Mementos narrative structure is one of the films big talking points. By telling the tale through three strands - the present day investigation running backwards, the black-and-white pre-amble told in the right order, and the Sammy Jankis cutaways that add further context Chris Nolan weaved together an impressive and complex story. It turns out that Nolans dislike of TV plotting inspired this. He told the LA Times of his opinion that "film narrative has been held back by television, before elaborating that it comes down to what I call the pizza delivery scenario. If a pizza arrives while you're watching TV, you have to answer the door, deal with the man and then be able to get straight back into the story, having missed three or four minutes. Nolan wanted to make a movie that wasnt so simple to flit in and out of, and he definitely succeeded. If you come in three minutes late you miss the whole movie, he claims, as well as admitting that though I've got a good visual memory and I've seen it about a thousand times, if I walk into a screening when the film's been on for 20 minutes, even I don't know what scene is coming next." That being said, you could always watch the in the right order DVD version if youre worried about getting distracted. Its not as good, though.
