After watching Primer, I really got the taste for some more creative storytelling. I was reminded of the movie that I often consider to be my favorite of all time: Memento, directed by Christopher Nolan. We talked about it a bit at the end of class and I decided to go rewatch it.
I like Memento for many reasons. It's stylish, it has an interesting aesthetic, and it has a very "neutral" tone, never getting too overdramatic nor too comedic. I think that works especially well in a film where every scene starts with Leonard (the protagonist) not knowing what's going on and whether it's good or bad. This is shown really well in the scene that starts with him running. At first, he thinks that he's chasing the guy, so he runs towards him, only to quickly realize that, no, he was running away from him. These little details really help to sell Leonard's memory condition as well as being novel and entertaining.
There are also 3 important characters who all have their own little stories. Sammy, who had the same condition as Leonard, is shown in flashbacks but never has any direct impact on the plot. In fact, it's implied he may have never been real at all by the end of the film. Meanwhile, Natalie and Teddy do have a massive impact on Leonard's actions, both of them manipulating him in different ways and for different purposes, although both of them operate under strange ethical principles where seem to care about Leonard while still taking advantage of him.
The movie consists of black and white shots that movie forward in time while the rest of the movie moves backwards in time, scene-by-scene, to replicate the effect of the viewer having the same memory as Leonard.
This is a fantastic movie that I would recommend for just about anyone, and here's a nice video putting everything in chronological order if you're still confused after watching.
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