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Memento Details

2000 Certificate 15
  • Rated:
  • 80
  • from 60,368 members

MEMENTO, the second feature by writer-director Christopher Nolan (FOLLOWING), is an intricately constructed film noir that masterfully inverts time to comment on the foggy relationship between memory and truth. MEMENTO tells the story of Leonard Shelby (Guy Pearce), a former insurance investigator who witnesses a brutal attack .. Read more

Starring Guy Pearce, Carrie-Anne Moss, Joe Pantoliano
Director Christopher Nolan
Genres Thriller

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Memento

MEMENTO, the second feature by writer-director Christopher Nolan (FOLLOWING), is an intricately constructed film noir that masterfully inverts time to comment on the foggy relationship between memory and truth. MEMENTO tells the story of Leonard Shelby (Guy Pearce), a former insurance investigator who witnesses a brutal attack on his wife. Knocked unconscious, Leonard wakes up with a rare brain condition--he no longer possesses short-term memory. He can remember his name and all the details of his past, but he can no longer make new memories. Armed with a careful system of remembering details (he compulsively snaps Polaroids and scribbles notes, then tattoos the important facts directly onto his body), the distraught Leonard goes on a manhunt to avenge his wife's death. To illustrate the unique and frightening state of the protagonist's mind (he cannot remember what happened even seconds before), Nolan takes a brilliantly successful risk in telling the story backward. The film begins with Leonard killing the man he's looking for. From there MEMENTO unravels a compellingly disconcerting trail back to the start. As the layers of the story are peeled back scene by scene, Leonard's involvement with two enigmatic "friends"--who both claim to be helping him--complicates the mystery.
Based on a short story by the director's brother, Jonathan Nolan, MEMENTO is an incredibly original film that is so wonderfully puzzling and eerily ambiguous that it will surely warrant repeated viewings.

Starring Guy Pearce, Carrie-Anne Moss, Joe Pantoliano
Director Christopher Nolan
Studio PATHE DISTRIBUTION
Run time DVD: 1 hr 49 mins
Certificate Certificate 15
Collections 100 must-see movies
Genres Thriller
Language DVD: English
Hearing-impaired English
Released DVD: 30 Apr 2001
Production year: 2000
Format DVD

Memento (2000)

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    MEMENTO, the second feature by writer-director Christopher Nolan (FOLLOWING), is an intricately constructed fi...

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  • Critics' reviews (6) of Memento

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  • 5 stars out of 5

    This dazzling, highly original “anti-thriller” has a complex, jumbled narrative that, like the play and musical Merrily We Roll Along, moves backwards in time. Thus we begin with the climactic murder then regress through the events that led up to it. Matters are complicated by the fact that the killer (Guy Pearce) suffers from a rare form of amnesia, leaving him with no short-term memory. The mystery requires a lot of concentration, but the stunning final scene is ample reward. Not just an indulgence, the ingenious structure makes the point that memory, although unreliable, is what we depend upon for our sense of reality. We are not, however, likely to forget the name of writer/director Christopher Nolan, whose first film, the similar Following, signalled his brilliantly individual talent.

    • Radio Times
  • "...MEMENTO has the uniquely disorienting quality of a puzzle....It's the rare mystery in which every moment lives....Pearce's extraordinary performance lends even the smallest events the aura of a life-or-death search..."

    • Entertainment Weekly
  • Most helpful member's review of Memento

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  • 75 out of 82 people found this review helpful

    Rated - 5 stars

    Simply outstanding

    An excellent film. Well directed and acted by all concerned. The way the film has been put together means that you frequently know what is coming, but not how you are going to get there. After you have watched and enjoyed the film as it was intended I recommend watching it forwards .Access the special features section of the DVD. Wait for the 'Memento Mori' picture to move and the pic of Leonard with a pic in his mouth to take up most of the screen (best wait for the words 'Memento Mori' to be barely visible at the edge of the screen). Press enter/play. A screen will come up telling you you have found the hidden version of the film. Click on 'Play'.

    And then watch the film in chronological order including the end credits rolling backwards at the beginning and the opening segment running forwards.

    It will give you a new perspective on all the characters as they are introduced to you in an entirely different way.

      • A customer from St. Albans
  • Most recent members' review of Memento

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  • 10 out of 10 people found this review helpful

    Rated - 1 star [Highly rated reviewer]

    Ok

    Not much to say about this, it was just 'ok'!

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Rating breakdown

60,368 Member ratings
  • 100
10,702
  • 90
9,090
  • 80
14,994
  • 70
10,068
  • 60
6,951
  • 50
3,713
  • 40
2,017
  • 30
1,254
  • 20
1,035
  • 10
544

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