Memory: Film Review
Jessica Chastain never disappoints or gives anything less than the best and Memory is no exception.
She plays Sylvia, a recovering alcoholic grappling with childhood trauma. One day, she meets Saul (Peter Sarsgaard), who suffers from early-onset dementia, at a high school reunion. After an initial misunderstanding, Sylvia and Saul form a bond that enriches both of their lives.
I thought I knew exactly what this film would be and where the story would go but it veered off into unexpected territory and became something quite different. It still dealt with heavy topics but it was nowhere near as dark as I’d feared. In fact, it was unpredictable, tender and hopeful.
Writer/director Michel Franco does not shoot coverage, meaning he sets up his shot for the scene and then it plays out with that camera set-up – it doesn’t cut between actors, switch from close-ups to two-shots, for example. I can understand the reasoning for shooting this way and the film was still very effective but I would have liked a closer look at Chastain’s face (or anybody else’s) during the more emotional moments. I was still very moved but I think close-up shots would have deepened that feeling.
After seeing her in a run of big studio films and TV shows, it was refreshing to see Chastain stripped back in a low-budget indie. She wears no make-up, her hair is messy and she bought her character’s clothes from Target. She looks like a stressed-out single mother in need of a break! Without all the bells and whistles, she can let her performance truly do the talking and what an impressive performance it is. Sylvia has put up so many walls to protect herself and she feels uncertainty as Saul slowly breaks them down.
Sarsgaard won Best Actor at the Venice Film Festival and rightly so. He delivers a relatively positive portrayal of a dementia sufferer, which isn’t shown often on the screen. He is not defined by his disease and is rarely seen getting down about it. He lives in the present – because he doesn’t have much choice – and this helps Sylvia do the same.
I also want to give a shout-out to Merritt Wever as Sylvia’s sister Olivia, who helps her out and is almost like her mum. There is a pivotal heartbreaking scene in this where Olivia drops a game-changing bombshell and Wever pitches her performance perfectly.
Memory took me by surprise in a positive way and the performances are ridiculously good.
In cinemas from Friday 23rd February. For more info, see here.