Memories Alone

Updated
 
9.7 (4)
 
9.1 (5)
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memoriesalone_coverart
Faneditor Name:
Original Movie/Show Title:
Genre:
Fanedit Type:
Original Release Date:
2008 / 2010
Original Running Time:
108 / 109 minutes
Fanedit Release Date:
Fanedit Running Time:
140 minutes
Available in HD:
Synopsis:
After suffering a heart attack, a washed-up wrestler decides to retire. In searching for what's next, he tries courting an exotic dancer while rekindling a relationship with his estranged daughter, a ballerina who has just landed the lead role in Swan Lake. Now she must explore a darkness within her to achieve perfection in playing both swan queens.

"Memories Alone" tells parallel stories of a father at the end of his professional career and a daughter at the beginning of hers.
Intention:
After seeing "Black Swan" it occurred to me how similar its story was to that of "The Wrestler". I decided to see what could be done by merging the two stories into a single film.
Special Thanks:
Thanks to Neglify and g1orkatsos for their feedback on this project. (They were subjected to two scenes in particular at least a dozen times.) Their feedback was invaluable.
Release Information:
  • DVD
  • Blu-ray
  • Digital
Special Features:
Fanedit Trailers
Cuts and Additions:
Too many to list. Roughly an hour was cut from each film.
Trailer

Faneditor Name:
Original Movie/Show Title:
Genre:
Fanedit Type:
Original Release Date:
2008 / 2010
Original Running Time:
108 / 109 minutes
Fanedit Release Date:
Fanedit Running Time:
140 minutes
Available in HD:
Synopsis:
After suffering a heart attack, a washed-up wrestler decides to retire. In searching for what's next, he tries courting an exotic dancer while rekindling a relationship with his estranged daughter, a ballerina who has just landed the lead role in Swan Lake. Now she must explore a darkness within her to achieve perfection in playing both swan queens.

"Memories Alone" tells parallel stories of a father at the end of his professional career and a daughter at the beginning of hers.
Intention:
After seeing "Black Swan" it occurred to me how similar its story was to that of "The Wrestler". I decided to see what could be done by merging the two stories into a single film.
Special Thanks:
Thanks to Neglify and g1orkatsos for their feedback on this project. (They were subjected to two scenes in particular at least a dozen times.) Their feedback was invaluable.
Release Information:
  • DVD
  • Blu-ray
  • Digital
Special Features:
Fanedit Trailers
Cuts and Additions:
Too many to list. Roughly an hour was cut from each film.
Cover art by g1orkatsos (DOWNLOAD HERE) image

Trailer

Trusted Reviewer reviews

4 reviews
Overall rating
 
9.7
Audio/Video Quality
 
9.8(4)
Audio Editing
 
9.8(4)
Visual Editing
 
9.8(4)
Narrative
 
9.5(4)
Enjoyment
 
8.8(4)
Overall rating
 
9.7
Audio/Video Quality
 
9.0
Audio Editing
 
10.0
Visual Editing
 
10.0
Narrative
 
10.0
Enjoyment
 
9.0
A very well done edit that's kind of an eye-opener regarding the original movies. Apart from the trademark Aronofsky filmmaking style (long tracking shots following the characters from behind, and the likes) and the similar endings, I hadn't detected the many parallels the two movies have. In Q2's version at least, they kind of seem designed to complement each other. My favorite moments were the parts in which both stories meet, particularly the dress-up montages at the beginning and the back-and-forth between the two performances at the end, with Swan Lake getting carried over the Wrestler footage. Might be a bit too long, yes, but what to cut? It all fits.

Technically, it's all very well done. The Black Swan footage shows a lot of seemingly added grain to render it closer to The Wrestler's, that might be a bit too obvious and degrade the texture a bit too much. But it's otherwise fine, as is the audio.

A very good "outside the box" edit that achieves its goals admirably.

User Review

Do you recommend this edit?
Yes
Format Watched
DVD
Comments (0) | Was this review helpful? 0 0
Overall rating
 
10.0
Audio/Video Quality
 
10.0
Audio Editing
 
10.0
Visual Editing
 
10.0
Narrative
 
10.0
Enjoyment
 
10.0
I can't say much without repeating what the other reviewers said. This edit is perfect and easily replaces both originals for me. Well done, Q2.

