It was this film, released in 2000, in which we all were introduced to Christopher and Jonathan Nolan. It tells the story of a man who is hunting down his wife's killer. Crooked cops, and drug dealers are involved and of course there's a woman. On the surface it sounds like your average film. There's a catch though. He can't make new memories since the night of his wife's death.
What this does is it turns this revenge story into something more. It's about what memory really is, and how much of who we are is based on what we tell ourselves. If you were to forget horrible and painful things that you've done, would you still feel guilty about them? If all you know about yourself, the only thing that defines who you are is that of a widowed husband seeking vengeance, would you be able to go on if that vengeance ever was completed?
The film is also shown in reverse order to try and show us just a little of what it's like to not have any short term memory. We see him doing things, but we don't know why. We see him talking to, and about people we have not met yet. He uses pictures to tell himself which car is his, and the names of people he knows. He uses tattoos to keep much more important information. But just because it's written down doesn't mean it's true.
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