Memento. 1967. Directed by Dimitrie Osmanli. Written by Osmanli, Jovan Boskovski, Tasko Georgievski. With Renata Freiskorn, Stevo Zigon, Dragi Kostovski. In Macedonian and Russian with English subtitles. DCP. 85 min.
Set in Skopje in the aftermath of the 1963 earthquake that destroyed most of the city and ushered in unprecedented international aid, Memento follows a German conductor (Stevo Žigon) on his way back from Greece who meets the young student Yana (Renata Freiskorn) and drives her home. They grow close as they explore the city, retracing Yana’s steps to find something she lost only to discover a landscape which, even in the midst of destitution, bustles with life. Along the way they encounter irreverent youth, cabaret singers, pop bands, and the American military, and a simple love story gives way to an extraordinary cinematic diary about memory and what it means to reconstruct one’s life and begin anew. Directed by Macedonian pioneer Dimitrie Osmanli, the film speaks to conscience and contains some of the best montage committed to celluloid. Strongly reminiscent of the work of Alain Resnais—and taking the earthquake as a backdrop for critical reflections on issues as varied as the Holocaust, nuclear catastrophe, and the Vietnam war—Memento is a kaleidoscope of the 20th century, and a person’s quest to find peace in a tumultuous world.