memento

Other Definitions
memento (dict)

Memento is a film written and directed by Christopher Nolan based on his brother Jonathan's short story "Memento Mori". It stars Guy Pearce, Carrie-Anne Moss and Joe Pantoliano. The film was released in 2000 to widespread critical acclaim and received a Golden Globe (best screenplay) and two Oscar (best screenplay, best editing) nominations. The movie consists entirely of an intricately woven pattern of flashbacks. While the black and white sequences progress chronologically forward in time, the color scenes are arranged in reverse order. Thus the opening (color) scene of the movie is chronologically the last event in the story. The opening scene is shown in reverse motion to clue watchers in to the movie's scene progression. Tagline: Some memories are best forgotten

Plot

Memento can be summarized as it is seen in the movie, in reverse order, or as the actual events happen in real life. Because the movie is viewed backwards, as the movie progresses the plot becomes more cohesive and further revealed. However to get a basic plot summary, it is easier to view the plot in actual sequencial order. The movie leaves the viewer with many questions, which will be discussed later, that can be answered different ways. Realizing that there is ambiguity to the movie, here is a generalized overview of the movie. Leonard, played by Guy Pearce, believes that his wife was raped and killed in a struggle in his house. In the struggle Lenny was badly hurt, and he now suffers from a form of brain damage (severe anterograde amnesia, also called "anterograde memory dysfunction"). He only remembers incidents from before the struggle, and now his affliction keeps him from being able to form new memories. In order to remember events he keeps notes and tattoos himself with important clues that he discovers. He also keeps photos of people he meets to remember them by. All he lives for is to get revenge on the man who raped his wife, and he uses these notes to acheive this revenge. Leonard was a clever insurance investigator before his accident, who had to look into someones eyes and read their movements to determine if they were guilty or not. His first major case dealt with Sammy Jankins, a victim of short-term memory loss. Using a series of seemingly easy tests, based on instinct and not memory, Leonard declared that Sammy was faking his memory loss in a way that cut off Sammy's insurance. Leonard tells a story about Sammy and his wife. He tells how Sammy's wife believed that Sammy's condition was mental and that he could snap out of it. She tests Sammy by repeatedly asking him to give her a shot of insulin. Sammy's wife was a diabetic. She knew that Sammy loved her, and thought that this woud snap him out of it, or perhaps she did not want to live without the "old Sammy." Sammy gives her that insulin shot however, and she dies from an overdose. In a bizarre twist of fate, Leonard falls victim to the same disorder and finally realizes that the look he thought he saw in Sammy's eyes was one of wanting to remember and feigning recognition. He suddenly becomes Sammy and tells his story to explain his condition. The audience is introduced to a cop named Teddy who was assigned to investigate the death of Leonard's wife and eventually becomes friends with Lenny. He helps him track down a man named John G. who was the other rapist from the break-in. Leonard and Teddy eventually find the real John G. and kill him. We only know this through a picture Leonard has but can't remember why he has it. Since Leonard can't remember anything, Teddy uses him to kill a drug dealer, Jimmy Grantz, and take his money. In that scene, Teddy tells Leonard the truth about everything. He says that Leonard has already killed the real John G several years ago. Leonard refuses to believe this and proceeds to make himself forget (which doesn't take long considering his condition). In the process of forgetting, Leonard writes down on his photos, a tool designed to help Lenny "remember" things, a plan that will keep Lenny killing. Lenny does not want to believe it, so he intentionally does not write what Teddy tells him. Instead, he writes "Do not believe his lies" on Teddy's picture. Lenny does not want to believe Teddy because if what Teddy says is true then Lenny has nothing left to live for. He voluntarily forgets the truth because that is the only life he knows how to live. He lives for figuring out the puzzle. He leaves clues along the movie, the tattoos and photos with notes on the back, to help him in his process of forgetting and to continue killing the man who raped and murder his wife. But he is misdirected by a note from Jimmy Grant's girlfriend Natalie. She watches Leonard pull up in Jimmy's car and wearing his suit which he takes after killing him. She decides to test him and see if he is telling the truth about his memory loss. She finally decides to also use Leonard to "get rid of" a man named Dodd. Leonard is obsessed with figuring out his own puzzle but believes that he should help out Natalie. In an amusing, and unforgetful, chase scene, Leonard ends up escaping the person he is chasing and running from(Dodd) and ends up in Dodd's hotel room. Lenny captures Dodd and gets Teddy to help get rid of him. They put Dodd in the car and he apparently leaves town. Upon hearing that Dodd is out of the picture, Natalie agrees to help find out who's license plate he has tatooed on his leg, which he tattooed on earlier from Teddy's car. He does not remember though that it was Teddy's car. Leonard is very surprised that it is actually Teddy who owns the car. Teddy's real name is John Edward Gammel, John G.. Leonard kills Teddy, thus making his plan work, and he will forever be able to get his revenge on John G.

