MYST Post #3

 

For my third MYST post, I watched the movie Memento, by Christopher Nolan. After watching it in class, I knew it was something I had to see, and ironically my Philosophy class was watching it at the same time so I decided to do my review on it. The movie is extremely unique and creative in that the plot works in a reverse manner. It shows what happens at the end of the story first, and then backs up to meet in the middle, with scenes going forward intertwined. This is very confusing, so refer to the graph below to understand the plot progression more clearly. The story is about a man named Lenny whose wife was raped and killed by a man named John G. This movie chronicles his quest to find and kill his wife’s murderer. However, Lenny’s head injury leaves him unable to form long term memories, so he has to keep notes to remember what he is doing. The scenes represent his point of view, as someone with no memory of what happened a day ago. I would classify the genre as a psychological thriller, in that it is as much an exploration of the function of the mind, as it is of his story.

 

One scene that stood out to me was when we find out that Natalie, someone who seemed to be Lenny’s friend, turned out to be using him the whole time. She says incredibly offense and completely evil things to him, and provokes him to punch her. He does, and she leaves the house crying. What makes it interesting is that she walks back into the house a moment after, and Lenny has no idea what happened because of his condition, so he tries to console her and find out who did that to her. At the beginning of the movie we see that Natalie has these bruises, but didn’t know who did it. During this scene we see it was actually Lenny. Moments of realization like this are what make this movie so interesting and cool to watch. It stood out not just because of the terrible things Natalie said, but because we finally realize she has been using him the whole time. The movie is packed with a ton of scenes that stand out, and there is a wide assortment to choose from.

The thing this movie did best was its defying of a traditional narrative structure. The black and white scenes provide a supplement that explains his background and condition, in addition to what leads up to the end of the film. It defies traditional narrative structure because the STORY goes from end to beginning, instead of the traditional beginning to end. However, it also follows traditional narrative structure because it has a start, rising action, and climax at the end, and that is its own story in itself. This movie was really two in one intertwined with each other, which was extremely interesting. In addition, the movie makes interesting points about the nature of truth versus reality, and moral responsibility. Is Lenny responsible for his actions even though he doesn’t have a memory? I think he is. At the end of the movie we become aware of his admittance that he lies to himself to stay happy, he takes advantage of his own condition to manipulate himself. This is where Lenny shows moral irresponsibility, and where I think he deserves to be punished. However, everything else is justified; I know if I woke up with all his tattoos and notes I would do the same thing. Regardless, vigilante revenge by murder is not acceptable, and his condition is irrelevant, he would be morally responsible either way. These philosophical and moral questions that the movie raises are what make it so unique and interesting.

Overall, I would give this movie a 10/10. The plot and story structure are enough to make me fall in love with it in the first place, and I think the acting and setting and characters were all really well done as well. The thriller aspect of the movie is really entertaining, and the twist ending is the best I have ever seen. I really, really liked this movie and would consider it one of, if not the, favorite movie of mine. I would recommend everyone to watch this, but beware you have to be mentally focused and emotionally invested in order to fully appreciate, understand, and enjoy it.