JaenaPlinski

Set in an oh-so near dystopian reality, Victor Blaho's newest micro-budget Nolanesque romantic drama tests the ethics of love, justice, and the illusion in between.

"Memories of Another" portrays the tragic story of Zach and Mia's 'once-was' relationship.

Following the mysterious death of his lover (Mia), Zach now finds himself in the hands of Blair, a government investigator & scientist who has pioneered a life changing machine (Pandora) that supposedly enables justice to reach the fairest verdict of all by replaying the dramatic events prior to a suspected crime. These events are re-lived through the suspect's mind, and thus, inevitably, his memories.

The thought-provoking ethical elements in this film all lie within the prejudice of a crime, and its suspect. Raising questions such as - "Is it fair to enter the mind and privacy of a suspect, with the scope of reaching a fair verdict?" "In the absence of evidence, can we truly rely on memory as the sole mean to justice?" But most of all... "Can we trust judicial representatives, to not abuse their power?" - The answer lies within human nature, and its dark side.

Wonderfully depicting the pain of heart-breaking memories through a melancholic Neo-surrealist 'dream-like' tone, it is clear that Blaho is not only a visionary, but also an uprising filmmaker that deals with contemporary real-life issues.

On top of the plot line, the film is beautifully paired with an outstanding original score and sound design.

All of the above - but on a well-handled yet clearly restrictive micro-budget.

Let me start by saying that I loved the Sopranos.

I was hooked from the first episode onwards. A series full of interesting characters, many times with a comical touch in regards to these guys' closed minds, and hypocritical thinking. I just finished the series, for the first time (yes it has ended over ten years ago).

I'll start by saying what I liked least about the series. Sometimes, the situation got a bit stagnant, in the sense that there was not much going on, or rather, not many new events going on. When something new did happen, the situation would often go back to normal after maximum three episodes. I loved the first season since it was probably the most variant in terms of events (maybe that's just the way I feel).

However, there are far more things I liked rather than disliked. What I absolutely loved most about the series is witnessing the different characters, their thoughts, their actions, and especially the hilarious hypocrisy. Italian-american gangsters are like this. This is a much more realistic version of the italian gangster the movie world is used to. It's rarely a world of gentlemen, and great Dons who are against drugs regardless the money (quoting the Godfather here). Gangsters make money in any way they can, and the bosses don't care where that money comes from, as long as it goes into their pockets, as we often see in this series; Tony receiving a fat envelope from one of his captains, and putting it straight in his pocket.

The southern italian mentality is also truly present (I am from Naples, Italy). Something very stereotypical was the fact that at the Soprano house, there would always be a plate of pasta, lasagna, etc. ready to be eaten. Carmela would always worry about whether her family has eaten enough. This is very much the case in southern Italy.

I loved the different characters' mentalities, one of my favorites being Paulie. Paulie is an amazing character on the show. He is a straight up G, who's main objective in life is making money, and stacking money over that. If something is in his interest, he goes for it. He's more calm in the final season, but that's also because he's older. Every character has a story, and many times it's up the viewer's mind to figure out how he got to where he is, but all of them had the more or less the same childhood and upbringing as the main characters we are witnessing.

I have to say my favorite episode from the entire season has been and still is episode 6, from season 3. It's an episode that is fabulously directed, and goes into the life of one of the Bing's strippers: Tracee. It shows how brutal the gangster world could be to those who are just seen as tools to make money. A young girl named Tracee, uneducated on the opportunities life has to offer, is dragged into a life of drugs, sex, and abuse by the men working for Tony. The episodes shows the few events leading to her death. It was an emotional episode for me, seeing the parallel of a hopeful girl, who truly has nothing but a dream for a love life, and a baby (Tracee) and the one of Tony's daughter, Meadow (same age as Tracee), who studies at a prestigious university, unaware of the true issues in life, having always lived in a bubble of wealth, provided by the money people like Tracee were making for her father. It highlighted the fact that in life, the main player is luck, whether you are lucky enough to be born where you're born, and whether you're lucky to develop the intelligence to change your situation, and make a difference.

Regardless, I rated the Sopranos a 9/10. I enjoyed the series, but am glad to be done. RIP James Gandolfini