I love figuring out the end of movies before they happen.
Piecing together subtle plot details is what keeps me interested. Similarly, I enjoy
television shows like CSI, NCIS, Bones, etc. Mystery intrigues me. I love to
recognize facts that others tend to miss. For me, there is nothing better than
watching a confusing movie and assembling all of the disparate pieces before the director wants me to. For this reason I found Memento both brilliant and infuriating.
The last few scenes of Memento
caught me by surprise, but in doing so, brought the entire movie together. That
is, if I believe Teddy. However, after being manipulated for the entirety of
the film, and being repeatedly told not to believe Teddy’s lies, how can I let myself
trust what he says? It bothers me that by the end of the movie I am still left
with a number of unanswered questions. Do I trust Teddy and appreciate the
complex manipulation that is occurring from every character, or do I trust
Leonard who either thinks, or convinces himself that Teddy is lying? The movie
was brilliant because it was intellectually challenging, and it was infuriating
because I couldn’t figure it out.
Memento is
different than what I am used to seeing in other movies. It doesn’t tie every
little detail together in the end, or answer all of the questions brought up in
the film. The director makes it impossible to not question yourself. Switching
back and forth in time, and contradicting facts, made me feel like Leonard: always
questioning reality and separating fact from fiction. Because of the strategic
setup, you can never truly have satisfying answers. Everything we are presented
with can be undermined in some way, so we are only left with the ability to
make assumptions. I think this setup made the movie interesting, but also
frustrating because it did not follow the pattern I am used to seeing in most movies:
a satisfying conclusion.
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