Memento

It is interesting to look at “Memento” ten years after its release. Back in 2001, who would have thought director Christopher Nolan would go on to become one of today’s biggest Hollywood directors. Lionsgate’s ten-year anniversary release of “Memento” comes after the huge success of “Inception” in the summer of 2010.  Coincidentally, it was for the first time in 2001 that Nolan pitched his idea for creating “Inception,” the same year “Memento” generated insurmountable critical acclaim. “Inception” was put on hold temporarily, and Nolan went on to direct some of the biggest hits of all time, like “Batman Begins” (2005), “The Prestige” (2006), “The Dark Knight” (2008), and, of course, “Inception.” Ever since entering the world of films, Nolan has always toyed with the concept of a nonlinear narration that deals with the subconscious state of mind. In fact, the nonlinearity in “Memento” was motivated by his first film, “Following” (1998).

“Memento” operates as a two-part structure. The first part of the plot is pretty simple. Guy Pierce plays the character of Leonard, who is suffering from amnesia. He is looking for his wife’s killers that raped and later murdered her. In an attempt to save his wife, Leonard suffered a fatal head injury that resulted in his short-term memory loss. So, things are complicated for Leonard. He carries a Polaroid camera to remember people and things around him, and his tattooed body serves as a checklist of dos-and-don’ts. The second part of the narrative deals with Leonard’s amnesic condition and how he tries to put all the pieces together and get to his wife’s killers.

“Memento” is all about the narrative structure and the manner in which the story is conveyed. For what could have been a linear, straightforward story about revenge, “Memento” takes an extraordinary step in launching its viewers into the mind of an amnesic protagonist. The movie is played from Leonard’s perspective. As an amnesiac, Leonard’s memory functions in the last-in/first-out mode, meaning he only remembers things he has seen moments before; it’s impossible for him remember things that have happened in the distant past. This is where the screenplay gets multifaceted as Leonard tries to recollect his lost memories, especially the events surrounding his wife’s death.

The opening shot shows an antagonist, Teddy, played by Joe Pantoliano, shot in the head by Leonard. It’s a gamble that filmmakers employ telling us how the story will end in Leonard’s world. But that is not the point; it’s how Leonard is able to piecemeal several clues together in solving the puzzle involving his wife’s killers. As soon as the opening shot ends, everything on the screen--like the bullets, Teddy’s dead body, and Leonard’s gun--reverses in real-time, as if someone is rewinding a tape. At this point, Nolan basically lays out the groundwork for the nonlinear plot, and we soon realize that the story is actually driven by Leonard’s interactions with his distorted memory.

To add a further nonlinear element to the plot, Nolan deliberately employs the use of colored as well as black-and-white segments. The color segments are laid out in reverse, whereas the black-and-white sequences are in chronological order. As Leonard embarks on an investigative journey, the black-and-white format undoubtedly makes “Memento” look like a neo-noir film, since it utilizes elements seen in a traditional film noir. It is only in the climax that a black-and-white segment converges to a colored format, indicating that the climax, after all, is just the beginning. The juxtaposition of color and black-and-white makes “Memento” a mind-bending psychological thriller. Just like Leonard, we are also left to make sense of how the story unfolds, with the events leading up to the beginning of the film.

There is no doubt that Guy Pierce gives a singular performance, partly because Nolan had done sufficient research on amnesia. Nolan’s screenplay brings in realistic elements associated with short-term memory loss. And Pierce is actually able to capture the amnesic state through his character of Leonard, thereby making his performance authentic and powerful. As the story progresses, Leonard, bit-by-bit, recaptures the fragments of his lost memory, and helped by Pierce’s performance, we genuinely feel for the struggling Leonard. The script, instead of merely scratching the surface of an amnesic condition, gets deeper at a psychological level. Leonard’s tattooed body, his collection of photos, and his dreamy state in a hotel room serve as a kaleidoscope in representing a distorted perspective on his puzzling situation. Indeed, Nolan’s screenplay successfully keeps the plot suspenseful and interesting throughout with its nontraditional approach.

