Film Analysis, Memento

Memento is a film that distinguishes itself through its startling structure and hypnotic use of repetition. The film chooses to play backwards - so we actually begin with the conclusion of the events, and work our way back to where it all began. This is a structure used rarely in film - there have certainly been films that have played on the power and instability of memory, which this one does, and Rashomon and The Outrage are a couple that have analysed a single event from a range of perspectives. But backwards? It has been replicated in theatre - Harold Pinter's Betrayal (which was subsequently filmed) and Tom Stoppard's Arcadia are two examples, and both worked with some success. Arcadia, for example, begins in misery and ends with a bittersweet optimism; all the more tragic for what we understand will befall the characters in their future. Memento, however, appears to be no journey back to innocence, although, in some respects, it is not too far from being just that.

This film i...