The protagonist is a man trapped in an eternal moment of memory. His memory is bookmarked at the memory of witnessing his wife’s brutal rape and murder just before being struck in the head leaving him with Anterograde Amnesia. He has lost his short term memory. Every fifteen to thirty minutes his memory will be erased back to that bookmark, depending on how stressed he is. He uses Polaroid, notes, and tattoos to remember things and people. He can condition himself to remember certain things like reaching for Polaroid after his memory kicks.
Leonard Shelby is tracking his wife’s rapist/murderer. He lives for revenge, especially since he has no other sense of purpose to live. Who could do anything, and not have the faintest idea a few minutes later. The film puts you into Lenny’s eyes. There are two timelines, one is linear and one is backwards. The film opens with a Polaroid of a dead man as it undeveloped and we witness a murder in reverse. We cut to a hotel room in BW photography where Lenny explains some things. We then cut to the scene that leads up to the murder back in color photography. This is the flow of the film and it works marvelously. This is combined with Lenny's narration which serves the film very well, almost like an old film-noir's narration works for a film.
Leonard is played by Guy Pearce, who brings the cynical character to life greatly. Carrie-Anne Moss plays Natalie, a woman who helps Leonard find the rapist, although her motives aren’t clear right away. Joe Pantoliano plays Teddy, who is the one killed in the first scene. Many people like to see this film as a murder mystery for his death. He seems to be Lenny’s friend although his presence appears suspicious in many moments and he seems to want Lenny’s Jaguar. The acting isn’t amazing, but it doesn’t disappoint. It flows with the film very well.
This is without a doubt one of the best mystery/thrillers of the last 20 years. Christopher Nolan’s direction, while a device, works for the film. A simple revenge plot is given much more depth. However don’t assume that’s the only thing good in the film. It’s cast has no bad actors, it’s dialogue is very good as well as poignant, it’s limited range of area on the screen gives off a pleasant feeling to the film such as the hotel rooms, and the music by David Julyan is excellent. The score is very avant-garde music that amplifies the tone of depression and loneliness.
Lenny does strange things at times too. In one scene he makes a hooker place his wife’s objects around and go into the bathroom while Lenny sleeps and forgets about her. He wakes thinking in the state of that night and has vague flashes of his wife as he finds the hooker. He almost seems to be an act to bring a pleasure himself, by grabbing those memories of her. Perhaps he feels guilty living in this lie as he burns the objects he used for the hooker. The character is almost a mystery himself. We only know a few things about his past. More detail has been put up at http://www.otnemem.com. This film works as a thriller and a character study. This is a major reason this film is a masterpiece. It’s a thriller that has a character we can care about instead of the expendable characters of movies like most thrillers. We can almost get a feeling for his position, such as when he describes pretending to recognize people. “Now I know. You fake it. If you think you're supposed to recognize somebody you, you just pretend. You bluff it to get a pat on the head from the doctors. You bluff it to seem less like a freak."
The Mafia Is Not Primarily An Organisation Of Murderers. First And Foremost,The Mafia Is Made Up Of Thieves. It Is Driven By Greed And Controlled By Fear.
Between The Law And The Mafia, The Law Is Not The Most To Be Feared
"What if the Mafia were not an organization but a widespread Sicilian attitude of hostility towards the law?"
