Top 5 Memory Loss Movies

by Chris Petersen

With Unknown opening this weekend, I decided to reflect back on some of the best films featuring protagonists suffering from memory loss. While the amnesic character seems to be a cliché on soap operas, there are several films that take the idea and create some cinematic magic. Here is Fezzik to jog your memory about the Top 5 Memory Loss Films:

He'll try not to jog you too hard.

5. Mullholland Drive (2001)

David Lynch is known for mind bending films and this is one of his best. While you may be frustrated watching this for the first hour and a half, the last half hour or so will delight you as you try to put the pieces together in the maze that is the lead heroine’s mind. Naomi Watts really shines as the naive Betty Elms, a young actress trying to make her way in Hollywood, who takes in a movie star that is struggling from amnesia due to a car accident. Lynch knows how to create confusion and creates tension through flashes of disturbing images, mirroring William Friedkin’s style in The Exorcist.

Nicolas Cage went uncredited.

While the film did not do well in the box office, it received status as a cult classic after its DVD release.

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4. Total Recall (1990)

Total Recall focuses on the journey of Doug Quaid (or is it Hauser?) who tries a virtual reality implant tosimulate a trip to Mars. However, when they try to put it in him, they find he has already had a similar procedure done. This discovery sets off a high pace, futuristic adventure mystery that causes him to question his own reality.

Paul Verhoeven directed this sci-fi masterpiece in his “not yet gone crazy” period, but there were definitely hints of it in this film.

Those hints didn't fully reveal themselves until this.

Verhoeven crafted the adaptation of the Philip K. Dick story into an intricate study of reality versus illusion, while creating what Roger Ebert called, “One of the most visually arresting sci-fi movies in a long time.” It also helps that Schwarzenegger is at his action best as well. There is a remake currently in the works starring Colin Farrell.

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3. The Bourne Trilogy (2001 – 2007)

I decided to include all three as one because they would be taking up a lot of this list otherwise. The first film, while not the best, was really where the amnesia comes into play. In the other films it provides a nice backdrop, but isn’t nearly as much of a mystery as the first one. The series centers around Jason Bourne (Matt Damon) who is found floating in the water and can’t remember how he got there. He slowly finds out that he is a government assassin that is pursued by his agency for going rogue.

 The Bourne Trilogy  has reached cultural icon status as a study in the European action film, dizzying hand held camera use, and amnesic protagonists. While these aren’t the deepest films on this list, they are some of the most entertaining, especially the final installment, The Bourne Ultimatum. There are apparently more films to come, but whether they will star Matt Damon and whether they will tarnish the memory of Bourne is yet to be seen.

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2. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)

I cite this film as one that really sparked my passion for film. It combined elements of visual innovation and a heart wrenching story. Jim Carrey plays Joel Barrish, a man who undergoes a memory erasure procedure, after he finds out an ex-lover (Kate Winslet) had him erased from his memory as well. While it is easy to predict where this story will lead, it doesn’t take away from its final impact. Charlie Kaufman wrote a brilliant screenplay and Michel Gondry adapted it to the screen with a vigor for visual flair.

A visual flair that all but disappeared in The Green Hornet.

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1. Memento (2000)

While Eternal Sunshine is a better overall film, within the genre of memory loss films Memento takes the cake. Christopher Nolan‘s second directorial effort was based off a story by his brother, Jonathan, and it really put him on the map. Lenny (Guy Pearce), suffers from a rare condition that inhibits him from creating new memories. When his wife is murdered, he uses an intricate system of tattoos to remind him of clues to find her killer.

When this film gets brought up, the narrative style is the first thing that sets it apart from any other film…it plays out backwards. I remember when I saw this, I was  trying to explain to people what that meant and they just don’t get it until they see it. Nolan sets up the story brilliantly and, like all great memory loss films, we are presented with an unreliable protagonist that causes us to question everything that we see. Once we reach the end it all adds up to not only the best memory loss film, but arguably the most innovative narrative of all time.

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