Leste Chen

(On TV, February 2020) I’m willing to be indulgent when it comes to watching Science Fiction films, and especially SF films from outside the Anglosphere, but Battle of Memories seems determined to burn all accumulated goodwill in short order. It doesn’t help that the weak SF rationale becomes increasingly unimportant as the film advances. For the first few minutes, at least, we can be convinced that this will be a science fiction film that deals with ideas: As our protagonist, soon to be divorced, gets his painful memories of his marriage erased, Battle of Memories dangles the possibility of an intriguing romantic drama. But the erasure takes maybe ten minutes of screentime, as he’s flatly told that his wife will not grant him his divorce unless he reinstates those memories. This narrative loop only exists for the protagonist to start remembering things that never happened—murders, most notably. Trying to go to the police to confess or testify, reality quickly gets increasingly blurry as two policemen, his not-so-ex-wife and a pretty scientist start interacting in increasingly disturbing ways. The memory SF device is soon chucked in the irrelevancy bin as the film shifts toward a murder mystery… except that with a handful of lead actors, the solution is as hermetic as it is narratively baffling, with a villain’s convoluted plan that makes no sense once everything is accounted for. The conclusion feels unconvincing, as if one of the actors had to be the killer because of excessive narrative trimming. It certainly doesn’t help that there’s a noticeable lull in the film’s second act, as it doesn’t seem to know how to switch gears from its premise to its conclusion. Yet Battle of Memories, despite significant weaknesses, is not quite a dud: Executed rather well with a good budget and better intentions, it does feature some intriguing imagery and an eerie atmosphere. But there’s only so much you can do without a convincing plot to tie it all together, and the third act is when Battle of Memories solidifies its disappointment. While I have nice things to say about Leste Chen’s work as a director here (except for not being concise enough), I’m not so generous when it comes to his work as a screenwriter.