Memento

Memento is a mind bending thriller from director Christopher Nolan, based off the short story Memento Mori by his brother Jonathan Nolan. It follows a man who has lost the ability to create new memories while he is on the quest to avenge his wife's death.

This is one of those films that can be used in the argument that sometimes the movie is better than the original story. The original shot story by Jonathan Nolan was good, but didn't seem to give enough context as one would like. However, the feature film expands on this idea Jonathan had and creates something better in the sense of more context. The visual aspects of the film help a lot as well, giving us a more clear cut difference between the scenes that are happening and the black and white scenes.

The idea to do the story backwards is an original one, and it's hard to imagine it working any other way. If you look at the film chronologically from the story standpoint, you would know far to much too soon. Somehow working from the conclusion to the actual beginning of the story brings along more twists and turns than would have been. Christopher Nolan does a great job with this, and delivers a great mystery as per usual. He somehow tows the line between over-the-top mystery and something that would induce an eye roll with his stories(i.e. M. Night Shyamalan, Grant Morrison) to make a great puzzle story that leaves everyone talking long after the credits roll.

I think it's important to note that aspect, we are all left discussing it. With stories like this, we aren't meant to necessarily have a clear cut answer to every question raised. The creator wants us to talk about it, and each have our own interpretation of what may have happened. Yes, there is a clear cut ending for the most part, with facts laid out by the movie at the end. However, it seems we are almost like Leonard himself, writing down what we know to be a fact and leaving the other points to either forget or change to our own liking. This approach is the backbone of any great puzzle story, and is in the likes of narratives such as the television show LOST and video game Bioshock Infinite. All these answer main questions, but leave a set to the viewers imagination. It's something that seems to be a preferred method, considering how much hate someone like M. Night Shyamalan receives for giving an almost clear cut twist and answer to the entire story that can easily be described in a sentence or two. I would challenge anyone to describe the ending to this film in the amount of effort it takes to say "Bruce Willis is dead", "the old lady is the Devil", or "the aliens weakness is water".

In the end, I think it's good we are discussing it, because that's what the artist wants us to do. We aren't meant to have the answers to everything laid out to us, we are supposed to form our own ideas from the information given. This is the characteristic of a piece of work that will live on for years and years to come, as we see it already has. Everyone who hasn't seen this movie is more likely to recommend it to a friend, just so they can talk to them about it.