Memento (2000)

(imdb) (rotten tomatoes) (metacritic) (mubi)

After reviewing this, I felt I needed to detox and review something good, and what better film id there to soothe a film buffs mind than Memento. Now, I am afraid that I might exaggerate in praising it, but after seeing however many times I have, I have come to the conclusion that this film features one of the most incredibly told stories ever. Of course this may send a chill down the elitist's spine, who having heard of Christopher Nolan only after his incredible success with Inception, will think, "What a buffoon, calling a film made by this explosion heavy, De Caprio addled halfwit of a director the conceiver of a masterpiece, ha, I laugh at at this simpleton." I will refrain from rebutting all the points made by my imaginary elitist counterpart, since it is only imaginary, but even so, it does make a good point, how can I put Nolan's second feature film (after Following), up with masterpieces such as Bergman's Seventh Seal or Fellini's 8 è mezzo (which I will eventually review)? This film is one of the best examples of the use of nonlinear narrative, because it not only fits in perfectly with the deranged anterograde amnesia suffering protagonist's coatic mind, but it also serves well in the representation of the disorganised and deceiving Los Angeles, as if it were supposed to have been shown that way from the start and Nolan was the first to pick up on it. The simple revenge tragedie based story is rendered intriguing by the employment of two alternating timelines, one in color, where the main body is developed, oh, I almost forgot, it is shown in reverse chronological order, and the other in black and white. Don't let it's apparent intricacy but you off, because, as it unfolds, it becomes a tounge in cheek thriller. So overall if you are looking for a mindbending thriller (neo-nior influences), with decadent view of Los Angles and twist ending, Memento is probably the best example of all those things.
8.5/10