the female character’s most notable contribution to the plot is her death. No, seriously. Think about it. How many Nolan movies are, at the end of the day, a story about a dead woman and her revenge-seeking male counterpart.
“I can’t remember to forget you.”
If you Google “Memento, Who Killed Lenny’s Wife” you will see no shortage of theories – some palpable and well-supported, others complete crap. I won’t give away any spoilers though other than the obvious one which is get used to the fact that Nolan’s movies are meant to be an intellectual exercise. He is never going to tie everything up in a neat bow for you, unless it’s a Batman movie. But that’s not the point. The point is, how am I still single again?
End Scene: Murph is asleep, naturally