User Review

Format Watched
Digital
Comments (0) | Was this review helpful? 0 0
(Updated: February 20, 2013)
Overall rating
 
9.9
Audio/Video Quality
 
10.0
Audio Editing
 
10.0
Visual Editing
 
10.0
Narrative
 
10.0
Enjoyment
 
8.0
This was a really cool edit. The two stories worked perfectly together.

The Good Stuff:

The narrative structure is near perfect.
I didn't care for The Black Swan when I saw it, now I was able to relate to the story and characters more.
Holy hell that ending was perfectly edited.

The Not As Good Stuff:

I personally thought it was about 15-20 minutes too long.

If you're a fan of Aronofsky's work, you'll get a kick out of this.

User Review

Do you recommend this edit?
Yes
Format Watched
Digital
Comments (0) | Was this review helpful? 0 0
Overall rating
 
9.0
Audio/Video Quality
 
10.0
Audio Editing
 
9.0
Visual Editing
 
9.0
Narrative
 
8.0
Enjoyment
 
8.0
This is a highly ambitious fanedit, and for the most part it works exceptionally well. The vast majority of the edits are fantastic, and create a strong sense of the parallels that bind these two stories together.

There are clear similarities between the two films, and Q2 does a wonderful job of drawing those similarities out and finding where they sync. It's also easy to believe that these films inhabit a 'shared universe', given that Arinofsky employs alot of handheld camera work in both films, and they both have a gritty realism to them (with the exception of the surreal aspects of black swan).

The larger themes of the two films bond well for the most part, although they didn't draw together at the very end as satisfyingly as I would have hoped for, had these films been intended to be experienced in this parallel way. While there is a powerful symmetry in what the two characters are willing to sacrifice for their art, their reasoning for doing so is quite different, most clearly epitomised in Nina's final line of dialogue - A line that perfectly encapsulates her journey, but doesn't really connect with what Randy the Ram is going through, and his motivations for getting back in the ring. Given that this is the final moment of the film, ideally this would have been a a line that connected the two stories more strongly.

Storywise, I almost could have done without the idea that the Ram is Nina's father. Conceptually it works well, and in the moment with the photograph it is executed successfully. The phone call, however, was not as impactful and the presence of the editor was definitely evident during that scene. It worked, but only just, and required a leap of faith on the viewers part to connect those dots.

Technically the film is excellent. I particularly loved the use of music, and the way it was able to carry across imagery from both films to highlight key emotional moments. There were only one or two audio transitions that felt unnatural or jarring (for example, after Nina puts the toys in the trash), but given how many cuts were made between the films, this is quite an incredible feat.

I would recommend this fanedit. It feels weighty and thoughtful, and certainly highlights what wonderful films The Wrestler and The Black Swan are. Congrats Q2 on an ambitious and intense edit!
Comments (0) | Was this review helpful? 2 0

User reviews

5 reviews
Overall rating
 
9.1
Audio/Video Quality
 
8.8(5)
Audio Editing
 
9.6(5)
Visual Editing
 
9.2(5)
Narrative
 
8.8(5)
Enjoyment
 
9.0(5)
Overall rating
 
9.5
Audio/Video Quality
 
8.0
Audio Editing
 
10.0
Visual Editing
 
10.0
Narrative
 
10.0
Enjoyment
 
10.0

User Review

Do you recommend this edit?
Yes
Format Watched
Digital
Report this review Comments (0) | Was this review helpful? 0 1
(Updated: April 15, 2014)
Overall rating
 
7.5
Audio/Video Quality
 
9.0
Audio Editing
 
9.0
Visual Editing
 
7.0
Narrative
 
5.0
Enjoyment
 
7.0
I was extremely excited to see this after reading all of the positive reviews, but unfortunately this fanedit just didn’t really do much for me.

My biggest gripe is that I never believed, not for one second, that Randy is Nina’s father, or that Randy was once married to Nina’s mother. I couldn’t imagine a scenario where those worlds would have collided, and the viewer never gets a sense from the Black Swan side of things that there was ever a father in the picture. The synopsis claims that Randy is “rekindling a relationship with his estranged daughter,” but that rekindling is not seen nor implied, with the exception of a phone call that we don’t see Nina listen to.

