Memento

A Movie Backwards

I did actually see this movie in the cinema when it came out back in 2000, this is one movie that you will probably need to see more than once. Although it does become very apparent from the beginning that the story is being told from the end first.



The film starts with the Polaroid photograph of a dead man, then the reverse timeline starts and we see the photo undevelop and then enter the camera, followed by the taking of the picture. Like I said a story backwards.

The movies uses a combination of black and white and colour in order to show when the story is being told backwards, and when it is being told in the normal manner.

We are introduced to Leonard a man that cannot form any new memories, and he is looking for the people that murdered his wife. This is the last "new" memory he has, he has pieces of clues, such as the name of the attacker is either James or John and the surname starts with G.

In order to combat his condition, Leonard has developed a system of notes, and even gone to the extent of tattooing himself with the really important ones so he can't loose or forget them.

As the story unfolds, Leonard tracks down a Jimmy Grantz, he also meets a barmaid called Natalie whom helps him to find the killer. She traces a license plate he has to a John Edward Gammell, but what are her motives for helping him?

The final scene does have an interesting twist to the plot, so if you haven't seen it I won't spoil it for you as it is quite good. If you can get your head around the sequence of events and the constant backwards and forward then it is quite a good movie and worth watching.