MYST POST #7: Mr. Nobody

 Never has a movie perplexed me in the way this film has.  I am never quite sure exactly what is dream and what is reality.  The general plot of the film is that a 118-year-old mortal, Nemo Nobody (Jared Leto), in a world of immortals is dying- and the world wants to know what life was like back before immortality.  He recounts his life story, but with a twist: there are multiple story lines to his life.  So which one is real?  That's the ultimate question.  The major point of deviation seems to be when Nemo was 9 years old, choosing between going with his mother or staying with his father as they separate.  Many different narratives branch off from this choice, because apparently Nemo has the ability to predict the future his choices will create.  This is why he can tell his story so many different ways.  This then begs a mind-bending question: is this story from the point of Nemo at 9 or Nemo at 118?  I'm still asking myself that question.

   The hardest part about this film is just keeping track of the story lines.  There are no helpful labels or transitions: the different stories flow seamlessly from one to the next.  It's kind of like Memento, but at least that movie made sense eventually.  Thrown in among the narratives is a completely out-of-place story that has Nemo stuck in an argyle-sweater world, finding notes telling him to wake up or leave quickly.  As best I can understand, this is how Nemo ended up in the immortal world as a 118-year-old, but I can't be sure.  If you can get past the confusion, the film is very visually stunning.  The colors are bright and beautiful, and there are many gorgeous effects.  In one timeline, Nemo drowns, and the shots of him underwater are beautifully filmed and shot.  There are lots of shots of reverse filming: of fruit re-composing (reverse decomposing) and of a mouse's body reverse-decomposing.  Thrown in among the narratives are snippets from a scientific documentary about time, love, you name it.  These help really get across the point the movie is trying to make at the current moment.  I think the opening to the film is very striking as well.  It explains the idea of 'pigeon superstition,' where a pigeon, if it is convinced that one action leads to a specific reaction, will continue to do that action because it is convinced it will lead to the reaction (even if that isn't true at all).  This really sets the tone for the existential beliefs about memory and choice that are brought up in this movie.  Are our lives futile?

   I think the most thought-provoking scene would be the ending, so if you don't want spoilers don't read on!  In the end, Mr. Nobody dies.  Once he does, time begins reversing.  He cackles joyously as everything moves backwards.  The air bubbles go back into the drowning Nemo.  The comatose Nemo opens his eyes.  The Nemo heartlessly wrenched from his true love's arms is brought back again.  And then we see a scene we haven't before: Nemo and his love Anna reverse-throwing stones into a lake.  Anna (played by Diane Kruger in her older age and Juno Temple in her teenage age) was undoubtedly Nemo's true love, so for the movie to end with him and her side by side gives us hope.  I think the idea the movie is trying to get across is that 9 year old Nemo has made his choice.  He has contemplated his options and found one that fits for him, and is going to follow through with it.  What exactly that is, I don't know.  But it's interesting that the end of the film undoes literally everything that the movie shows.  There can be many meanings to this, and I have a feeling I'll be searching for what really happened for the rest of forever.

  If you're up for a mind-bender, I'd say go for it.  It's got the Sci-fi aspect of Inception combined with a weird romance like Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.  But you need to be fully awake, or so tired that you start having existential thoughts.  Whichever one works, to be honest.  But this film requires deep thought and insight, so know what you're getting into!  I loved this film, so incredibly much. Finding a film this confusing and surprising is a real treat. 4.5/5 stars.