Portfolio for Film & Video
Memento
Synopsis
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Memento follows the story of Leonard’s (played by Guy Pearce) gut wrenching task of finding the man who raped and murdered his wife, who’s name- according to Leonard- is John or James G. However, this unbearable task is made more impossible with the addition of his psychological impairment. Leonard suffers from a rare form of memory loss known as Anterograde amnesia. Due to this, Leonard cannot make new memories past his wife’s death, after hitting his head on a mirror when trying to fight off the alleged attackers, one of which escaped. Therefore, he cannot remember who he’s met, where he’s been or where he’s going. This makes him an easy target for manipulation, making him suspicious of the other characters actions. To help counteract his inability to remember, he takes polaroid’s of significant people he meets, and tattoos vital information for his investigation onto his body. From Leonard’s previous occupation, he regularly recalls a man called Sammy Jankin’s who also suffered from Anterograde Amnesia. He was one of Leonard's clients in the insurance firm he previously worked at. Through trying to prove that Sammy was in fact lying about his condition, or could be helped, his wife overdosed on insulin (that Sammy injected her with). This story is rooted in the core of Leonard's condition, but as the film unfolds, the audience realises that Leonard is in fact Sammy, and has been manipulating himself into believing that he had a purpose, seeking revenge, but in fact there was only one alleged attacker and Leonard has been killing other John G's since the accident.
Motifs and Symbols
Motifs and Symbols
Polaroid Pictures
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Leonard uses polaroid’s for less significant information, or information that could be subject to change. The actual DVD cover is a polaroid picture, which gives a mise en abyme effect. This is repeating an image within itself, creating a pattern that potentially becomes infinitely smaller, connoting an inescapable fate.
The ambiguity of this effect represents Leonards condition in a more abstract way. It represents a dissonant relationship between Leonards present self, and his self-perceived past self. He is unable to have a continuous identity as he lives in his past and the effects from his previous actions, that of which he cannot remember. This is seen in the beginning scene when Teddy is killed, he says to Lenny
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“You don’t know who you are.”
“I’m Leonard Shelby, I’m from San Francisco.”
“That’s who you were, that’s not what you’ve become.”
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There is no difference between the past and the present for him, the two blurs together to make a disjunctive timeline. Leonard tries to record time in pictures, but this is a time that once existed but is now forever gone., but this is inevitable wrong, because even the photograph can't escape the subjectivity of the photographer.
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Claudius The God and His Wife Messalina
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In one of the flashback scenes from Leonard’s memory, his wife is seen reading the same book, for the thousandth time.
He says, “I thought the pleasure of a book was in wanting to know what happens next”. This is ironic for the viewer,
as we already know what happens at the end of the film due to the storyline running backwards. Therefore the
“enjoyment” is inherently sucked out of the film, as we already know the fate of the characters. We don't get to
wonder what happens next; we start from the end and so we already know. However, this doesn't mean we don't enjoy it. We still want to know what happens next… it just happens that next is first. The book itself is also a symbol, and inclination of Leonard’s condition. Claudius was a Roman emperor, who was looked down upon from his peers due to his stammer and unusual quirks, with many people viewing him as insane. However, much like Leonard, the advantage of being is that you are not viewed as a threat. Therefore, Claudius managed to become emperor and expanded Rome, improving the quality of life for its citizens. He was actually a very intelligent man, but with his hamartia being his unnerving faith in his wife, his naivety leads him to be killed by his manipulative wife. This mirrors Leonard, with Teddy and Natalie using his condition as a way of exploiting him.
Mirrors
Nolan also uses the repeated motif of mirrors throughout the film to convey the duel life that Leonard and the other
characters are living. Leonard uses mirrors to read the tattoos on his body, and therefore aid him in carrying out his one and only purpose, the revenge of his wife's death. The only tattoo which can be read in the mirror is;
"John G raped and murdered my wife"
This correlated with his obsession of finding the illusive John G, and inevitably, forcing himself to forget what Teddy tells him, and continuing to live his life with "purpose", even though that purpose isn't real. Moreover, many scenes incorporate mirrors to convey the fake reality that he is un-knowingly part of. The scene in which he attacks "Dodd" mirrors the original attack on his wife. However, in this version, Leonard succeeds in his attempt to assault Dodd, which is Leonards way of subconsciously trying to recreate himself, and the life that he lost. When he tries to save his wife, he is violently pushed against the bathroom mirror, and subsequently loses his memory. The mirror is the root cause of his memory loss, and his inability to find himself because he can't physically see himself in the shattered glass. Leonard relies on his memories, hence the line “We don’t need mirrors to remind ourselves of who we are”. Here Nolan is suggesting that memory is destructive, and will inevitably lead to harm, and therefore presents the dual natures within every individual as a form of deception.
