Memento (2000)

A man, suffering from short-term memory loss, uses notes and tattoos to hunt for the man he thinks killed his wife.

Director:

Christopher Nolan

Writers:

Christopher Nolan (screenplay), Jonathan Nolan (short story "Memento Mori")

Stars:

Guy Pearce, Carrie-Anne Moss, Joe Pantoliano

Top 250 #35 | Nominated for 2 Oscars. Another 46 wins & 34 nominations.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Guy Pearce	...	Leonard
Carrie-Anne Moss	...	Natalie
Joe Pantoliano	...	Teddy
Mark Boone Junior	...	Burt
Russ Fega	...	Waiter
Jorja Fox	...	Leonard's Wife
Stephen Tobolowsky	...	Sammy Jankis
Harriet Sansom Harris	...	Mrs. Jankis
Thomas Lennon	...	Doctor
Callum Keith Rennie	...	Dodd
Kimberly Campbell	...	Blonde
Marianne Muellerleile	...	Tattooist
Larry Holden	...	Jimmy

Storyline

Memento chronicles two separate stories of Leonard, an ex-insurance investigator who can no longer build new memories, as he attempts to find the murderer of his wife, which is the last thing he remembers. One story line moves forward in time while the other tells the story backwards revealing more each time.

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Plot Keywords:

memory | short term memory | murder | short term memory loss | polaroid | 

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Taglines:

Some memories are best forgotten

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Genres:

Mystery | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for violence, language and some drug content

Details

Official Sites:

Memento

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

11 October 2000 (France)

Also Known As:

Amnesia

Filming Locations:

Altadena, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$9,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$235,488 (USA) (16 March 2001)

Gross:

$25,530,884 (USA) (9 November 2001)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Newmarket Capital Group, Team Todd, I Remember Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

113 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Black and White Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Christopher Nolan's screenplay was based on his brother Jonathan Nolan's story "Memento Mori". But the screenplay is still considered original (rather than adapted) because Jonathan's story wasn't published until after the film was completed.

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Goofs

Sammy Jenkins is reported as having "possible damage in the hippocampus, nothing conclusive" but the CT scan of his brain shown at the time is grossly abnormal. It shows a large left sided subdural haematoma (bleed) with significant mass effect. It is very likely that a patient with such a scan would be seriously unwell.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Leonard Shelby: [voiceover] So where are you? You're in some motel room. You just - you just wake up and you're in - in a motel room. There's the key. It feels like maybe it's just the first time you've been there, but perhaps you've been there for a week, three months. It's - it's kind of hard to say. I don't - I don't know. It's just an anonymous room.

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Connections

Referenced in Supernatural: Unforgiven (2011)

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Soundtracks

"Generation Z"
(2000)
Written and Performed by Monc
Courtesy of Conglomerated Industries

User Reviews

overused plot + often abused style = best movie of the year

A man with no short term memory tries to solve a murder. The scenes in the movie are played in reverse. Sounds like yet another run of the mill comedy but in reality is one of the best suspense/dramas I've seen in years.

While some may claim showing the scenes in reverse is just an annoying trick to make a simple plot confusing and add a plethora of twists, I wholeheartedly disagree. Any good story teller knows it's not what you say, but how you say it.

By playing the scenes in reverse you experience the confusion Lenny undergoes throughout the film. Showing some of the scenes in chronological order (BTW, the use of B&W instead of color to make the time distinction was ingenious) creates suspense which builds as the two timelines converge. The somewhat rushed pace (compared to a written format) doesn't give you enough time to adequately analyze the events during the movie. This has two advantages: firstly you're going to talk about it after you leave the theater adding to experience immensely, and secondly you don't have time to think about what has happened (will happen) so you're experience better follows that of Lenny.

While many might find the movie rather confusing, it flows wonderfully for anyone familiar with writing styles that constantly jump around a timeline (e.g. Catch 22).