Memento is an ingenious exercise in the pliability of story structure and a supremely cleverly edited film. Only Christopher Nolan's second film after the low budget Following, it's an incredibly confident work, full of depth and layers of different interpretations. The story, based on a short story by Nolan's brother Jonah, follows Guy Pearce (who has rarely been better) as Leonard Shelby, a man who suffers from short-term memory loss after being hit over the head by one of two men who had attacked and murdered his wife. Leonard asserts that he killed the man who struck the deadly blow but the second one got away, and it is this man that Leonard is searching for throughout the film. Due to his inability to remember recent events, Leonard uses a brilliantly realised system of notes, polaroid pictures and even tattoos, all depicting any information in his investigation he deems important. The film is then told in a non-linear structure, with two different timelines: the coloured timeline's scenes are shown in reverse, whereas the black and white timeline is in chronological order. This makes the film a puzzle made to be solved by the viewer, who is always kept guessing by the tricky narrative. It all leads to a remarkable conclusion and is a movie that simply begs for repeat viewings. One can only hope that Nolan returns to do another film in this wheelhouse later in his career, once he is finished busting blocks with the likes of Interstellar.