I also found much of the movement between the two films extremely jarring. The darker tone, more suspenseful music and hallucinatory images of Black Swan generally did not mesh well with the more traditional stylings of The Wrestler. Only one of the split screen edits worked for me, and there were several instances where intercutting between each film seemed unmotivated. I didn’t think there was much cohesion between each storyline, and I rarely felt like I was watching one movie with parallel stories. Instead, it mostly felt like two (excellent) movies that kept interrupting each other.

This fanedit is not without its bright spots, however. I thought the ending was absolutely terrific. There are a number of genuinely clever and interesting juxtapositions of images and sounds. Q2 did a good job crafting a consistent visual style between the two films. And The Wrestler and Black Swan are terrific films in their own right, so I enjoyed watching scenes from each film in a new context, and this contributed heavily to my overall enjoyment of the fanedit.

Despite those positive elements, I (reluctantly, because I loved the concept) would not recommend this fanedit. Memories Alone flounders at forming the narrative it purports to tell, and the two films it draws from are not as harmonious a pair as I had hoped or expected.

User Review

Do you recommend this edit?
No
Format Watched
DVD
Report this review Comments (0) | Was this review helpful? 2 0
Overall rating
 
9.5
Audio/Video Quality
 
8.0
Audio Editing
 
10.0
Visual Editing
 
10.0
Narrative
 
10.0
Enjoyment
 
10.0
This edit is a stunner! Q2 has merged these spiritual cousins beautifully, so that it truly feels as if the two films belong together. The editing is graceful and naturalistic, daring but not intrusive, with both films balanced beautifully around their shared themes and motifs. A few times I picked up on what was cut, but at no time did I feel like I was missing out; such is the superb craftsmanship of this fanmix. A few people felt that the end product was a bit too long, and it is a long film, but I was so engrossed in these stories (that I'd already seen) that it never FELT too long to me. Don't miss out on this one!

The only gripe I have is with the video quality of the file I watched. I got the HD MKV, and about 45 minutes in, I started to notice degrading in portions of the frame that looked like compression artifacts. (A dramatic example starting at 01:04:28) These kept up off-and-on throughout the rest of the film, and they were pretty distracting. They were especially detrimental in the later Black Swan scenes when they would obscure the subtle FX work on Nina's skin.

User Review

Do you recommend this edit?
Yes
Format Watched
Digital
Report this review Comments (0) | Was this review helpful? 0 0
Overall rating
 
10.0
Audio/Video Quality
 
10.0
Audio Editing
 
10.0
Visual Editing
 
10.0
Narrative
 
10.0
Enjoyment
 
9.0
Spectacular, harrowing, sublime. In one corner we have the The Wrestler, the friendly fighter, the yang, the profane. In the facing corner we have the Black Swan, the neurotic artiste, the yin, the sacred. The two stories grapple and merge, the whole greater than the sum of the parts.

You'll be surprised how many parallels and echoes the two movies have. Darren Aronofsky would be surprised. Q2 has found them all, shuffled them together, the one story refracting and amplifying the other, back and forth, around and around. The two leading characters are worlds apart but they have a believable psychological link. This isn't how a "real" movie would put them together, and you never forget it's a fan mix you're watching, still the creative power is undeniable.

Technical qualities are perfect. Menu and extras are minimal. Concur with Neglify the 140 minute run time feels a little long, on the other hand I've got no suggestion what to cut. Each character goes through a full arc of rise and fall, reaching out and pulling back. Q2 gives the stories room to breathe while cutting big parts from each movie. The wrestler is more of a loner, the swan's world is more dangerous, in both stories the tension is cranked up. Memories Alone is a knock down drag out, come prepared.

User Review

Format Watched
DVD
Report this review Comments (0) | Was this review helpful? 1 0
Overall rating
 
9.0
Audio/Video Quality
 
9.0
Audio Editing
 
9.0
Visual Editing
 
9.0
Narrative
 
9.0
Enjoyment
 
9.0
Well I just finished watching this. Pretty, pretty, pretty good.

I'm a fan of most of Aronofsky's work and enjoyed both The Wrestler and Black Swan. So I went into this fanedit knowing Q2's intention but at the same time not being sure what to expect. Overall I really enjoyed this edit. Some really great choices in terms of how the story goes back and forth between the two characters. Definitely worth checking out.
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