Memory – Film Review

Mexican director Michel Franco, known for powerful films including New Order and Sundown, directs this unflinching raw snapshot into the lives of care nurse, Sylvia, played by Jessica Chastain, and Saul, a man with early onset dementia, played by Peter Saarsgard.

Michel Franco

In Memory, Sylvia and Saul come into each others’ lives at a time of vulnerability, soon recognising they need each one just as much as the other.

It’s hard not to feel like you’re intruding on these peoples’ lives, as you’re held just below eye level at several arm’s lengths away from them in most scenes.

There is no soundtrack. You’re simply left to absorb and process everything they say.

Most shots of the beautiful brownstone streets, inviting living rooms, and bathroom interiors, appear to be cast in the cold light of an autumn afternoon. Except for a critical scene where Sylvia senses she is being followed home at night.

Control is a central theme in this film, along with abuse of care. The misguided efforts of those attempting to protect the ones under their care have far reaching consequences that are laid painfully bare.

Memory doesn’t offer you clean answers to the questions that pervade this film. You’re trusted to make up your own mind. A luxury robbed so often from the people whose lives we’ve just been given a glimpse into.

Memorable and beautiful.

Not surprisingly, the film won a Best Actor Award at the Venice Film Festival.

Rating: 7/10

Memory opens 14 November 2024 at Luna Leederville.

* By Gayle O’Leary

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