Memento – 10th 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 10th
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:
- Commentary with Director
Christopher Nolan
- Remembering Memento
- Anatomy of a Scene
- IFC Interview with Writer/Director
Christopher Nolan
- Memento Mori – Short Story by
Jonathan Nolan
- Tattoo Sketches
- 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
