Editing technique · used in 3 films
Running the story backward, by ordering the scenes from last to first or by playing action in reverse on screen. You see results before you see their causes.
Examples
Christopher Nolan · 2000
Nolan runs the color scenes in reverse order, so each scene ends where the previous one began. You feel as lost in time as Leonard does. First, you know what happens but not why. Then you learn why, but you have lost track of what happened. The structure is pretty much the disability itself.
Where to see it: The film's opening. It plays backwards, and you are dropped straight into Leonard's out-of-order world.
Michel Gondry · 2004
The memory-erasure sequences run backward through Joel and Clementine's relationship. You watch it fall apart before you see the tenderness. As cliche as it sounds, the love feels more precious while it's being destroyed.
Where to see it: The Montauk beach memory sequence. It's the emotional core of the film, and it's the last memory you reach.
Christopher Nolan · 2020
Nolan films sequences both forward and backward, then cuts them together inside single action scenes. To choreograph the reverse-entropy fights, the stunt performers had to learn movements that would look inverted on screen.
Where to see it: The Tallinn car chase. Forward-moving and inverted vehicles share the same sequence. The physics of entropy and reverse-entropy collide in one continuous action scene.
Questions
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