Christopher Nolan’s Memento (2000) is a modern film noir thriller about a man with memory loss seeking vengeance upon the person who murdered his wife. Adapted by Nolan from his brother Jonathan’s short story “Memento Mori” (2001), the film unfolds along two reverse-engineered narrative tracks: one shot in black-and-white and proceeding in chronological order, the other shot in color and moving backwards in time. In each, the widower, Leonard Shelby, obsessively searches for clues about the wanted man, a certain “John G.,” defying his amnesia by writing new pieces of information on polaroid photos and even tattooing his own body.
Starring Guy Pearce, Carrie-Anne Moss, and Joe Pantoliano, Memento was nominated for an Oscar for Best Original Screenplay and Best Editing. Revisit the Nolan classic before his new epic Oppenheimer is released on July 21!
This screening is presented in 35mm.
Memento is a co-presentation of McEvoy Arts and the Roxie Theater on the occasion of What are words worth? (June 16 – September 2, 2023) at McEvoy Arts.