Film "Remember": meaning, director, actors, awards, release date

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

The meaning of the film "Remember" is discussed by all fans of action-packed detective stories. This is one of the most mysterious films directed by Christopher Nolan, which was released in 2000. In this article, we will talk about this psychological thriller, actors, interpretations of the plot.

Creating a painting

The meaning of the film "Remember" is often discussed by fans of Nolan's work. Basically, different interpretations appeared due to the fact that the narrative itself in the picture is non-linear.

The tape was filmed in Southern California. The whole process took only 25 days. When creating the film "Remember" Nolan relied on the plot of the story Memento Mori, written by his brother Jonathan. At the same time, the film is officially considered an original production, since the literary work was published only after the premiere.

Interestingly, Alec Baldwin was originally planned to play the lead role, and the director planned to use the music of his favorite band Radiohead in the final credits. But as a result, it was not possible to reach an agreement with Baldwin, and the copyrightThe band's roy alties were too high for an independent film.

Synopsis

The plot of the film "Remember" begins with the fact that the audience gets acquainted with the investigator of the insurance company Leonard Shelby, who is looking for the killers of his wife. Everything is complicated by the fact that the protagonist, after suffering an injury, suffers from a kind of amnesia that does not allow him to retain anything in memory for more than the last quarter of an hour.

Therefore, he is forced to constantly leave notes to himself, to make tattoos that remind him of places, events and people. Natalie and Telly help him in the investigation, but he does not fully trust them.

The main intrigue of the film "Remember" in 2000 lies in the part of the investigation, which is hidden from Leonard. The director forces the viewer to see everything that happens through the eyes of the protagonist. It uses an inverted composition. For example, it breaks the narrative into 5-minute segments that follow the screen in reverse order. As a result, the viewer only in each next scene is explained what led to the events that occurred in the previous one.

All these segments are interspersed with black and white inserts, in which time develops normally. By the end of the film "Remember" (2000), the storylines connect. The black and white picture becomes color. From now on, the viewer can restore the full chronology of the events that took place.

Director

The creator of the picture is the popular English director Christopher Nola, hewas born in London in 1970. His debut picture was the tape "Pursuit", released on screens two years earlier. It was a neo-noir black-and-white thriller about a young man who follows strangers on the streets of London.

After the premiere of the movie "Remember" about director Christopher Nolan, many started talking. His talent was noticed and appreciated. Nowadays, he has grown into one of the most famous film makers in the world.

In 2005, he released the superhero action movie "Batman Begins". His other iconic works include the dramatic thriller The Prestige, the sci-fi detective thriller Inception, and the sci-fi drama Interstellar.

Awards and nominations

In 2002, the film "Remember" was awarded the Edgar Allan Poe Award. This is a prestigious American award, which is presented every year by the American Detective Writers Association. First of all, literary works are celebrated, but until 2010 prizes were also awarded to the best films.

The picture was included in the main competition program of the Sundance American Independent Film Festival.

In two nominations was presented at the "Oscar". She claimed the victory in the category "Best Original Screenplay", but the statuette went to Robert Altman's drama "Gosford Park". Film academics also highly appreciated the work of the editors. But in the end, the victory was awarded to Ridley Scott's war drama "Black Hawk Down".

GuyPierce

The success of the picture, of course, provided the actors of the film "Remember". Australian Guy Pearce played the title role of amnesiac Leonard Shelby.

His career began in the 1990s when he appeared in "The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert", "Body Swapped", "Battle for the New World".

Working with Christopher Nolan was one of the most successful episodes of his career. The audience also remembers him for his role as detective Edmund Exley in the TV series L. A. Confidential, George Hickenlooper's biographical drama I Seduced Andy Warhol, Tom Hooper's historical drama The King's Speech, Ridley Scott's sci-fi action movie Prometheus, drama series "Mildred Pierce".

