Memento
2000
*****
Director: Christopher Nolan
Cast: Guy Pearce, Carrie-Anne Moss, Joe Pantoliano, Mark Boone Junior, Russ Fega, Jorja Fox, Stephen Tobolowsky, Harriet Sansom Harris, Thomas Lennon, Callum Keith Rennie
Leonard suffered head trauma in an attack in which his wife was murdered. He is unable to form new long-term memories, and relies on notes, Polaroids, and tattoos to track information and continue his search for the killer. Christopher Nolan's breakthrough is a highly original thriller based on his brother Jonathan Nolan's short story Memento Mori. To reflect Leonard's fractured memory, the main part of the story is presented in reverse order, alternating with black-and-white flashbacks told in chronological order. This storytelling trickery could have resulted in gimmicky and self-satisfied nonsense, but Nolan's beautifully orchestrated film is consistently intriguing, entertaining, and unexpectedly funny.
