2 Hours of Confusion: a Review of Memento

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Throughout its entire hour and 53 minutes, Memento does its best to leave the audience completely confused as to what is happening, and in what order. And it certainly works. The first thing you will probably notice about the movie, is that it is directed by Christopher Nolan, best known for his Batman trilogy, and the wonderful Inception. And indeed, Memento is very similar to Inception in the way it makes you feel as a viewer. The main character, Leonard, is a man who cannot make new memories since the rape and murder of his wife, and who has devoted his life to attempting to get revenge for his wife’s death. His character is played by Guy Pearce. The other main characters in the film are Leonard’s friend, Teddy, played by Joe Pantoliano, and Natalie, a woman helping Leonard in his quest, played by Carrie-Anne Moss. The acting is all very convincing, especially that of Leonard, which significantly adds to the feel of the movie. Much as Inception confused the viewers by taking the characters into dreams-within-dreams, Memento confuses its viewers by telling two separate parts of the story at once, one part in reverse chronological order in color, interspersed with forward chronological shots in black and white. The two parts of the story meet at the end of the film, which is really the middle of the story. The intriguing plot and the puzzling way it is shown, combined with wonderful acting and camerawork keep you thinking and interested throughout the film. The film follows the story of Leonard, a man with a strange mental disability- he can no longer remember anything new. Ever since the day of his wife’s rape and murder, everything he sees, does, reads, etc. is soon forgotten. Leonard’s last memory is of his wife dying while one of her attackers escapes, and he decides to devote his life to hunting down and killing the surviving attacker, despite not even being

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