For his role in the TV series "Mildred Pierce" Pierce received an Emmy Award in the nomination "Best Supporting Actor". His work in the film "The King's Speech!" received a Screen Actors Guild Award.

Kerry-Anne Moss

This Canadian actress in the movie "Remember" (Memento, 2000) plays an acquaintance of the protagonist Natalie, who attempts to help him in the investigation.

By the time of filming with Nolan Moss was already a celebrity. Everyone knew her as the performer of the role of Trinity in the trilogy of the Wachowski brothers "The Matrix".

At the same time, her career began in the late 1980s with little-known tapes in our countryHitchhiker, Nightmare Cafe and Blood Brothers.

In recent years, Moss has regularly appeared in the films of the Marvel Cinematic Universe in the form of Jerry Hogarth. Her other credits in recent years include Gerard Barrett's biopic Mind on Fire, Stacey Title's horror film BaiBiMan, and the superhero action film The Defenders, which was released as a TV series on Netflix.

Joe Pantoliano

Another assistant to the protagonist John Edward Gammell, nicknamed Teddy, is played by American actor Joe Pantoliano. It is interesting that he, like Moss, became famous after The Matrix, where he appeared in the image of the traitor Cypher.

Also fame and popularity brought him shooting in the cult crime series "The Sopranos". In total, he starred in more than 100 feature films and TV series. Among them are the multi-episode medical drama MASH, the detective procedural drama NYPD Blue, the comedy adventure film by Chris Columbus Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief.

What should I pay attention to?

Understanding the meaning of the film "Remember", the audience and critics have noted several things that can be the keys to understanding this picture. It is important to understand how Lenny's system works.

The very first thing that immediately catches the eye is his tattoo, which says: "Remember Sammy Jenkins." On many planes it can be seen thatthe main character is right-handed, but the tattoo is on his left arm. He also wears a wedding ring on it.

It is important that each tattoo carries an associative and semantic connection. All together allows you to retrieve the necessary and important memories from memory. For example, through the tragedy of Sammy, Lenny realizes what he is sick with. The wedding ring evokes memories of family life, the hero uses the rest of the tattoos to put together the big picture, like from puzzles.

Advice to eat, not to trust anyone, not to answer the phone makes his life relatively safe and stable.

Sammy's story is of great importance for the main character. It has to do with his feelings of guilt. The fact is that Leonard convinced the medical commission that Sammy's illness was psychogenic in nature, gave hope to his family that he could become normal if the right words were found. In reality, nothing can revive the affected brain cells of the patient. As a result, Mrs. Jenkins dies, and Lenny feels complicit in her death.

One of the most mysterious characters in the film is Teddy. The protagonist is constantly thinking about whether he can be trusted. For example, Teddy claims to have handled Mrs. Shelby's case, but does not reveal who the second perpetrator was. Almost every word he says is based on lies and deceit.

As a result, most fans of the film, discussing who this policeman really is, believe that he is the most common con man who took advantage of Leonard's morbid condition for his own interests.

What is the picture about?

Thinking about the meaning of the film "Remember", most come to the conclusion that this is a story about the manifestation of the so-called law of equal retribution. Speaking in Bible truths: "An eye for an eye…"

The main character finds himself in incredibly difficult, almost inhuman conditions. At this point, Nolan begins to administer his own justice. The main tragedy of Lenny is the need to atone for his guilt before the Jenkins family.

The attack on Shelby's house is the end of an old story, not the beginning of a new one. The hero tries unsuccessfully to resist the already accomplished evil. At the same time, he believes that revenge will allow him to get rid of the feeling of pain and horror. However, in reality, his thirst for space is a manifestation of his complete helplessness.

He consoles himself by fantasizing about being able to actually make his own decisions, but this only adds to his suffering as a result. He needs time to deal with the pain.

Questions arise: what should he do if he is "out of time", will he be able to solve such a difficult task? In the final shots of the film, he hugs his wife, and on his chest you can see a new tattoo: "I did it."

It turns out that the hero still achieves a positive result.