Films critics everywhere agree that the best films are always the most well edited films. The wide majority of mainstream western films style of editing is often referred to as ‘invisible editing’ or ‘post classical editing’. Which is defined as a single movement of action, applied multiple times through several camera angles, which when pieced together looks like a singular motion. The aim of most editors is make the editing appear unnoticed. However, many others will attempt or even innovate new and revolutionary editing techniques that can enhance the story line of the film. I can’t think of another director of the 21st century that does this quite as well as Christopher Nolan. Nolan is most noted for his films: Inception (2010) Interstellar (2014) The Dark Knight (2008) and Memento (2000)

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Memento follows the non-linear life of Leonard (Guy Pearce) as he tries to find the man responsible for the brutal death of his beloved wife. Memento is presented at first as two separate films, the first is in colour and plays backwards, and the second is in black and white and plays chronologically. However, by the end of the film the narratives of both films intertwine with each other and eventually become a singular narrative. Unsurprisingly, Memento scooped two academy awards one for best screenplay, the other for (you guessed it!) best editing.

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Despite the unconventional editing technique used in the film, it was very successful earning close to $40 million at the box office. Nolan’s filmography is filled with films with complex, but thrilling storylines with a physiological twist. A style he shares with few others directors, such as David Fincher. (I’ve been recommended Nolan on my account of my undying love for Fincher) Similarly to Fincher he has produced many mainstream and high earning films over the past decade. The films focuses on grief, anger, pain but overall, perception of a moment and understanding and empathizing from multiple different viewpoints. Many have also credited Memento for its blending of different genres such as the ‘physiological thriller’ and the classic ‘noir’, eventually turning into a ‘neo-noir’.

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I think Memento opens a vital conversation of the art of editing, some may say that the mainstream westernized audiences would never be able to cope with a more expressionistic and artful style of editing more common in Europe, But Mementos (and Nolan’s) popularity prove that the audience is thirsty for more new and inventive editing techniques