When put simply, there is no denying the fact that a filmmaker is what makes a good film into an extraordinary one through their vision and execution, and the name of director Christopher Nolan is revered for the same reason of creating some of the most well-narrated and mind-boggling stories brought to the big screen.
Throughout his illustrious career, the legendary filmmaker has outperformed his previous works and set a new benchmark in the industry through every single one of his projects, but one in particular stands out. And the reason is not because it was good, but because it was so good that another major film was almost scrapped after his movie’s release.
Christopher Nolan’s Memento Almost Destroyed The Creation Of Kate Winslet’s Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind
While he may be known as one of the best and most extraordinary directors in the film industry today, there was a time when Christopher Nolan was a fairly unknown filmmaker who was only doing feature films on the lower end of the spectrum. But his fate changed when he directed Memento, the feature film that put him on the industry’s radar. The film was so inexplicably good that it would become the film that truly launched his career, but due to this film being made, screenwriter Charlie Kaufman almost didn’t make his own film.
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Before the Dunkirk director was ready to release his aforementioned feature film, Kaufman had already started working on his Sci-Fi/Romance movie Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind with stars like Kate Winslet and Jim Carrey to name a few from the star cast. But when Nolan’s film hit the cinemas and everyone started talking about it, the screenwriter knew that everyone would compare his story with that of the director, even if he came up with the original idea. In a past interview, he recalls the journey that ultimately led to his story’s adaptation, saying:
“We pitched this idea several years before Chris Nolan came out with his movie, I was delayed writing it because I had to write the movie that became ‘Adaptation’ first. And then I was producing ‘Human Nature,’ which Michel was directing. Plus it was very hard to write for me. There was a moment when suddenly people started talking about this movie ‘Memento’ when I totally freaked out, I thought ‘Oh I can’t do this anymore,’ and I called Michel and said ‘I am not doing it,’ then we called [producer Steve Golin] and said ‘we’re not doing it.’ Steve Golin was very angry and said ‘You are doing it!’ So we did it. I wasn’t influenced by Memento except in that way.”
With the release of the film, Kaufman saw the film receive amazing critical reviews and commercial success, but it was still considered to be inspired by Nolan’s idea.
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What Was Memento About?
In classic Nolan fashion, Memento tells the tale of a grieving husband named Leonard, who is suffering from the pain of losing his wife to the man who r*ped and murdered her. Therefore, in his determination to take revenge, he starts his hunt to track the culprit down. But the problem he faces is his rare mental disorder called anterograde amnesia, where he can remember bits and pieces of his life at the time of losing his wife and the subsequent accident, but forgets everything that happened 15 minutes ago.
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Memento, streaming on Tubi.
Source: DVDTalk
