R | 1h 40 min | Drama, Romance, Mystery | 2023
In most of his past efforts (“Chronic,” “New Order,” “Daniel and Ana,” “Sundown”), Mexican filmmaker Michel Franco cuts not only to, but thoroughly through, the bone. His films are shredded and raw: festering and throbbing open wounds with some salt on the side where no one is left off the hook. To put it mildly, his movies bring with them limited appeal, but all are honest portrayals of the human condition. They’re not pretty, but they’re pure.
While Mr. Franco’s latest effort, “Memory,” contains a few of these same elements, they’re couched in a much more subtle, subdued, and far more mainstream friendly manner. He pairs two lead characters that each bring with them trunks full of emotional baggage, which, on the surface, appear impossible to overcome. Not only do they have to wage war with their own respective pasts and current demons, they must also battle their families that are hell-bent on keeping them down and apart.
Invisible Walls
We meet Sylvia (Jessica Chastain) on the 13th anniversary of her sobriety at an AA meeting in Brooklyn. She’s a dutiful single mother, working for a low wage at an adult daycare center and has zero social life. Sylvia has four locks on her front door (which is not unusual for New Yorkers), and Mr. Franco includes this, I think, as a metaphor for Sylvia’s guarded mindset.Dragged to a high school reunion by someone with good intentions, it is clear Sylvia is uncomfortable being around others who drink. This situation is compounded with the arrival of Saul (Peter Sarsgaard), who not only sits next to her without invitation, he follows her home in much the same manner as a stalker or predator after she hurriedly exits.
Optimistic and Upbeat
What takes place immediately following succeeds admirably in setting up the remainder of the narrative, and offers up more welcomed twists and turns than I could have ever expected. “Memory” is, by far, the most optimistic and upbeat movie of Mr. Franco’s career, which is not to say it is all unicorns, confections, and rainbows. The ultimate payoff is hard-earned and not without several barbed thruways.
Mr. Franco is on to something here. With Sylvia and Saul, we are presented with two tortured souls who are not looking for forgiveness or redemption; they simply wish to be left alone. Neither is hurting anyone. If they happen to connect organically, all the better. You’re taking two discounted people and giving them a chance at something resembling normalcy. How can this be wrong? It’s easy. Those around them are sure they have Sylvia and Saul’s best interest at heart, which isn’t at all the case.
The title couldn’t be more apropos. Sylvia has more memories than she’d like, and Saul doesn’t have enough. Hers are strewn with unpleasantness, some of which might include Saul, and he can’t recall what he did five minutes ago. At one point, Saul tells Sylvia that he was once married, but can’t recall if he’s divorced or a widower.
Taut Storytelling
In the first two acts, four principal supporting characters add minor texture to the narrative, with all of them behaving as if they’re selflessly sacrificing their time and energy on behalf of Sylvia and Saul. At the start of the final act, Mr. Franco, through brilliant and economic storytelling shorthand, lets us know these characters all have self-serving agendas.In the case of Isaac, he projects a benign, “his-brother’s-keeper” air, but in reality, he’s heavily dependent on Saul for financial reasons.
Finally, there’s Sylvia’s sister Olivia (Merritt Wever), and their mother, Samantha (Jessica Harper). For different reasons, they steadfastly continue to deny the truth regarding events involving the family patriarch decades earlier.
“It’s always darkest just before the dawn.” –Thomas Fuller
“The truth shall set you free.” –John 8: 31-32
These are the two quotes that immediately sprang to my mind when “Memory” concluded. In the end, truth and love will always overcome the negative forces trying to bring them down.
