October 25, 2002
a memo after memento
Listening
to: silence
Reading: Victor Hugo - Hunchback of Notre
Dame
I finally caught Memento on TV.
I admit, it was slightly confusing because of the backwards structure, little details here
and there would slip by me unnoticed, so I think I’ll have to watch the movie again.
Eventually though I caught a firm grip on the plot and the events, and luckily I did
because the ending blew me off my feet.
I suppose it was an inevitable and rather logical ending, but it was still a shocking one
anyway. The way how the movie evolved, and his condition, how he’d forget what
he’d done in such short spans of time, it’s so baffling.
Guy Pearce played his part terrifically. I especially liked his facial expressions (very
good ‘confused nice guy’ and ‘memory erased’ face). So was Carrie Ann
Moss, very versatile.
The cinematography was very, very well dealt, and although sometimes it dragged, it never
lost its fast easy pace. I could not help but recall a review from Rotten Tomatoes where a
guy said “Someone should get this guy a video camera.”
I've started reading Hunchback of Notre Dame. The last version I read was a Puffin abridged, I think. I have to go through two versions to rid myself of the horrible beyond horrible first encounter with the Hunchback: from Disney's animated version. So you can understand that I need double the therapy.
Disney's version was so distorted I don't know whose idea it was to adapt it, let alone make the radical plot shifts. Phoebus is the golden good guy? Esmeralda is grown up? Quasimodo is cute? Frollo's obsession is far from obvious and I can't even recall Gringoire being in the movie.