FILM REVIEW Memento by David Ridgen Released 1996 Genre Experimental Narrative Cast Mark Ruzylo Scott Withers Suzanne Hersh Mark Cassidy Russ Waller Lara Koretsky Marg Hitchcock Country of origin Canada Language English Format 16mm, Super 8, 8mm Duration 74 min., Other Reviews Kingston Whig-StandardMemento.htmlBio.htmlMemento_Whig_Standard_Review.htmlshapeimage_1_link_0shapeimage_1_link_1shapeimage_1_link_2
Kingston-based film premieres friday: Low budget "Memento" is being screened aboard the Island Queen Kingston This Week by Christopher Rouse Wednesday June 19, 1996 To playwright and filmmaker David Ridgen, memory is a fluid realm where reality and identity shift with such subtlety that we are rarely even aware of its flux. "I believe I experienced things in childhood that actually didn't happen to me. They actually happened to my brother or sister. And I think everyone has memories like that," says Ridgen. To prove his point, Ridgen's new film Memento - premiering Friday, June 21 aboard the Island Queen Tourboat - uses old 8mm and Super 8mm footage, much of it family film culled from yard sales, and inserts it into a completely new narrative where its meaning changes completely. "Stylistically, what I was trying to do was show how easy it is to manipulate film, and how easy it is to change the visual image by putting different narration under it, or different music," he explains. "This is especially true of the nostalgic films on regular 8mm film, the icon of vacations in the 1950's. you can instantly evoke these memories in the audience of experiences they never actually had. Shot on an out-of-pocket budget of about $8000, Memento springs from a script Ridgen wrote while snow-bound during a teaching stint in the Arctic. It's a monument to its creator's ingenuity and the dedication of about a dozen local actors and technical assistants, many of whom worked long hours without pay. Bartering his own labour for the use of an expensive French camera from Queen's university, Ridgen shot Memento on 16mm reversal film, the same kind used in home movies, and transferred the finished product to video. The film's score was provided by local bands Van Allen Belt and Gigantis, as well as Juno-award-winning native musician Jerry Alfred. Shot on location in Kingston and Toronto, the 75 minute Memento tells several stories at once. Rebecca (played by veterean Kingston actress Marg Hitchcock) tries to exorcise the memory of her obsessive filmmaking father by throwing out his footage and having a yard sale. John (Mark Ruzylo), a young, disaffected filmmaker, tries to use the footage for his own first feature film, but cannot get Rebecca to divulge the meaning of some of the disturbing images he finds. Meanwhile, Richard (Scott Withers), also a filmmaker, is making a film about John's making of a film. It's this film-within-a-film and the three duelling narratives that provide the thrust for Ridgen's exploration of memory. It's a mosaic - everything comes together at the end of the film, but not until the very last second," he says. "Every piece is important, so you have to remember each piece. You have to pay attention in this film. It keeps moving, and everything that happens is important."

“...a monument to its creator's ingenuity...”

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© Ridgen 2009
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