User Reviews

A Resonant Void of Sound and Memory: An Auditory Descent into the Unknown250215 (3.7)This round, dark vibration tearing through my head—is it a loneliness that oscillates upon meeting everything beautiful? This was my first time experiencing a film quite like this, and I found it deeply compelling. The unique sensation of countless voices intersecting within my mind while simply listening was a fresh experience. It felt as though my various senses were falling out of sync; the constant clash of judgments and assumptions left me feeling slightly seasick. Jessica is a woman whose life is repeatedly interrupted by a specific sound—the thud of a concrete ball dropping into a metal well filled with seawater. As she navigates Bogota, visiting her sister in the hospital and interacting with Professor Juan, she begins to feel she is losing her mind. She seeks out Hernán, an audio engineer, to recreate the sound, only to find later that no one at the studio knows who he **** film’s physical motifs—excavations, explorations, tunnels, and ancient skulls—effectively mirror the physical process of chasing memories read through sound. This thematic structure reaches its peak when Jessica encounters a different Hernán in the jungle, a man who claims to remember everything and thus limits what he sees, believing that experience is harmful because it causes "violent confusion" within memory. The scene where he sleeps as still as a mannequin is eerie, contrasting yet overlapping with the silence before Jessica wakes. The climax, where Jessica’s face blooms into a beautiful smile of relief and recognition, occurs amidst a cosmic "thud" or "bang"—the warp sound of a spacecraft brushing against the Paleozoic era. This movie is less a traditional narrative and more a two-hour immersive exhibition themed around memory and acoustics. There is a strange, grounded realism in the way it refuses to explain or show, forcing the viewer to sketch out new information and memories purely through sound. Touching the "lightning rod" of the past and experiencing the echoes of every era was a cathartic, sensory revelation.

It **** **** **** its grasp never attains fulfillment, leaving viewers feel as though they're been toyed with for more than two hours for a payoff that's only modestly satisfying at best. Director Apichatpong Weerasethakul's latest has its moments of visual and audio appeal, but its protracted, heavily padded, thin and meandering narrative and half-baked character development is a frustrating follow for even the most patient of viewers. Its exceedingly tiresome still shots (of which there are many) alone push audiences to plead for getting on with it already. Those well-versed in the paranormal and metaphysical will find this an especially tedious watch, given that what the filmmaker is going for is apparent quite early on, yet the picture leaves its spectators haplessly bound to sit through the flotsam that leads to a conclusion with few surprises and little satisfaction. "Memoria" has somehow found a fan base among the art house crowd, but, to be blunt, lofty pretention does not translate to profound insight, and that's an overinflated balloon desperately in need if being popped. And none of this takes into account the peculiar distribution plan that has accompanied this picture's release, one that has made it extremely difficult to screen this one in the first place (though, given the result, maybe that's a good thing). Indeed, how this one managed to walk away with awards like the Cannes Film Festival Jury Prize and the Chicago Film Festival's Gold Hugo for Best Feature is truly beyond me.

[SPOILER ALERT: This review contains spoilers.]

A very odd yet meditative film in every sense of the word. Tilda Swinton stars as a Scottish woman visiting her ill sister in Columbia where she is awakened one night by strange banging noises that only she can hear. From there, she travels and traverses the vast greens and jungles of Columbia in search for answers and discovers some mysterious connections along the way. First off, this is a film that requires an incredible amount of patience. Several scenes are very sedentary and dedicated to showing very minimal activity or even dialogue from the characters involved. In addition to being rather narratively vague,the film is also bound to mystify some but simply confuse others. The biggest draw/highlight for many will likely be Swinton's mesmerizing performance. And while the film is rather unique as a whole, we're left with more questions than answers by the film's end, which proved a little disappointing to me. But overall, besides an always reliable Swinton, it's a film that is incredibly peaceful, thought-provoking, but also frustrating in equal measure thanks largely in part to its cryptic narrative and lack of answers.

[SPOILER ALERT: This review contains spoilers.]

Just like in 'Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives' and 'Cemetery of Splendour,' Apichatpong Weerasethakul presents another dreamy tale about being in deep contact with us, others, and nature. The Thai director — for the first time filming out of his country — delivers an enigmatic and very powerful story in which sound is the main protagonist. The film may be incomprehensible, but you just have to let yourself go.

This is a beautiful and hypnotic cinematic work made to captivate only a few. I can't wrap my head around the idea of those who might think otherwise. Call it pretentious of course, you have grounds for it, but this film is an experience that will only find meaning for those who are willing to enjoy it.

Be warned, around 40-50 minutes of the running time is dedicated to characters standing, sleeping, or sitting, or staring at nothing, or else characters watching other characters standing, sleeping, or sitting, or staring at nothing. The effect is so peaceful that to avoid sleeping myself during a particularly sedentary 10 minute scene where nothing happens but a character sleeps, including a minute or two of the camera filming just his feet as he sleeps, I found myself laughing. Thank God I wasn't in a cinema... Yet, somehow, it is definitely worthwhile, and I am happy I persisted. I doubt Michael Bay would have been a good choice to direct this film.

Went to see Memoria because of its raving reviews from critics but really couldn't get how in the world did it get such high score here. Amazing acting from Tilda but the whole movie is extremely slow, boring and pretentious, no idea what director is trying to convey here. Maybe it's too artsy for us to understand.

Memoria is one of those films, where you'll find yourself asking questions and discussing the meanings with your friends weeks after viewing. The pacing slowly rumbles, and sometimes abruptly rumbles you out of your seat, then finally boils over in its third act. Enjoy the ride.