Memento

“Oh, I’m chasing this guy… nope, he’s chasing me.” - Memento is a perfect movie, and undoubtedly, what I would call one of the greatest suspense thrillers ever made. Christopher Nolan is a master of non linear storytelling, and Memento is a perfect example of the controlled chaos you can create with it. I can’t believe I’m saying this, but Nolan’s second feature film might be my favorite movie of his that I’ve seen. Growing up Christopher Nolan was a staple name in my household, which was largely in part to my cinephile father has always considered him his favorite director. Memento was the film that latched him into Nolan’s unique world, and kept him returning for years to come. When I was younger I always held off watching Memento becuase I preferred watching only new movies in the theatre or television shows. My ignorance kept me from experience Memento when it was recommended to me countless times, yet, I’m almost glad that I waited until I understood film as an art form better. Memento is without a doubt a complex film that really shines in suspense due to Nolan’s unique outlook on portraying time. With Memento, Nolan builds suspense in uneasy ways through the entire film, but even after a “resolution” the pace and anxst never stops. This hair clip of time could be too difficult to understand, but Nolan didn’t miss with controlling the chaos. As the credits rolled, I was left in shock with my hands on my head, mouth wide open. Not only in shock about how masterful the story itself is, but just how perfectly Christopher Nolan told Memento to an audience. Controlled Chaos has always been a major standout in film for me. What I mean by that is, that the writer keeps the characters in a constant state of chaos, yet it never feels otherworldly or overwhelming. To know Nolan is this poised, this early in his career makes the future make a lot of sense. If I saw this in 2000, I would have seen every single movie of his that followed, no matter the subject matter. Going from Following to Memento is a massive jump in quality, which when you look at the budget only makes sense. However, I also see some major similarities in the way the two stories are told. Both are hectic, non linear stories about a man being walked around like a dog. The cinematography is much stronger than his first film, Following, and makes it clearer than ever that Christopher Nolan was only limited by the money. Memento is still a majorly low budget film, but the audience is treated with delicate cinematography. It’s not a perfect in terms of cinematic technicality, but one of the greatest for a film with a budget under eight million. The Opening Title sequence is brilliant and quite unique. To me, his creativity is impossible to ignore in Memento, and a lot of that comes from brilliant cinematography. While Nolan impressed me with his nothing budget score for Following, it still doesn’t even come close to the excellence of Memento. The score is undoubtedly one of the strongest aspects in Memento due to its flexibility. Not only does the score build suspense, but it feels heavy during the cold and emotional scenes, which is very rare when compared to most other thrillers . Nolan has always known sound is crucial in his film, and Memento is without a doubt the first score in any of his projects that’s truly profound. The acting here is crucial, and the biggest jump from his student esk debut film. Most of the cast were brand new to me as a viewer, so going in I wasn’t sure what to expect in terms of acting. Ive known Nolan has assembled some of the greatest modern casts that we’ve ever seen, but I wasn’t aware of the brilliant acting in his early work. I was truly blown away by some of the performances in Memento, which the more I think about, the more I feel the cast is perfect. Full review later.