However, while the script is deep with details, I felt Nolan over-engineered the script a bit. Jim Plath in his review writes <a href =“http://www.dvdtown.com/review/memento/blu-ray/3877”>review</a>: ““Memento” is gimmicky, and there are enough apparent inconsistencies that will drive some puzzler fans nuts.” I agree with his assessment. I have watched this movie a number of times in the last ten years and I still get irritated with its storytelling format. I don’t agree with Nolan that the reverse structure was created to represent Leonard’s amnesia. For me, the narrative is nothing but a calculated gimmick from Nolan.

Still, there is a lot to admire about this movie with Nolan and his team attempting a daredevil act of tying things together. Nonetheless, Nolan’s idea of using distorted memories as the fabric to construct Leonard’s world is original and bold.

Video:

To commemorate the tenth anniversary of the film, Lionsgate has minted a new director-approved 1080p transfer, encoded in an MPEG-4/AVC format, and presented in its original aspect ratio of 2.35:1. The older Sony Blu-ray release of “Memento” was encoded using an old MPEG-2 codec, and fans will be happy to note the use of a newer and better codec for this release.

Since the majority of the action takes place indoors, “Memento” was deliberately shot using natural light to capture Leonard’s amnesic state; bright lights are seldom used. With this in mind, the HD transfer appears very warm and soothing to the eyes. The 1080p transfer is sharp throughout in both the close-ups as well as the long shots. The close-ups of Leonard’s face are remarkable, with great detail. Likewise, the colors are deep and consistently solid. The flesh tones are realistic and never appear washed out.

There are a few shots in which the color is intentionally muted, especially when Leonard is driving around an industrial section of town. The black-and-white sequences have a nice layer of grain making this transfer film-like. The contrast in these scenes is set to appropriate levels with no trace of overexposure. The blacks are solid in both the color and black-and-white segments. Finally, the transfer is crystal clear with no sign of blemishes, specs, or dirt on the print.  Whether you decide to upgrade or not, this is a solid-looking transfer.

Audio:

Just like the new transfer, we are presented with a remastered 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio track. The movie is primarily driven by the front channels. The dialogue gets a boost with this track, and it’s crisp and clear for the entire duration. The gunshots are potent and pack in a definite punch. There are a lot of quieter moments, too, since the film mainly banks on how Leonard interacts with the outside world; background noises have been kept to a minimum.  Surely, the lossless track is immersive and it perfectly develops suspenseful moments in Leonard’s world. 

Extras:

This Blu-ray carriers over important bonus materials from the earlier Limited Edition DVD.

First, we get an audio commentary track with director Nolan. This is an interesting track as Nolan explains how the screenplay lays out Leonard’s condition. He then discusses the significance of color and black-and-white segments. From the technical perspective, we come to know the reasoning of backtracking the opening shot and how the opening shot leads to a black-and-white sequence in the climax of the film.

Following this is a short featurette, “Remembering Memento,” in which filmmakers discuss the significance of a nonlinear narration and how they shot the film non-linearly.

Up next, we get an IFC interview segment with Christopher Nolan. Nolan talks about his own memory and the memory-loss theme used in the film. We learn from Nolan that “Memento” was shot from the perspective of its main protagonist, which lends itself to a distorted narration. He discusses the sense of time in conventional films. He feels that the complicated narrative structure of “Memento” begs multiple viewing, and each viewing promises to bring something useful and intriguing about the plot.

We also get a text-driven short story, “Memento Mori,” written by Jonathan Nolan, that inspired the movie. Finally, we get a tattoo sketches gallery and Leonard’s journal. No theatrical trailers are included on the disc.

                                                                                              

Parting Thoughts:

In the last ten years, “Memento” has generated fanfare for its convoluted narration and for employing nontraditional filming techniques. The film’s structure mostly works, building suspense with each new scene. The script is near perfect, but it occasionally meanders in the middle act. “Memento” is like a puzzle and depending on how quickly you arrange the pieces of this puzzle, the film might just continue to baffle you. In the end, it’s a rewarding viewing experience because of Guy Pierce’s compelling performance in portraying an amnesic person.

This is a splendid-looking Blu-ray release from Lionsgate that definitely improves on the previous Sony Blu-ray release. The disc packs in enough bonus materials, along with a newer version of a lossless track. Highly recommended.