Questions/Interpretations

Some Common, Definitive Interpretations of the Film

Lenny definently received brain damage during the struggle in the bathroom. He has the condition anterograde amnesia and is unable to make new memories

There is general agreement that, despite numerous ambiguities, other characters in the film (such as Natalie and Teddy) are manipulating Lenny because of his condition and using him as a means to gain their own selfish ends.

These two interpretations would discredit any possibility that Lenny could be faking his condition, because then he would be allowing others to take advantage of him and this would contradict his obsession with his organizational system. He constantly takes polariods, writes himself notes, and tatoos the facts on his body precisely so that no one can take advantage of him because of his condition.

Is Teddy Lying?

Most of the questions and interpretations of the film below hinge on this question. The viewer must decide if he or she trusts Teddy or Lenny in order to draw conclusions about other interpretations that build or depend upon the answer to this question. The viewer's only insight about Teddy is from Lenny, who has no short term memory and therefore is not a particularly reliable source.

Is Teddy a Police Officer?

This question depends, again, on whether the viewer trusts Teddy or Lenny.

If the viewer trusts Teddy, who claims to be a police officer, then the viewer is accepting that he is actually a police officer.

If the viewer trusts Lenny, who has taken as fact that Teddy is a liar, then Teddy cannot be a police officer because the viewer can't believe anything he says.

Does Sammy exist? Is Sammy actually Lenny?

There are also two points of view for this question:

Teddy is lying when, at the end of the movie, he tells Lenny that Sammy was really Lenny himself. If you believe this point of view, then Sammy actually existed as a person in Lenny's past and is not the same person as Lenny.

Teddy is not lying, in the above situation. He is truthful and is trying to help Lenny realize that Sammy is a figment of Lenny's imagination but did not exist as a separate person. Sammy's story is Lenny's story.

Is Lenny's wife actually dead, and if so, how did she die?

The interpretation of this question depends on whether or not Sammy is actually Lenny, which depends on whether Teddy is telling the truth. Therefore, there are also two point of view for this question:

In the first scenario (as above) if Teddy is lying and Sammy actually existed, then Lenny is telling the truth and his wife was raped and murdered on the same night as the "incident" in which he was hit over the head and lost his memory.

The other scenario is that Teddy is telling the truth and Sammy is a figment of Lenny's imagination and that Sammy is really Lenny. If this case is true then Lenny's wife survived the "incident" and Sammy's wife is really Lenny's wife. So, Sammy's situation would be Lenny's situation and Lenny would have killed his wife with the insulin. There is perhaps more support for this situation because there is the shot of Sammy sitting in the chair and then it flashes and becomes Lenny, and there is the other shot when Lenny can't remember if he is pinching his wife or giving her insulin.

There is no way to determine whether or not Teddy is telling the truth about Lenny's wife. We don't know if she's alive or dead, and if she died, whether it was from the robbers or insulin overdose. There are a few cryptic scenes intended to inform (or perhaps mislead) us: one black and white shot where Sammy is sitting in a chair, and for a brief instant he turns into Lenny, a shot that shows Lenny pinching his wife's leg and then a repeat of the same scene with him giving her an insulin injection and a shot at the very end of the movie where Lenny is lying in bed with his wife (who's supposed to be dead, regardless of which version of the truth you believe) with his shirt off, and we can see that he has an extra tattoo: "I did it." He talked about getting this tattoo earlier (or later, chronologically speaking), but he never did.

What is the real message of Memento?

Despite the many questions the film raises and the various interpretations the viewer can have, the message of the film, as explained to us by Lenny, is this: the truth doesn't matter. Lenny can never have an entirely complete, accurate picture of the truth, and neither can the viewer who is forced to know only what Lenny knows, which is simply what he remembers. This implies existential idea that our selves, just like our worlds, are constantly in motion, and we may be inclined to selectively remember "who we were" in order to strengthen "who we are." As Lenny notes in the film, "Memory can change the shape of a room. It can change the color of your car." He follows this observation by a more concrete conclusion saying, "the world doesn't just disappear when you close your eyes." Because he believes that there is at least some form of reality, Lenny will continue to try and grasp the world around him. Although he can live only in the moment and his perspectives on certain aspects of his life may be a distortion of the truth, this belief allows him to cope with his vastly complex world and his inability to make new memories.

