Before discussing Memento, I just want to make one final comment on Dark City that no one brought up. I found the shot of John tied to the round table very intriguing in its likeness to DaVinci's Vitruvian Man. The director definitely did this on purpose, and it represented the exploration into humanity that the Strangers were attempting.
Now, for Memento...
The greatest aspect of this film is the mixed up sequence of scenes. It causes us to feel the film in the first person perspective of Leonard and his condition. Like Dark City, I realized that the theme of Femme Fatale is an important one. The only woman present in the film is Natalie(who we immediately are given a suspicious feeling about), and she is further revealed to be the main character who manipulates and uses him. Leonard's wife is the other woman who is mentioned contuinuely in the film, and she seems to be the reason for his condition and all the trouble is going through. So, you can see why these women(as well as the prostitute shown briefly) are leading to his destruction.
Nolan may also be sending the message that you can't trust anyone in the world, even yourself. Obviously Leonard can't trust or believe any of the other character's in the film, but we begin to question if he should even trust himself. His notes and tattoos could be deceitful, or he could even be schizophrenic. Nolan really does a fantastic job at hinting at the larger truth without allowing us the luxury of seeing it. This keeps your interest and forces you to wonder what will happen next(or, what has happened already).
On another note, I'd like to tell you about one of my favorite movies. It's "A Single Man," directed by Tom Ford(2009). The movie's based off of a Christopher Isherwood novel from the early 1960s, and it truly does it justice. It's set in 1960s Los Angeles, and is about an English college Professor who has recently lost his partner of 19 years and is planning on committing suicide at the end of the day that the film begins with. I don't want to give too much plot away, but the film has an amazing story and is shot very carefully. The entire movie is in a dull, almost gray tone; but whenever our main character, George, encounters a person or experience that shows his some of the beauty and meaning in life, vibrant color spreads across the screen and the entire tone changes. In addition to that, every single shot in the film could be stopped and used as a photograph, like you mentioned about the amazing cinematography in The Seventh Seal. It's a very thought-provoking film that deals with the ideas of growing older, allowing people into your life, and finding new meaning in life . If you can, you should watch A Single Man as soon as possible! *I know that it's currently available On Demand with Fios and Time Warner.
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