Wednesday, September 29, 2010

A Short Synopsis Of The Twisted Movie Memento

By Elaine Holcomb

If you are reading into this article, than you are likely looking to learn a little more about one of the greatest films to be released in the year 2000, "Memento". This film has several different reasons for being as good as it was, and many of these will be discussed within this article, along with a detailed plot synopsis.

There are several things to understand and learn when it comes to fully appreciating a film like this. The best way that anyone can really learn about almost any film is through reading a brief plot synopsis to give them the most important parts of the plot. The trouble with this movie and that plan is, this movie does not follow a normal chronological order.

Unless of course, you do so in what chronological order you yourself can pull from the film. In its pieces and parts, the film could be in a very logical order, when you rearrange the parts. There is a very good reason for the film to be out of whack like this, not just for the confusion of the audience. It is actually the whole essence of the film, just having the movie go in a non-sequential order like this.

The reason, is that the main character of the piece, Leonard Shelby, suffers from anterograde amnesia. This is a condition that allows you to keep all the memories that you have up until the time you get it, but you cannot create new memories from then after. He got the condition from receiving a blow to the head when he attempted to stop two men from raping and killing his wife. He managed to kill one of the two, while the other clubbed him in the head. This blow caused the amnesia.

He is rather taken advantage of in his condition, as several people have allowed him to do their dirty work, giving him ammunition in saying that they had something to do with the killing of his wife. Important information that he collects that is relative to the case is tattooed onto his body, so that he does not forget them.

It isn't long into the story that Lenny gets a call from a guy claiming to be a police officer (later to call himself Teddy) who has information about the whereabouts of the second killer. Lenny believes him and soon he is in route to meet this Jimmy, a slummy drug dealer. Turns out, after Lenny kills him, we learn that he had nothing to do with Lenny's wife's murder.

You meet several people throughout the story, and they all play an intricate role into the very complicated nature of this plot. In the last sections of the film, you deduce along with Leonard who the second killer is, and you accompany him to exact his revenge. Though the film was written very well, you might care to take note of the incredible performances from Guy Pearce (Leonard) and Joe Pantaliano (Teddy).

If you aren't careful, "Memento" could lose you to its sporadic jumping back and forth in how the story progresses. But if you are paying attention, you are likely to see one of the best films to have been released in all of 2000, and likely one of the best of the whole '00s.

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