Amnesia?

You always know  a sit com has hit the skids when the writers do an amnesia episode. You know, bang em on the head with a 2 by 4 and all is forgotten, wait 30 minute and do it again to reverse the process. .well strangely enough, this device has been used effectively in a number of movies, and we have put a small collection of them together. We know there's a few more out there, but we can't remember their titles. Help us out, will you?

The Man Without a Past This is an unforgettable amnesia movie by the acclaimed Finnish director Aki Kaurismaki. His sparse but funny dialogue is accentuated by grim scenery and grimmer characters that remind you of a Jim Jarmusch movie made in an indiscernible language. The main character is a nameless man Markku Peltola) who is beaten senseless as he exits the Helsinki train station. With assistance from other downtrodden Helsinkians, he takes up residence in a sea container and tries to build a present without his past. A similarly lost Irma who works for the Salvation Army takes pity on him and an awkward romance ensues. This is quickly squelched when the police discover his past and his wife. Irma ( Kati Outinen) won best actress for her part at the 2002 Cannes Festival where Kaurismaki was given the Grand Prix. We highly recommend his classic "The Leningrad Cowboys Go America" if you've never seen it. 97 minute Finish w/subtitles 2002 Rated PG13

Memento Leonard has lost his short term memory. He compensates with Polaroid photos, lots of notes and tattooing the important stuff on hi chest and limbs. He can remember his wife and he recalls that someone named Sammy Jenks has killed her. By accumulating clues, he hopes to avenge her death. Not any easy task, when the clues dissolve before you can write them down. Natalie is trying to help him, or is she just setting him up to avenge her boyfriend's murder. There's a lot of questions here and a random time frame feeds you the answers in a disorderly sequence. If you pay close attention you may be able to solve Leonard's riddle. Directed by Christopher Nolan  adapted from the book "Memento Mori" 2000 DVD 

Amateur If you have never seen a Hal Hartley film, this is a great starting point. Martin Donovan wanders into a Manhattan diner, battered and amnesiac with a pocketful of Dutch Guilders. An ex-nun Isabelle Hubert interrupts her pornographic writings to tend to him. She takes him home and nurses him as the pieces start to emerge. It seems his ex wife Sophia ( Elina Lowensohn from Pulp Fiction) pushed him out a window. He was apparently her handler, drug provider, and producer of her porn movies. His name is Thomas and he is wanted by an international cartel of mobster accountants. It is all too tangled to describe and very engrossing. 1994 Rated R 105 minutes 1/99

Oldboy Time and again we have warned you about Korean films being exceptionally violent. This one wins the Palm d'Or for unnecessary squirm in your seat and avert your eyes brutality in Technicolor. Somebody kidnaps Dae-su, an obnoxious businessman and locks him in a secured hotel room. Occasionally, his jailers gas him and cut his hair and straighten up the room while he's unconscious. At other times they drug him and infuse his brain with hypnotic suggestions. For no apparent reason, they dump him in a vacant lot after 15 years of imprisonment. He can't remember much, but a kind sushi waitress takes him home and cleans him up. He sets out to discover what he can about his captors. By methodically eating dumplings across the city, he eventually locates the food source used by his jailers. The delivery boy leads him to his place of entrapment and he wreaks havoc on the place. He gathers some clues but large sections of his memory have been erased, which hinders his search. Eventually, he finds his tormentor, Woo-jin, a kid whom he had crossed in high school. Revenge takes a far different route than you'd anticipate, or ever conceive. If you turned your head during Marathon Man or were uncomfortable with Clockwork Orange, this film will be too much to take. It's rated IIb which is equivalent to PG13. If I saw this at 14, I'd still be having nightmares. Otherwise it is an unbelievable tale that breaches more taboo subjects than a Todd Solondz film. 2004 Directed by PARK chan-wook who took the best directors prize at Canne for this gem. This is the second film in his gruesome revenge trilogy. If you can handle this, look for "Sympathy for Mr. Vengance", oooh wee.

Okay, send us your reminders on the ones we overlooked                         Back to Main Page