pibiz

[pibiz]

Week 01G. Submission - The History of Memento

The film I watched this week was Christopher Nolan's "Memento". This movie had an impact on me because of the questions it left either partially or entirely unanswered. The film itself is incredibly engaging, as you're constantly trying to figure out what is true, even on subsequent re-watches. The order of the film makes this even more confusing, as we know we see the last scene before the rest in reverse order, so we already know what happens but are trying to figure out why. In the beginning, we can assume we have some answers, but by the end, we leave with more questions than we had in the opening scene. I personally find the themes and plot of the film to be the most appealing out of the elements of the film. Throughout the film, the notion of who the main character, Leonard, can trust comes more and more into question to the point that even the trust of the main character comes into question. This is first hinted at when another character says to Leonard something along the lines of "You know who you were, you don't know what you've become".

I find the history of "Memento" very interesting, as the film was based on a short story written by Christopher Nolan's brother, Jonathan Nolan, despite the story being published after the movie was released. The two stories are very distinct from one another while still sharing some key elements and themes, such as the whole anterograde amnesia plot point and the revenge arc. In terms of critical acclaim, the film was very well received by critics and audiences alike. Many critics praised the film for its unique structure, serving as a lens to view the film from a perspective similar to the main character's, however, there were a few critics who viewed this aspect of the film as gimmicky. The film was a major critical success regardless of its negative reviews. In terms of its marketability, it casts some well-known actors like Guy Pearce, Joe Pantoliano, and Carrie-Anne Moss and relies heavily on its elements of drama and psychological mind games to carry the plot. The style of the movie can also be attributed to a more neo-noir style, which is generally more appealing to a more mature audience. Additionally, this film was rated R, containing scenes with guns and violence, as well as references to alcohol and sex. In terms of monetary success, the film had a budget of nine million dollars and grossed nearly forty million worldwide, so it was considered a financial success. The film's rerun in 2020 grossed it another three hundred thousand.

Christopher Nolan's "Memento" is absolutely an unconventional film. In terms of digestibility, this film was designed to be challenging to decipher in terms of its plot, and even more difficult to discern in its ethical concerns. Off the bat, the most glaring concern is the structure of the film, being in a reverse chronological order. I could easily see an argument that the film is too difficult to follow being formatted as it is. This format was very experimental and sort of unprecedented, so it was sort of a risk in terms of marketability. Thankfully, this ended up paying off, as most people saw this aspect of the film as an upside to the film, and in my opinion, I think the film benefits from the format Christopher Nolan chose to present it in.

In terms of how my subjective memories diverge from the history I found, I had never really looked into the history of the film itself until now. The film came out four years before I was born, and I hadn't watched it until only a few years ago. The only historical fact I knew about the film prior to this project was how that the film was an adaptation of Jonathan Nolan's short story, "Memento Mori". In terms of a contemporaneous event that occurred around the time I first saw the film, I first saw "Memento" just after the COVID pandemic started to die down a bit.

The film doesn't look too different on re-watch since I had already re-watched it somewhat recently, hence prompting me to choose it for this assignment. I had always looked upon this film with high praise since I first saw it, as it was one of the first films that had really interested me in the sort of format of drama where some things are left open ended and the viewer is left with a lot of unanswered questions that they get to think about after watching.

Sources:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i_Y5UB3xxW8&list=PL27C07BF6B25591DB

Links to an external site.https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt0209144/?ref_=bo_se_r_1 Links to an external site.https://theindependentcritic.com/memento Links to an external site.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eqYhouRLYis&list=PL27C07BF6B25591DB&index=7&pp=iAQB Links to an external site.