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Memento (2000)
A modern-day masterpiece
From the literal beginnings of the 21st century comes what will probably go down as one of the top 10 films of the period.
Leonard, who seeks revenge for the killing of his wife, suffers from short-term memory loss, not being able to remember anything from about 10 minutes ago. His quest is presented in a, as far as I know, unique structure, assembling the scenes in reverse chronological order and sandwiching them with black & white scenes from an unknown time period (relative to the body of the film).
What is so great about this premise? Well, besides being a astounding experiment in montage, it is an incredibly effective way of putting in Lenny's shoes. Every colored scene begins with no context whatsoever, putting the viewer and the main character in the same situation. You can only guess by knowing what will happen next, which is masterfully countered by Nolan with a script that never ceases to amaze, either by smartly including just the needed amount of context for the previous scene (or the next, in the movie's internal chronology), or by changing our perspective of what we just watched (scene at Natalie's house).
This is an incredibly technical premise for a film, but it also manages to reach an emotional level. After all, isn't all that hard to imagine the horror of having a condition such as Lenny's. This takes me to the main complain I've seen for this film, which is how surface-level characters may seem, with the film trying to uselessly get a sensitive response from the viewer. While this holds true (for me) for Nolan's future films, such as Inception or Interstellar, I don't think it applies to Memento. As happens with Lenny in his daily living, the viewers don't have the time to know someone in a deeper way than a now-you-make-this-thing-to-get-your-revenge level. Also, his condition makes his quest turn completely trivial and we, as the viewers, can experience this very clearly.
Nolan just crafted a film that left me wondering how someone could possibly make such an original thriller, keeping it so complex and, at the same time, so comprehensible. My only reservation. Watching Teddy´s reveal to Lenny, you can see traces that show Nolan as a director which later would heavily depend on exposition, and not the good kind. Otherwise, this is as close to a totally monumental film as you can be. Watching the relationship between the colored and B&W scenes at the ending of the film constitutes one of my favorite moments in cinema, showing the power the medium is capable of achieve as an art form. Together with its heartbreaking ending, this amounts of one of my favorite movies ever.
99/100.