| Written by John Shea,
on 17-03-2001 08:00
|
Published in : Reviews, Movies |
The concept of amnesia has been addressed on TV and in the movies countless times. It's a tired subject that's likely not worth any further attention. However, Christopher Nolan finds himself a rare illness that destroys the memory in a completely different way and turns it into an endlessly fascinating movie.
 The hero of the film is Leonard Shelby (Guy Pearce). He was an insurance investigator until one night when he was awoken by noises in his bathroom. He burst in just in time to witness a man killing his wife. In the confusion, Leonard was struck a blow to the head that damaged him in a horrible way. Leonard didn't lose his memory. Instead he lost the ability to create new memories. The last thing he remembers is the death of his wife and no matter how long he lives, no other memory takes over.
Imagine for a moment how you would get along without the ability to remember anything you just saw or heard. What if you were in a conversation and after a couple minutes you couldn't remember who you were talking to, what you were talking about or how it started? How would you live?
That quandary is at the heart of this movie. Leonard is driven to avenge his wife's death, even if he can't remember that he got revenge. To survive and keep himself going he takes Polaroid photos of important people and places and couples them with notes to replace his memory. Really important details he has tattooed on his body. This creates a weird image every time he takes off his shirt.
The movie's concept is obviously unique and interesting but for Nolan, that's not enough. He also decides to tell the story backwards to put us in the same predicament as Leonard. The story unwinds in short little pieces, with each piece ending where the previous one started. Between these sections is another series of scenes, shot in black and white, that move forward in time to eventually meet up with the other part of the movie. The primary purpose of this series of scenes is to give us the tale of Sammy Jankis, which holds the key to Leonard's ability to function.
The beauty of telling the story this way is that, like Leonard, we can't remember what happened before the current scene. We haven't seen that scene yet and have to translate current events without benefit of knowing their history. It's natural to make assumptions based on observation but when the whole story isn't available, those assumptions will frequently prove inaccurate. That's a really fancy way of saying that this movie is gonna screw with your head.
There is only thing wrong with this movie that causes me to deny it the perfect five star rating. It is not a particularly emotionally involving story. Now considering the story in detail, it was pretty much inevitable that emotion would be set aside. The only emotional element in the story is the need for revenge. Leonard survives entirely on his routine. The last thing he remembers is the rape and murder for his wife. The combination makes him a pretty dogged investigator but not the most sympathetic of characters. I don't necessarily fault the movie for this lack of emotional investment in Leonard but it would be the only thing I'd really want added to the movie to improve it.
It's not entirely impossible either. The most emotional point of the movie is the story of Sammy Jankis. He had the exact same disorder as Leonard. The difference is that Leonard's marriage was destroyed by the murder and rape of his wife while Sammy's was destroyed because his wife couldn't let go of the old Sammy. That man was gone, replaced by one who looked exactly like Sammy and to a degree acted like him. But the new Sammy simply couldn't function or deal with the world normally anymore. That strange combination was what broke his wife's heart.
Further adding to Leonard's confusion are two other characters. Teddy (Joe Pantoliano) keeps turning up with little bits of advice for Leonard. He seems stuck somewhere between really caring about him and just messing with his head. Also adding to the chaos is Natalie (Carrie-Anne Moss) who seems to be a friendly face for Leonard but with a illness like his it doesn't pay to trust anyone. Moss makes a nice femme fatale character to add real danger to the movie while Pantoliano helps keep us constantly confused.
One of the great things about this movie is that things aren't laid out nice and neat for the audience. You're going to have to really think about what you see. You may, like me, require a second viewing to try and sort out in your head just what happened. I'm betting that even then you'll be hard pressed to have a complete understanding of the movie. There are a few things left undefined in the movie that prevent developing a perfectly clear explanation. I love that because it pretty much guarantees that the movie will be endlessly debated for years. As far as I'm concerned the movie is a virtual lock for my top ten list of 2001.
- John Shea
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