Memento
I really enjoyed this film, it is somewhat complicated and I found it hard to follow, but the storyline was interesting and very twisted. I would recommend that people watch this film more than once to make sure they don’t miss anything. This movie really kept my attention by building suspense within the story. One thing would happen, then the movie would add more to the story, and I would be left asking myself what happened to lead up to the action. How the film was produced and put together also kept my attention, I didn’t want to stop watching it because I was afraid that I might miss some vital information. This movie kept me thinking the whole time, I thought I knew what was what and then the story would change and so would my perspective on the characters. It was difficult for me to follow it at first, but as the story built up, I was able to better understand everything.
This film was assembled in a very non traditional way. The film began at the end and worked its way to the beginning and within the main storyline there was an additional story, so it was two stories in one. The scenes were scattered, the film began with the end scene, and then would flash back to a different scene, which lead up to it and built on to the previous scene. The first scene began with a slow motion, rewind, and then it played back forwards in regular time. The sequence of the film was in a backwards fashion, which gave me a sense of how it would be trying to live with a disorder such as Lenny’s. One thing would happen and then I would question why and how did it happen, so I felt confused, as I can image Lenny did.
This film also used flashbacks, from present time to the past. The movie would flash from the current scene to a scene that would have preceded it. This made the story play out in an unorganized fashion. Each scene transitioned into a different scene by completely swapping over, using an inside/out type of editing. During the main story, the film would also flash to a different story, which helped to describe who Lenny was compared to who he is now. It also told of a man, with a similar condition to Lenny’s, but towards the conclusion of the film I was left wondering if the story of this other man was Lenny or if it was truly Sammy Jankins. So even after the film was over, I still had questions that were left unanswered.
The main storyline was filmed in color, while the second story was filmed in black and white. The black and white scenes needed to be in a different context to keep them seperate from the main story. The use of black and white also helped to distinguish the mood of the second story. The lack of color coincided with the lack of emotion Lenny had towards Sammy and his wife. It contributed to the feelings Lenny had after his accident, such as paranoia, detachment from reality, and loss of his own emotions. The lack of color symbolized Lenny in both his present and past state of health.
Sound is a part of film that is vastly overlooked, but it is an addition that helps to create the whole film. The main storyline was through an objective point of view, I was watching what was happening from an outsiders view. The black and white was the opposite; it was filmed partially from a subjective point of view. I heard what Lenny was thinking as he sat in the hotel room, confused about his current state. This sound technique gave me an inside look at how Lenny rationalized and thought through unfamiliar situations. It helped to intensify the type of feelings that someone would experience with a memory loss condition. It also made the scenes more intimate, I was not only feeling Lenny’s fear, but could also hear and understand it.
Overall, I really enjoyed this film and how different it was compared to traditional films. It was amazing to see that a story can be told backwards and out of context, but still be interesting and keep my attention. I really enjoyed some of the things that Lenny said because they were deep, meaningful, and very true. He said that just because he couldn’t remember what he has done doesn’t mean that his actions are meaningless. He also said the memory is unreliable and it’s a guide, but not a permanent record. Both of these quotes stuck with me for different reasons. First, no one should feel that their actions are meaningless despite how minuscule they may be. He couldn’t remember, but he felt as though his actions gave meaning to his life and drove him to live. The second quote I like because it is so true. I know that my memory is unreliable and I don’t think that anyone can deny this.
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