Jason Miller: I personally think this film is a masterpiece and is the best examination of truth since Rashomon. Do you think that this method of storytelling is crucial in making this movie a masterpiece, or is the narrative just made to distract the viewer from a lack of substance?
what do you think?
Wow, interesting you say this, because ‘Memento’ and ‘Rashomon’ are my # 1 and #2 favourite films of all time.
The way it is filmed is what makes the film work, but it’s not a gimmick at all; in fact, it is probably the most intelligently executed means of making the viewer FEEL like the main character. We were constantly in the know ONLY of what was going on in the present, with an extremely hazy memory of the long ago…just like the protagonist. We were able to feel the mindless blissfulness, the frustration, the confusion and all the other feelings associated with such a state of mind. Perhaps you can only relate to these feelings if you have personally experienced such a state of mind…but if you have, it’s uncanny how well Guy Pierce expresses them. Some psychedelic journeying would surely be illuminating in this regard.
Not to mention the cinematography. wow. the bluesy present time, the hazy memories, the black and white past, the continuity at times, the discontinuity at times, the revealing moment when black and white changes to colour and the viewer figures out the order of the scenes. Brilliant. Definitely a masterpiece (although I am yet to see Inception…I won’t hold my breath though). I am proud to consider Memento along with Rashoman, The Mirror, etc as one of my favourite films.
Can’t it be both?
I wouldn’t call it a ‘masterpiece’, but it’s a really good movie. With a great gimmick.
I don’t think any Christopher Nolan movies have any sort of ‘truth’ about humanity. But it’s a very unique film with very good characterization. It’s a pure fantasy film that’s very entertaining, just like his recent movies. Christopher Nolan can imagine his movies as magical realism all he wants. It doesn’t make it so.
I think some of you need to look up the term ‘gimmick’. Clearly, the way ‘Memento’ was shot, the order of scenes in particular, was NECESSARY in telling the full story (by this, I mean more than just the basic plot and its unfolding). If it was told in a straightforward, linear fashion, Memento would be as shallow as any other Hollywood crime-drama… Because of how it was shot, ‘Memento’ is as deep and poignant at translating emotional experience to the viewer as just about any other film I have encountered. Gimmick lmao. You could maybe call the random sequence of days shown in ‘(500) days of summer’ a gimmick., since it really wasn’t necessary..but ‘memento’? hahah
i don’t understand all the fuss around Nolan’s films, ok his films are well crafted and entertaining, but that’s all, nothing special or transcending but if the crowd needs another “genius”…
I love the idea of an unreliable narrator. It reigns you into a world where nothing is written in stone, and the “gimmick”, by the end, turns out to be a comment on the story itself. Writing off the plot device that makes the story move doesn’t seem appropriate for something that’s been as layered as this. I love the ambiguity of the situation especially. You never know exactly what is right and what is wrong by the end, but you understand the motivation of the characters and the spirit of the themes.
Everything Nolan does is a gimmick.
I’d defend Following against said charges.
That’s the one Nolan movie I haven’t seen, aside from I guess some three minute film he did in ’97.
It’s worth the investment of time.
I’ll add it to my watch list. ;)
Having finally watched FOLLOWING last month, I’ve now seen all Nolan’s features, and MEMENTO still is the one that I feel uses its gimmick (oh, and it’s a gimmick all right) to the best and most defensible ends…having our protagonist’s true unreliability emerge slowly yields the maximally chilling depiction of a willfully delusional mind that is in believable denial of its ruthless compulsion to kill and kill again. (edit: if any Nolan fans reading this haven’t seen the original INSOMNIA, please do so now)
Re Rashamon/Memento-
Recentley the Bayamon PR Symphony had its first concert – The program was Shostakovich and John Williams
Such are the times we live in..
I much prefer Peppermint Candy, which takes us through a level of squirm-inducing alienation, or at least disapproval of the central character’s behaviour, on to events that are touching, while throwing up questions over institutions like army and police. It has emotional and political depth, its power going beyond our curiosity to make sense of a life. And in so doing it raises further issues over judging and condemning others, who after all have their reasons.
Nolan has gone downhill to the hideous crowd-pleasing o.t.t display of Dark Knight. He could do with learning some restraint but that’s not the way of many Hollywood hits these childish rollercoaster days
raises further issues over judging and condemning others: Nolan has gone downhill
Apparently, Peppermint Candy’s profound message failed.
With events at St Paul’s and a new call for the death penalty for a murder, i’m more than usual up on judge not lest ye be judged and all that. Anyway, as things look pretty bleak all round, maybe a case of the seed falling on dry soil. Or bringing my own reading to a film that doesn’t ask for such a response; something i take from the film, rather than an overt message.
Though i’ve never had any inclination to watch Memento again, maybe Peppermint Candy would reward a further viewing? The candy might be likened in some way to rosebud and i was even reminded of Kobayashi’s The Human Condition. It’s a painful film.
Judgements are made – understanding the relationships are the issue.
Are Memento and Peppermint Candy relational?
Mainly for the reverse chronology- Memento makes more play on reality/failure to remember and so has a different sense of insecurity and vulnerability i think. But i don’t remember it very clearly myself. Peppermint Candy has the advantage of my just having seen it. It’s difficult to say much about without giving things away, even though at the beginning we know how things end. A case of everyone has their reasons, and something to treasure that got away through outside events as much as character defects really. Irreversible is not at all a likeable film but gains from the reverse order too, i think.
I haven’t seen PC, but it sounds like moral art vs Memento which is formalist.
The social commentary aspect becomes more evident as the film develops and we see the change in personality and reasons why. But it’s certainly not hammered out, more there if you want to take it i think. An important relationship becomes more touching
Is PC a fair comparison to Memento or are we comparing apples to oranges?
Probably the latter, though with the structure it’s no surprise to have found PC mentioned here- in fact that’s how i came across this thread.
That’s what I meant about relationships being the issue – we have a false dichotomy here.
Yeah, for Lee the “how” serves the “what.” With Nolan it’s the “what” serving the “how.”
dope fiend willy
You see, Afro Pop, we disagree, because I think that Throne of Blood, Ran, and Red Beard are masterpieces, while The Hidden Fortress, Stray Dog, and Drunken Angel are also bright spots. I don’t care as much for Dodeskaden, Rhapsody in August, or Madadayo, but you do, and if you put our lists together you have a lot more than 5 or 6 great films.
The man made more great films than anybody.