Leonard Shelby, an insurance investigator, suffers from anterograde amnesia and uses notes and tattoos to hunt for the man he thinks killed his wife, which is the last thing he remembers.Leonard Shelby, an insurance investigator, suffers from anterograde amnesia and uses notes and tattoos to hunt for the man he thinks killed his wife, which is the last thing he remembers.Leonard Shelby, an insurance investigator, suffers from anterograde amnesia and uses notes and tattoos to hunt for the man he thinks killed his wife, which is the last thing he remembers.
- Nominated for 2 Oscars
- 57 wins & 59 nominations total
Doshia Darmane
- Motel Guest
- (uncredited)
Stephanie Searson
- Jimmy's Daughter
- (uncredited)
Buzz Visconti
- Motel Guest
- (uncredited)
- Director
- Writers
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaEASTER EGG: The Limited Edition DVD (and the standard Region 2 edition) allows the movie to be watched in the exact chronological order of the events in the film. The first couple of scenes of the regular cut of the movie appear normal in this version, meaning they are not reversed. However, this version of the movie on Disc 2 is quite difficult to reach (the user must answer several questions and solve a puzzle), and forward, reverse, and chapter skip capabilities are disabled.
- GoofsWhen Natalie shows Leonard the picture of herself with Jimmy, she is smiling (in addition to Jimmy having a mustache). Later, when he gets out of bed and views it again, she is no longer smiling, and Jimmy's mustache is gone. Finally, in the close-up of Leonard writing the note on the back of the Polaroid he took of her, the picture has reverted to its original state. This is probably deliberate to make us feel we have Leonard's condition.
- Quotes
Leonard Shelby: [running] OK, so what am I doing?
[sees Dodd also running]
Leonard Shelby: Oh, I'm chasing this guy.
[Dodd shoots at Leonard]
Leonard Shelby: No... he's chasing me.
- Alternate versionsThe Region 2 DVD contains the original movie, and the re-edited "Chronological" movie as a hidden extra within the special features menu. This can be found by pressing "enter/select" on your remote, just as the menu is about to loop back to the beginning of the menu.
- ConnectionsEdited into 5 Second Movies: Memento (2008)
- SoundtracksSomething in the Air
(1999)
Music by David Bowie and Reeves Gabrels
Lyrics by David Bowie
Performed by David Bowie
Courtesy of RZO Music, Inc./Virgin Records America, Inc.
Featured review
If the director of this independent film tried to make us feel really confused, like the main character, he did it wonderfully. There are only a few movies like this one, the kind of movies that makes you pay attention to every minute of it. Obviously that doesn't work all the time, but this case is the exception. Really well directed with a wonderful photography and excellent cast. The main actors' performances are great. We really root for the guy as we hate the ones who try to take advantage of him.
Original films like this one always stand out. Perhaps it didn't caught much attention at first but now it is in an important position at the IMDb top 250 and that means that most the people recognize great movies when they see them.
As I said before, this movie is a little confusing because it runs backwards while the black and white scenes run in chronological order. But that wasn't a cheap trick to make the movie more "intelectual", it was its strength. A rare film that shouldn't be missed.
Original films like this one always stand out. Perhaps it didn't caught much attention at first but now it is in an important position at the IMDb top 250 and that means that most the people recognize great movies when they see them.
As I said before, this movie is a little confusing because it runs backwards while the black and white scenes run in chronological order. But that wasn't a cheap trick to make the movie more "intelectual", it was its strength. A rare film that shouldn't be missed.
- ruffinelli_ro
- Apr 3, 2009
- Permalink
Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Official sites
- Language
- Also known as
- Amnesia
- Filming locations
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Budget
- $9,000,000 (estimated)
- Gross US & Canada
- $25,544,867
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $235,488
- Mar 18, 2001
- Gross worldwide
- $40,047,236
- Runtime1 hour 53 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 2.39 : 1
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