Memento
A hard candy with a surprise center, that is what the movie Memento, basically, is. Viewers would tend to put themselves into the situation Leonard has been going through, hypothesizing, predicting and all that whilst the movie juggle them with too many riddles and with just very few thought-provoking hints. It proceeds in two convergent narrative lines, one from the present backward and the other from the past forward, elucidated in brief bits and pieces mirroring the unclear connection of the two situations. Nonetheless, aesthetic pleasure was greatly achieved by the movie; also, the ending radiates justice to all the confusion and things that hadn’t been revealed at once.
Leonard met an accident where he misthought the death of his wife, same incident where he got this short-term memory loss brought about by the head injury he had that instance. As aforesaid, he got this unusual condition and his wife dying was the last thing that had happened to him that he vividly remembers aside from his life prior the incident. His make-believe-death of his wife maddened and enraged him. He got overwhelmed by it and started to chase vengeance by playing detective, making up his own truth, creating a puzzle he couldn’t solve. The story focused on Lenny’s revenge for his wife’s death, the event where things seemingly fall to places where Lenny wanted them to be as part of his self-created puzzle caused by frustration of killing all the John G.s. In the course of finding out the real killer, he got manipulated by two people- John “Teddy” Gammell, an undercover officer, and Natalie, a bartender.
After killing Jimmy Grantz, Natalie’s husband, Lenny decided to make a new prospect in the person of Teddy. He was quite unaware of the whole thing going on, that he had been used by Teddy for his own advantage. Lenny’s just certain about the tattoo in his chest saying: John G. raped and murdered your wife. So the pleasure of killing a John G. gives a certain degree of satisfaction to him. After the death of Jimmy Grantz, Teddy told Lenny that the real hit-man was long gone and that his wife had survived the killing but just refused to accept what her husband has been going through; Not capable of remembering everything that has just happened or has been told, he decided to put a dartboard on Teddy’s back, another John G. It was set off by noting on Teddy’s picture ‘Don’t believe his lies’. Suspicious memo for an awaken gust, so, every time he’d see it, he’ll be nothing but dubious. Wearing the clothes and using the car of the deceased husband of Natalie, he went to the bar where Natalie’s working and met her. They discovered things about each other and in time, Natalie offered to help Lenny out of pity, as said in one of the pictures. Eventually, Natalie turned the situation into her advantage. He used Lenny to get rid of Dodd. In return, Natalie gave him traces about the John G. that Lenny had told her. All pointing out to one person who happens to be Teddy, just as he expected in the first place because it’s Teddy’s plate number he gave to Natalie anyway. Later on, it resulted to Teddy’s death which was shown in one of the first scenes.
Indeed, the movie Memento is invigorating in such a way that viewers would have no choice but to get hooked on it. So, as the main character unravels the riddles, they, too, feel for Lenny. It’s an effective thriller and is highly considered to acquire artistry, intellectual value, suggestiveness, spiritual value, permanence, universality and style.
Artistry because, as said earlier, it could have bewildered everyone who’s already watched it but the end is more than enough to satisfy their senses. Intellectual value, much as it stimulates thoughts through the many mysteries revolving in the story it enhances critical thinking skills in solving them. Suggestiveness, the movie never fails to draw the eagerness of people in knowing how things had happen; viewers are carried away by every situation. The movie is not entirely about getting witty, it also teaches people that revenge will not fully satisfy anyone that no matter how we’ve gone far on it we will still feel the incompleteness and will just have to yearn for more which is acceptance; it has a deep spiritual value that is sure to inspire people. In no doubt watching the movie memento again and again will give a different degree of delight, it will take the new insights, new worlds and experiences into a whole new level. Having one of the best and most original plots ever, it is certainly timely, remarkable and is favorably recommended to people. It sets and defines what an amazing movie is, it’s not necessarily the cliché happy ever after ending nor the many other overrated common films. It’s far cry from the many other movies we are used to but a good one to augment what the movie industry is lacking.