Characters

Leonard

Leonard, not "Lenny", is the main character and is played by Guy Pearce.The movie is about Leonard seeking revenge on the man who raped and killed his wife. During the brawl with his wife's murderers, he is hit extremely hard on the head. Because of the accident, he now has this "condition" where he has no short-term memory. He can only remember things that happened from when his wife died and before. When he is asked what is the last thing he remembers it is of his wife dying. He has a routine and a system of remembering things that he needs to remember. Leonard writes notes on little scraps of paper and places them where he will need to see them. He also takes Polaroid pictures of people and places that he needs to remember. Oon these Polaroid pitures he writes imporrtant notes about the person. Throughout the movie Leonard is trying to find out who raped and killed his wife and is seeking revenge. He places tattoos on his body of the different clues he finds so he will remember them. Leonard is a very complex character.

Teddy

Teddy's character is played by Joe Pantoliano. We do not know whether or not to believe him. He acts as if he is Leonards friend the whole time. He never physically tries to hurt Leonard, but he keeps lying to him and popping up at his motel room and in his car. He tried to get Leonard to leave town many times. He also tries to take the Jaguar with the money many times as well.

Natalie

Natalie is played by Carrie-Anne Moss, who is also known for her performance in The Matrix. She comes out to be the winner in the end. The reasoning for this is because she was involved in drugs and owed somebody (Dodd) a lot of money. She befriends Leonard, and convinces him that Jimmy and Dodd are his enemies. Natalie manipulates Leonard many times and he falls into her lies time and time again.

Jimmy

Jimmy is Natalie's late husband. We find out in the end of the movie, which is actually the beginning, that he was killed by Leonard. He was the original owner of the Jaguar which had lots of cash in the trunk. He was highly involved in the drug business.

Mrs. Jankins

Mrs. Jankins' husband also suffered from the same illness as Leonard. She put helped her husband out on the daily basis. Leonard knew her and her husband because he sold insurance to them. She thought her husband was lying about his problem, so she tested it asking him over and over again to give her insulin shots. She finally went into a coma and died one day.

Dodd

Callum Keith Renniel played Dodd in the movie. The main thing about Dodd that caught me was when Natalie came in the room and was screaming at Leonard because Dodd had beat her up after she told him what Leonard told her to tell him. She convinced Leonard that Dodd beat her up but she was really playing him because he had just beat her up. After he hit and bruised her lip she left and came back in the house and told Leonard Dodd beat her up. She told him Dodd was trying to kill her, so she ask him to kill Dodd for her.

Sammy

Sammy was played by Stephen Tobolowsky. Sammy was a significant character because he was a friend of Leonards that suffered the same type of amnesia that he did. Both of these characters have anterograde amnesia. People with this type of Amnesia find it hard to remember ongoing events after suffering an injury to the head. They do not tend to forget their childhood or who they are, but have trouble remembering day-to-day events. Due to his condition and denial from his wife that he had condition, it eventually was the cause of his wifes death.

Burt

In the movie Burt was played by Mark Junior. Burt played a local hotel clerk that assisted Leonard in remembering past memories. Although his part may seem somewhat insignificant, he helped Leonard by taking all of his missed calls along with taking him back to his hotel room on the day to day basis.

Stylistic Features

Critical Response

Roger Ebert: One of films greatest critics of all time is Roger Ebert. After watching the film Memento, he mentions that there is one key plot-point that he does not understand; if the last thing the main character remembers is his wifes death, then how does he remember that he has short-term memory loss? Ebert viewed this film twice. When the second viewing did not enrich his experience, he came to the conclusion that we are intended to be left in a state of confusion. Seattle Post-Intelligencer: William Arnold, a writer from the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, states that Memento is a delicious one-time treat. He states that this is one film that constantly makes us re-examine the situation and strain to make mental links between the different scenes. Arnold makes the comment that we are put into Leonards position; not always knowing what scene preceded the one we are currently in. To close, Arnold states that this is an atmospheric thriller on a profound metaphoric level.