Memento (2000)

A film with a sporadic plot, sideways actions of a group of characters whose motives are unclear, and a range of interesting ensuing clues and concerns that makes up this disjointed venture from masterful director and writer Christopher Nolan. The film works in the same vein as other mind bending films, using the ending of the film as the beginning. That doesn't seem like a compelling pretense in classic marginal noirs with the figure being a tortured martyr who is only out for revenge, and sees his life as inconsequential in the process. The film follows a man who suffers from having short term memory loss, which means he can't make any new memories and consequently has his memory swiped at the sound of something being slammed, crashes, gun fire, or simply when he wakes up. Though he cannot remember what has happened since his wife's death, and his subsequent injury, he holds the same emotional response as the day she died. Therefore he treads forcefully, thinking of himself as the voyeur of the criminal element and the vigilante who will bring his wife's killer to justice. The people around him are either piteous of his disorder, or entertained by the hoops they make him jump through. It's a jumble of psychoanalytical data for him, as he marks himself in permanent ink, and goes through the repetitive motions to remember the anger, to find a purpose and meaning to his life other than simply existing. The plot device that Nolan first used in his short film Following (1998) and then cultivated for this perfect venue is at times obsessively annoying, all because you have to pay attention, and not let your mind wander like you can in shorter, less impressive films. What makes this extraordinary is the ending, which is almost flippant with its reveal of the true plot, the real reason he does what he does. Without telling you what it is I can safely say that it changes the way we watch film noir, and is so complicated and creative no one can truly give it away with abject certainty. It's cunning and puzzling, but certainly worth switching your brain on for.