CHRISTOPHER NOLAN DISCUSSES HIS CHRONOLOGY-TWISTING THRILLER 'MEMENTO' FROM END TO BEGINNING

By Peter Debruge
Special to the Texan

Christopher Nolan spent all day shooting Al Pacino before calling me from Vancouver to confess. Perhaps "confess" is too strong a word considering how enthusiastically he shared select clues from his most recent crime scene. You see, Nolan is currently directing Pacino and Hilary Swank in a remake of the icy Norwegian mystery Insomnia, about a police detective who accidentally kills his partner and then interferes with the investigation to cover up the crime.

"I've actually been interested in doing it since I first saw the film three years ago," Nolan admitted. "But it wasn't until I was able to show Memento to the producers that they got excited about letting me in on that project."

So let's back up a step ... Memento, the cleverly calculated neo-noir thriller that twisted minds at the Venice, Sundance and SXSW film festivals, is currently winning Nolan both fans and acclaim nationwide. It's easy to understand how a studio like Warner Bros. could trust Nolan with a $50 million project when you consider how confidently he pulls off Memento's daring narrative technique the film begins with a shooting and then works incrementally backwards to expose the preceding proceedings.