Sammy Jankis
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Sammy Jankins is a repeating motif throughout Memento and is found as a tattoo on Leonard's hand, possibly the most visible place on the human body, hence why people often write things on their hands to remember them. Sammy Jankins is a technique that Leonard uses to "condition" himself, much like the test that Sammy took when Leonard was investigating his claim, referring to instinct vs. memory. Sammy failed the test therefore losing the claim. Leonard's "remember Sammy Jankis" tattoo did that for him so he could successfully deceive himself and alter his true past. Leonard conditioned himself to remember his past by projecting his story onto someone else he remembers from his past. The truth that he killed his wife was too painful but also too important to forget, so by using Sammy, he lies to himself. He has to use this tattoo to remind himself the extreme extent of his condition, but he's deceived himself to believe a false truth. If Leonard was to remember that he did actually kill his wife, he would have to stop chasing the illusive "John G", and therefore his life would have no meaning. Therefore, at the end of the film when Teddy explains this to Leonard, he chooses to forget.
Themes
Manipulation
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The theme of manipulation is apparent through the film from the other characters, who use Leonard for their own personal gain. Teddy manipulates Jimmy and Leonard so he can make money; Natalie manipulates Leonard for protection, Leonard's wife manipulates Leonard as a last resort to bring him back and even Leonard manipulates himself so that he can control his future thoughts and actions. Moreover, the audience are manipulated by Nolan, so he knows what he wants them to know. The specific details that are alluded to us in the coloured and black and white shots, manipulate our perception of the characters in the film. Initially, we are manipulated along with Leonard to believe that Natalie is sincere, and has her best intentions for Leonard. But as usual, this isn't true. Moreover, the Sammy Jankis story manipulates the viewer, and it is only due to Teddy's final testimonial that we understand the true events of Leonards past life. In effect, the whole film is a manipulation of our perception, how we are introduced to characters, the main story line and the real storyline of Leonard. Perhaps Leonard is the main culprit of manipulation throughout the whole film, telling himself lies in order to feel as though he has a fruitful life, a destination, a goal. It's not amnesia that prevents him from healing, it's the lies that control his life.
Memory and Identity
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Memento is centred around the idea that memories can shape identity. As said by Leonard in the film:
"Memory can change the shape of a room; it can change the colour of a car. And memories can be distorted. They’re just an interpretation, they’re not a record, and they’re irrelevant if you have the facts"
The irony of this statement is that Leonard's facts are indeed distorted in their own way, and are fabrications of his own distorted past. The fact that Leonard cannot rely on memory as all, means that his reality is dissolute, and as an audience, we learn that his life is in fact a lie, and the "facts" he believes to be true are fabrications of his subconscious. Memories help to sculpt a persons identity, so therefore, with Leonard not having any, his identity is lost, hence his need for revenge being so strong. The only link Leonard has to his past is his instantiable need to avenge his wife's death. Other than this, the only pasts of his identity he has is his name and his life before his condition. However, the person he was before the accident is not the same person he is now. This strong link he refuses to leave with his former self means he cannot see past his own fabrications and come to terms with who he is now. After all, how can someone retain their own identity when what they believe of themselves is a lie?
Trust and Betrayal
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Leonard's condition means that he finds trusting others a hard task, and uses his polaroid's and tattoos to remember key facts but also people. He puts all his trust in these images and facts, but a picture can only say so much. Therefore, this trust inevitable leads to betrayal. For instance, the character of Natalie is initially trusted by Leonard, but when he comes to realise that she is in fact only using him for her own benefit. However due to his condition, he is unable to remember this in time to write it down on his so called polaroid's, so therefore continues to trust her. Therefore this betrayal on the part of here is apparent in his down fall, by killing her boyfriend Todd. Moreover, Teddy's character also betrays Leonard by using him and his inability to remember, to kill many John G's around different States. It's perhaps this lack of trust Leonard has in others that makes him paranoid and therefore leads to his ultimate downfall. The most apparent theme of betrayal is the betrayal of Leonard to himself. When he realises that the end of the film the truth of his wife's death, he refuses to let himself remember, so therefore dooms himself to a life of hunting for the allusive John G, who as a matter of fact, doesn't exist.
Personal Critique
Christopher Nolan is an extremely talented director, who somehow managed to keep me disorientated, but at the same time grounded in the enthralling narrative of Leonard's condition. By abandoning the normal narrative form, consecutive scenes and single timelines, he kept me completely engaged, perhaps more so than any other film. Although it may seem the backwards time line is unnecessary for the film, and actually makes the plot incredibly confusing. However, I believe this narrative technique puts us in the position of Leonard, which in turn, makes the story line and his condition more apparent to the audience, as we are in theory, put in his position. We are forced to identity with the character of Leonard. The use of colour scenes and black and white scenes, are cleverly used by Nolan to connote flashbacks, and present time, which make for memorable imagery of polaroid's and distinctive settings such as the hotel and Leonard's car. Nolan's subtle use of motif's and symbols throughout, for example the scar on Leonard's cheek to convey time, and the polaroid's pictures to connote memory, I was always either consciously or subconsciously clued in to the ending and outcome of the film. I had to watch closely, and watch again for second time, o be able to fully comprehend the entire narrative, and this to me is the true indicator of a good film, keeping you completely engaged throughout.