Film Analysis Blog Post

                The film “Memento” directed by Christopher Nolan, starts with what appears to be a photo of a body that is becoming undeveloped as a man shakes it. Eventually the audience is shown that the individual taking the photo has actually murdered this person, and in turn will discover he is the film’s protagonist. The protagonist is a man named Leonard Shelby who is attempting to locate the man responsible for murdering his wife. The only obstacle impeding his investigation is his “condition”. His condition is later identified as short-term memory loss, as he suffered damage to his hippocampus. The film then documents his struggle with this disability, and his desire to locate his wife’s killer.

The film is rather confusing, as it appears to be happening in reverse, and out of order. It appears the director wanted to disorient the audience, to mimic the disorientation that Leonard feels when waking up with no memory of his actions the day previous. It is at this point in the film that we are introduced to “Teddy,” the same man that Leonard killed at the beginning of the film. Leonard had a Polaroid of him with the words “he is the one, kill him” written on it. The scene then cuts to Leonard in his hotel room having a conversation with an unknown individual about his condition, and the importance of a “system.” Much like Fiona, the lead character in “The Bear Came over the Mountain” Leonard must create notes to guide him through his daily routines. As Fiona suffers from Alzheimer disease in the story, she places notes on household objects so she can identify them with ease. In this instance she is losing her declarative memories, and is suffering from anterograde amnesia. This form of amnesia is the same that Leonard claims to suffer from in the film. He can remember who he is, where he is from, and all his memories prior to being injured. It is also at this point in the film that Leonard makes his first reference to Sammy Jankis, and the audience is then shown a tattoo on Leonard’s hand stating “remember Sammy Jankis.” He also explains that he uses tattoos to remind himself of the most relevant and important information to his current reality.

As the film progresses, Leonard starts to tell the story of Sammy Jankis, which just so happens to be the only story that is stated in the correct order throughout the film, beginning to end. He also includes a side note, stating why Sammy and he are dissimilar even though they suffer from similar disorders. He states that Sammy’s inability to navigate the world around him was that he didn’t have a reason to, unlike Leonard who was solving a murder. Several times throughout the film Leonard explains that although he is unable to remember his actions, he still felt they had meaning. It is as though the solving of his wife’s murder provided him with a purpose, a backdrop to his distorted reality. It is during this stage of the film that the character Natalie is introduced. It is unclear how Leonard and she met, but during this particular scene she asks Leonard to describe his wife. He states that although he has vivid memories of her, it is difficult to describe them in words. He says that he has a “feel for her” and can remember how deeply he misses her. Much like Swann in “Swann’s Way” by Proust, the lead character is so enamored with emotion when hearing a sonata, that although the memory was intense, he is unable to articulate the details.

At this point in the film the audience is again reminded of Sammy Jankis, as Leonard continues to tell his story to the unknown caller. He states that he worked for an insurance company, and was asked to review Mr. Jankis’s policy request for validity. He indicates that he has the ability to determine ones’ truthfulness by body language alone, and that was important for his line of work. The scene then cuts to Leonard having a conversation with Teddy, where he states the error associated with human memory. He compares himself to a police officer in that he merely collects facts, and derives conclusions. Although he is accurate in describing memories as distorted record keeping, he fails to consider that his perception of the “facts” could also distort his note keeping. He must make a conscious decision on what, and how the information is presented to him on a later date, and that could affect his interpretation. As the story of Sammy Jankis is continued by Leonard, he states that when reviewing Mr. Jankis’s case he feels that he is being deceptive, and that possibly, his short-term memory loss is psychological. He notes that every time he met with Sammy, Leonard saw what the thought was recognition in his eyes. Leonard continually states that he did not think that he was faking, but simply did not suffer actual brain damage. It is apparent that Leonard has a sense of guilt regarding Mr. Jankis’s situation, as Sammy accidentally kills his wife by giving her too many insulin shots due to his memory impairment. Leonard later states that he was wrong about Sammy’s condition, and that hint of recognition he thought he saw in Sammy was in fact faked, and of course he knows this now because of his condition. People will pretend to appear normal, or possibly it is just the brains response to a foreign situation. If the idea of the stream of consciousness as proposed by William James  is the correct way of viewing the processing of complex thought, then the brain of a person like Sammy or Leonard will attempt to fill in the gaps to avoid a break in their stream.

At the end of the film Leonard is told by Teddy or John Gammell (his actual name), that he had already killed his wife’s attacker a year earlier. The truth becomes more discombobulating as it appears Teddy is trying to create a line of reasoning that makes sense to Leonard. A line of reasoning that will convince him to discontinue his search for “John G”, and even provides a photo of Leonard covered in blood, with a smile on his face as proof of the night he killed the real murderer. Leonard is not convinced, as John Gammell tells him his quest to find his wife’s killer was created by Leonard to give his life meaning, and without it he is nothing.

Leonard’s attempt to shape his reality results in him making a conciseness decision to kill “Teddy”, known as John Gammell, or another “John G” for attempting to convince him that his quest to find his wife’s killer was ridiculous and unfounded. Like the mind of an individual suffering from short-term memory loss, this film is disorienting, and the truth not entirely clear. Was Leonard actually Sammy? Did he already kill his wife’s murderer a year earlier? Was Teddy a cop or simply a person taking advantage of a man with brain damage? In the context of this film, does it even matter? If Leonard has consciously decided to forfeit fact, for a reality of his own creation the truth is what he wills it to be, and nothing more.