Opening 3 Oct 2024
Directed by:
Michel Franco
Writing credits:
Michel Franco
Principal actors:
Jessica Chastain, Brooke Timber, Peter Sarsgaard, Josh Charles, Brian Kelly
Sylvia (Jessica Chastain) lives with her teenaged daughter Anna (Brooke Timber). She works in an adult care center connected with Alcoholic Anonymous, helping people recover from alcoholism. She attends her Woodsbury High School reunion. Afterwards she is followed all the way home by a guy whom she discovers the next morning sleeping on her doorstep. This is Saul (Peter Sarsgaard) who claims to have been also a former student but wasn’t. And then there is Issac (Josh Charles) who turns out to be Saul’s brother. We also meet Sylvia’s sister Olivia and her family. As the story progresses Sylvia and Saul become closer, eventually moving in together—a reason for Anna to leave and stay with her aunt Olivia. Above all of this hangs a “memory” which might be better to forget.
Throughout the film we are confronted with dementia and senility, as people attempt to remember the past. It was filmed in New York and New York City, with Saul’s apartment looking like typical Brooklyn housing. There is much coming and going from house to house and room to room, which entails constant opening and closing of doors. Memory has played at several film festivals including the 2023 Venice Film Festival where Peter Sarsgaard won best actor, not only because he performed well but also perhaps because he is not your typical handsome male lead actor; he often appears naked showing his fat belly and more. The film is accompanied by many songs including “A Whiter Shade of Pale” and “Life Fantastic.” Now I’m going to start writing everything down, so I won’t “forget.” (Becky Tan)
