Memory
Delicate and compelling drama from Michel Franco (Sundown) about the unusual reunion of a social worker and a friend from her high school days. With Jessica Chastain and Peter Sarsgaard.
Where one is mostly concerned with hiding away her memories, we see the other struggling to retain his memories. Social worker Sylvia lives in New York with her daughter. She lives a seemingly orderly life, taking her thirteen-year-old daughter to school, going to work and attending AA meetings. With slight reluctance, she attends a reunion of her high school. There she meets Saul, an old schoolmate who suffers from the early signs of dementia. An encounter with major consequences.
Mexican director Franco wanted to make a film about people who, for whatever reason, do not conform to the conventions demanded of them by their environment. In a clever and sensitive way – without getting sentimental – MEMORY unravels Sylvia’s secret, hidden in the darkness of her memory and we see how Saul learns to come to terms with his memory loss. Above all, it is the palpable chemistry between Sylvia and Saul that adds lustre to the film. (ej)