Memento's Use of a Non-Linear Story

Memento was, without a doubt, one of the most unique movies I have ever seen. Unlike most movies, in which events are presented to the viewer in the order that they happened, Memento switches back and forth between a black and white sequence which occurs first chronologically and moves forwards in time, and a colorized sequence which begins at the "end" of the story chronologically, and moves backwards in time in chunks, with a brief overlap between each chunk so that the viewer can connect the dots. To call this a complex story would be an understatement, but while this convoluted structure can be confusing to the viewer, it is also what makes the genius of this film. Memento's main character, Leonard Shelby, has a memory condition that causes him to forget all events within a few minutes of them happening. So, by showing a large portion of the film's events in reverse order, director Christopher Nolan forces his audience into experiencing things from Leonard's perspective, because while Leonard doesn't remember events that occurred just a few hours ago due to his condition, the audience simply hasn't seen them yet, and become just as confused as Leonard himself. Eventually, the two sequences meet in the story's chronological middle, and the events that lead to Teddy's death are finally revealed. This is one of only two movies I have ever seen that I believe makes effective use of a non-linear story line, the other being "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind". Both films use their non-linear stories to intentionally omit key details from the audience's knowledge, keeping them guessing until the final reveal at the end. All in all, Memento is a masterfully written screenplay that manages to turn a story that initially seems  to be incomprehensibly chaotic into a true masterpiece.