“Memento” depicts struggle between reality and identity

Imagine: you wake up every day with a clean slate where the past is a puzzle, and you just cannot seem to put the pieces together correctly.

“Memento,” a 2000 neo-noir film written and directed by the genius himself, Christopher Nolan, takes you on a rollercoaster of a ride through the eyes of Leonard Shelby, a former insurance investigator who is on the hunt to find the man who took his wife’s life. Through polaroid pictures and body tattoos, Shelby keeps track of the events of his life and his long and continuous investigation in search of his wife’s killer. He must keep a written record of everything due to the condition that essentially wipes his memory clean every few hours or so.

As the stubborn person that I am, it will take me forever to watch movies and TV shows that are recommended to me—especially by friends who, to say the least, have questionable taste in movies.This was one of the very few cases where I wished I had taken my Star Wars-obsessed friend’s suggestion earlier.

The director alone should have convinced me to watch this movie earlier, as the format of Nolan’s movie was done so intricately and in a mesmerizing way.

“Memento” is structured in two timelines that alternate between color and black-and-white scenes. The scenes shown in color are shown in reverse chronological order, meaning the scenes go backward in time. The scenes shown in black-inwhite are shown in chronological order but serve as flashbacks that uncover the details of Shelby’s past experiences and the events leading up to his condition.

Although confusing at first, the film’s non-linear approach elevates the viewing experience and makes it that much more intriguing to watch. Through this choice, Nolan does a phenomenal job allowing the audience in a way to experience the confusion that Shelby experiences in his struggles in solving the troubling puzzle while being left with so many missing pieces.

In one of the most powerful lines in the film in my opinion, Shelby is struggling to grasp what reality and his identity mean.

“I have to believe in a world outside my own mind. I have to believe that my actions still have meaning, even if I can’t remember them. I have to believe that when my eyes are closed, the world’s still there. Do I believe the world’s still there? Is it still out there? Yeah. We all need mirrors to remind ourselves who we are. I’m no different.”

These last few lines of the film really push you to take a moment and reflect even as an audience member. What is real? What isn’t? Do I truly know who I am?

This movie includes a number of amazing actors, including Guy Pearce, who plays the lead. His interpretation of the protagonist is captivating, and he does such an amazing job of encapsulating the character’s disorientation and vulnerability throughout the film.

The supporting cast includes Carries-Anne Moss, most notably known for her role of Trinity in The Matrix series, and Joe Pantoliano, who play Natalie and Teddy, respectively. Their ability to convey such complex characters, where you find yourself questioning whether their intentions to help Shelby are good or selfish intentions, are fantastic.

I don’t know about you, but once I finish a movie, I go straight to the Wikipedia page and go on a deep dive of all things such as the lives of the actors, where the movie was filmed but most importantly, how much the budget was. Nowadays movies can cost millions of dollars, including Nolan’s most recent film (which might I add I still need to watch), “Oppenheimer,” which cost a whopping $100 million. This doesn’t compare to the $9 million budget that went into filming this remarkable movie. In a way, it made me think about the extraordinary hoops filmmakers go through to create such expensive movies and whether it really is necessary to have these astounding budgets.

Of course, this movie came out back in 2000 and doesn’t include the best and clearest scenes. But in a way, I loved the way the character, charm and visual effects contributed to the feel of the film. Although this was my second time watching the film, it had been a couple of years since I first watched it. In a way, it felt like I was watching it for the first time, as I had forgotten all about the plot twist at the end. I mean, what Christopher Nolan film doesn’t include some sort of ambiguous or mind-boggling twist?

“Memento” is nothing short of a masterpiece in my opinion and is easily my favorite movie of all time. To this day, it is a film that had always lingered in the back of my mind, and I highly recommend everyone give it a watch (please). It’s no surprise I give this film 5/5 stars.