A Flim, the beginning has told us the end of the story, seems to have no suspense to speak of, but the director Christopher Nolan has subverted the definition of “story suspense”, that is, the process of the story is more important than the suspenseful ending.
The film, which did not cost much and was shot in only 25 days, brought great glory to director Nolan, starring Pierce, and the film itself in 2000. Such as the Chicago Film Critics Association Award (2002), the IndependentSpirit Award (2002), the Broadcast Film Critics Association Award (2002) and many other awards, but also for Nolan’s film style laid a deep thematic exploration. The film I introduced is “Memento”, which is ranked 30th on the “IMDb TOP List”.
For this suspense thriller released in 2000, I believe that the audience who have seen it, its greatest impression is its non-linear narrative style.
As the whole movie uses the montage of shots in cinematography, resulting in the audience’s first time watching the film, the idea is very confusing. I remember when I watched the film in my second year of high school, I only understood 60 to 70 percent of the film, and I was very confused.
The narrative structure of the film is mainly like this: the beginning of the film is actually the ending of the story, and then the film starts to narrate in two lines, one is the black and white positive chronological order, and the other is the color reverse chronological order, in which the black and white and color lines are interspersed about every five minutes. As the film progresses, the black-and-white line transitions to color at 1 hour and 39 minutes, symbolizing the unification of the two lines.
In fact, the use of non-linear storytelling is found in many films, but the strength of this film lies in its ability to combine deep philosophical discussion with rigorous and complex logical thinking, which is a kind of communication between the director and the audience. Nolan on the one hand and the director of “Shawshank Redemption” Frank Darabont general, enlighten people’s minds, cause people to the truth and memory of the two ordinary terms contrast; but on the other hand, Nolan is not limited to this, he also and the reasoning writer Ellery Quinn general challenge the reader, through the suspense left the reader to think, envision more ways to end.
In fact, the film just watched when we always struggle with the narrative and the truth of the story is what, in fact, the narrative is only the film’s veneer, the truth of the story is only Nolan’s thinking exercises for us, while the essence of the film may be the protagonist Lerner and Teddy in the cafe that seemingly unrelated to the film’s dialogue: T: you have to be careful, you have to be careful.
T: You have to be careful, you mentioned that someone is trying to mislead you to kill the wrong person
L: I will judge by the facts, not by what others tell.
T: How can you decide who to kill based on a note or a photo?
L: Why not? T: Because the note may not be reliable .
L: Memory may not be reliable either, thanks for your kind words. Memory is not always accurate, and it may not even fit. Ask the police, eyewitness testimony may not be reliable, the police are not apprehended by memory, the police collect facts, take notes, and then make a conclusion. By fact, not by memory. I used to be an investigator, so I know. Shapes, colors and details may not be remembered accurately, memory can also be distorted, memory is only a description of interpretation, can not be taken as a record, have the facts, you do not have to rely on memory.
But in the film there is a contradiction: on the one hand, Lerner must use his memory to confirm his former identity, but on the other hand, he must use his so-called facts to confirm the current events, which is a contradiction throughout the film.
The film’s editing and color processing is also quite good, in black and white color line editing, the director tried to make the film more realistic; the combination of warm and cold tones let the film reveal the secret room type of thinking. Pierce’s performance is just right, performing the lead actor’s wit and confusion, in the absence of memory when the panic, in addition to the casual dress, more revealing the temperament of Lerner.
For the philosophical meaning of the movie, I think the monologue of the hero at the end of the movie can best reflect: “I have to believe that there is a world outside my consciousness – I have to believe that the world is not a figment of my imagination, I have to believe that what I do still has meaning, even if I can’t remember what I did , I have to believe that the world still exists even when I close my eyes.