Memoria

2021
PG
2h 16m

IMDb RATING

6.4/10

12K

YOUR RATING

From the extraordinary mind of Palme D'or winning director Apichatpong Weerasethakul, and starring Academy Award winner Tilda Swinton, comes a bewildering drama about a Scottish woman, who, after hearing a loud 'bang' at daybreak, begins experiencing a mysterious sensory syndrome while traversing the jungles of Colombia.

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2 Videos

57 Photos

Drama Mystery Sci-Fi

A woman from Scotland, while traveling in Colombia, begins to notice strange sounds. Soon she begins to think about their appearance.A woman from Scotland, while traveling in Colombia, begins to notice strange sounds. Soon she begins to think about their appearance.A woman from Scotland, while traveling in Colombia, begins to notice strange sounds. Soon she begins to think about their appearance.

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

6.4/10

12K

YOUR RATING

See production info at IMDbPro

Awards
- 10 wins & 27 nominations

Videos2

Photos57

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Memoria

Storyline

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Did you know

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Trivia
In an unconventional move, art-house film distributor Neon is releasing Memoria in the USA "from city to city, theater to theater, week by week, playing in front of only one solitary audience at any given time." And furthermore, according to IndieWire (10/5/21) the film will only play in theaters and it will not become available on DVD, on demand, or on streaming platforms. They later abandoned this release strategy though after touring through only New York and Chicago and the film was eventually released in many cities simultaneously across North America in April, 2022.

Quotes
Older Hernán Bedoya: I remember everything, so I limit what I see.

Connections
Referenced in Radio Dolin: Stream with Anton Dolin (2021)

Soundtracks
Memoria
Written by César López
Piano performed by César López
Cello performed by Sandra Parra
Recorded by Julio Monroy
Recorded in Bogotá, Columbia by Burning
(C) 2020 Burning

User reviews105

Review

Featured review

An experience as much as a film

"Enjoy the silence" a title card states as Apichatpong Weerasethakul invites the viewer to experience MEMORIA; And, an experience it truly is as Weerasethakul's metaphysical film infuses the viewer with natural sights and sounds. That opening acts almost as an overture, as the Director's personal sketches are superimposed over still photographs from the production of the film - all 'scored' to absolute silence.

MEMORIA's protagonist is Jessica (Tilda Swinton) who awakes one morning to a mysterious sonic bang. Jessica is a botanist living in Columbia who is visiting her sister in Bogota. The bang continues to haunt Jessica as she goes about her daily life. Slowly, she feels that her mind is slipping - is she imaging the sounds? People she believes she has met don't seem to exist. On a drive back to her home in Medellin, she meets (or does she?) a man named Hernan (Elkin Diaz) and they spend a long afternoon together.

Weerasethakul's film doesn't have a formal plot. Swinton is so attuned to her filmmaker's methods that she inhabits rather than acts. The Director's method is to utilize only the most minimal of editing with extended takes. Cinematographer Sayombhu Mukdeeprom exquisitely captures the crucial mood and beauty of the natural world on 35mm film. The sonic bangs seem ever more loud because the sound design accentuates an organic soundscape; even the human voices are seemingly mixed below normal levels.

"Sometimes there's no escape except in dreams" reads another title card after the 'overture'. The classical definition of "Memoria" can be very loosely translated as "Memory", but its true meaning is much deeper. It describes a way in which the human mind stores and utilizes those thoughts and senses. The sonic bangs can be seen as a way of triggering Jessica's states of consciousness. Her own Memoria.

MEMORIA isn't a film for general audiences. Indeed, it's release is a never-ending world tour with the Producers claiming it shall never be sold for home viewing - streaming or physical media. It's very much a communal experience in a theater. The aural and visual tour de force to be savored not only by the individual -- but, by the audience in toto.