Memento – 10^th Anniversary Edition (2001/Lionsgate Blu-ray)

 

Picture: B     Sound: B     Extras: B+     Film: B+

 

 

When forming a list of films that mess with your head, Memento would definitely be up there among the best.  With that said Memento is a difficult movie to justly describe.  If you have heard of this film and still have no idea what it is about you are not alone.  The film was made by the now well known powerhouse, Christopher Nolan.  The film was created at a time when cinema was changing and fans were clamoring for more films like that of Fight Club, Snatch, and Being John Malkovich.

 

Memento stars Guy Pearce as Leonard, a man who lacks the ability to form new memories; forcing him to take drastic measures to pull his life together.  Leonard’s wife had been murdered and since that time has been plagued with this bizarre disorder.  No new memories, no grip on the past; Leonard seems helplessly lost.  He struggles to learn the truth and with no ideas who id friend or foe, Leonard slips deeper and deeper into a state of uncertain lunacy.  With his wife raped and murder, Leonard stands as the film’s lone hero, seeking revenge; nothing to lose, he lets nothing stand in his way.

 

Christopher Nolan brilliantly constructs the film (playing backwards), forcing the viewer to construct what is going on in bits and pieces, just as Leonard must.  Leonard uses Polaroid photos, notes, and tattoos of rules to keep himself grounded; at times being very confusing.  The audience feels as if they are right there with Leonard as confusion sets in and you can only grasp information here and there.  It is the moments of clarity that are truly ground breaking as everything suddenly snaps into place; having you wonder how Nolan managed to do that.

 

A brilliant film that will stand the test of time.

 

The technical features on this 10^th Anniversary Edition are much improved over the previous release, that whereas highly sought after remained grainy and ill rendered on Blu-ray.  This Blu-ray release cleans up the film, balances colors and fixes the light/dark issues that plagued the previous release.  The picture is a 1080p, 2.35 X 1 AVC, MPEG-4 Widescreen digital High Definition that whereas not perfect is much improved over the older Sony Blu-ray.  Now the film has an intended level of grit and grime, but for this release all the extra unintended nonsense was cleaned up; with Nolan’s original vision shining through with splendid skin tones, great textures and eye popping colors.  Blacks are dark, inky and brilliantly frame the film with only a hint of softness and artifacting to complain of.  The sound is also improved in its 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio that is serenely balanced as it perfectly balances the eerie bases and shrill shrieks; not to mention the beautiful musical scores (by David Julyan).  The dialogue projects with ease and sounds better than ever.  Overall, bravo for this release.

 

 Extras include the following:

 

1. Commentary with Director Christopher Nolan
2. Remembering Memento
3. Anatomy of a Scene
4. IFC Interview with Writer/Director Christopher Nolan
5. Memento Mori – Short Story by Jonathan Nolan
6. Tattoo Sketches
7. Leonard’s Journal

 

All of the extras are amazing and have a rewatchable quality; something most bonus features can not claim.

 

Christopher Nolan continues to produce outstanding films that venture into the psyche on levels like no other film has dared or done correctly.  This leading me only to conclude that Nolan himself is completely insane…

 

 

-   Michael P. Dougherty II