Memento

Synopsis:

Memento follows the distorted and confused story of Lenny as he attempts to hopelessly find the person who raped and murdered his wife. The downfall to this character ambitions is his fatal flaw: short-term memory loss. As he attempts to hunt down his wife’s killer, he is thrown around by different information, unable to piece it together before he forgets. Leonard keeps mementos (polaroids) and notes (tattoos) to allow him to remember his purpose and information he has already built up. Lenny is an unreliable narrator, and although the audience already understands that we cannot follow his narrative, as the information builds up and the film concludes, we are left with the outcome that breaks us away from Lenny's character (which the non-linear narrative had forced us to do initially). The audience is taken through a distorted experience, alike Lenny’s memory condition, as the film follows a non-linear narrative (a story-line that ins't chronological). Using this structure creates a feeling of uncertainty and delusion, as we are unable to piece information together until all are played out. Questions linger on the viewer's mind that can only be accessed on the conclusion of the film, where we piece narrative codes and plot points together.

Lenny:

Leonard Shelby is the protagonist on the film, the audience follows his contorted story-line and piece together plot information with him. Restricting knowledge from the audience by using the non-linear narrative, creates a feeling as though the protagonist and the audience are related. The audience is limited to the same information that Lenny is, which creates a sense of trust between the protagonist and viewer; the only dependable thing in the story is Lenny's reality being similarly distorted to the viewer's ability to view the limited information in the film. Because of this bond, we (as an audience) feel disconnected from the rest of the film's world and other characters, trusting Lenny simply because he is going through a similar experience to us.

We rely on Lenny to interpret our ability to trust other characters, we are strictly restricted to always being be Lenny's side and following how he views the world and other people; therefore, depend on our protagonist to direct us into understanding our own interpretations. This is then struck from us when the film concludes and real plot is changed and adapted when we are finally fed the final piece of information . We are suddenly disconnected from the character as we are able to piece the story-line together, while he is unable. The audience distances themselves from Lenny and reconsiders the information dealt to them by the protagonist; we (only at the conclusion) are able to fully understand how unreliable our narrator is and then forced to reconsider out interpretations of information and Lenny himself. This dramatic irony leaves the audience reconsidering the film, questions they thought they had resolved must be rethought, simply because the viewer can no longer trust their source of information.

Themes:

Manipulation
Memory and the Past
Identity

Life, Consciousness, and Existence

Manipulation:

The main theme of manipulation that is explored is Lenny’s condition being manipulated by other characters in the film. He is taken advantage of when he is in need, aware characters use his inability to remember as a solution to get what they want from him.

However, the most prominent use of manipulation is focused on the audience, the film is set up in a specific way that plays with the viewers ability to view the film. We are presented with information that doesn’t make sense until we pair it with another scene, forcing the viewer to concentrate and recall information from previous moments. We are also manipulated with our ability to trust characters, this is shown through Lenny's ability to trust Natalie; however, shown most strongly through are ability to trust Lenny when the film concludes and the audience are suddenly disconnected from the protagonist they have be following and relying on.

Memory and the Past:

Leading on from the ability to recall information, ‘memory and the past’ are other key factors for the film. Lenny’s inability to remember his past, nor recall upon memories, factors into the audience’s ability to perceive how the character’s past has affected his present/future. It also affects how we perceive other characters in the film, we depend on Lenny's personal interpretation to manipulate our opinions on characters, because we are unable to build up information supplied from past memories (until the film concludes).

Identity:

Probably one of the strongest themes in the film: identity comes in many forms through Lenny’s story-line. He attempts to find the identity of the person who murdered of his wife, the identity of the people around him, but most importantly: his search for his own identity.

Life, Consciousness and Existence:

The audience is thrown into an unexplained, distorted reality and are forced to rely on Lenny's personal opinions and ability to view the world around him. We are connected with the protagonist, never leaving his side, and (until the end) are thrown into depending on him. We are the 'sheep' in this scenario, following and believing any information thrown at us, simply because we are unable to access any other nor think for ourselves. Although we desperately want to think for ourselves and try and work out information before it is displayed to us in the film, we are restricted and have to follow the non-linear narrative until we are finally supplied with the information we require at the end (putting us above Lenny and breaking away from our bond to the protagonist). This makes us recall upon our own existence, how we are only supplied with limited information until we venture out of our comfort zones to find out more. How we are being restricted of independence and ability to form opinions, due to the media supplying us with information which corrupts our minds and forms our personalities, beliefs, free thinking, point of view, assumptions, opinions, attitudes (etc) for us.

Symbols:

Symbols can range from objects, colours, characters, plot, special effects, sound, transitions to many more things. Symbolism is a technique used universally to create an idea that is represented in an alternate way. It can often be abstract, with symbols being more obscure for what they represent or stand for. Films create a type of language, spoken and displayed in metaphors and symbols, which help to guide the viewer through a story. This form of visual storytelling aids a performance and allows the audience to experience a reality on a deeper level and understand abstract concepts that can be displayed through symbols, but not through words.

Polaroids
Tattoos

Polaroids:

Polaroids are key objects in the film, being a symbol for the marketing of the film, as well as being something that Lenny relies on to recall upon information and the audience uses to gain information about the story. They represent a way for Lenny to preserve memories and information he has learnt but is unable to remember due to his memory condition. They symbolize what Lenny finds to be valuable, as a character who has lost almost everything (his wife, job, identity and memories), he holds onto the polaroids as the only way to hold onto his memories. He not only values the polaroids, but relies and depends on them to provide him with the information he needs to continue. The polaroids themselves are symbols of knowledge and evidence that Lenny requires to advance in his goals, ambitions and plot.

Tattoos:

Similar to the polariods, the tattoos are a reminder to Lenny of key facts about his identity and life. As Leonard is unable to recall facts, he is forced to write the down to remind himself when he inevitably forgets. They also play an important part in the theme of identity, while Lenny searches for his identity (alongside his ambitions of finding the killer of his wife) they stand as a way for Lenny to perceive who he is. Because these notes are permanent, he isn’t able to destroy them (alike when he crossed out information and burned his polaroids) . This symbolizes his seriousness in his ambitions, a permanent (and haunting) reminder of his purpose, which gives some kind of meaning to his meaningless life.

Motifs:

A motif is a repeated narrative element that is additional to the plot of the film, but plays a supportive role in the story and the film’s themes. It can be presented to the audience is various different ways: physical items, dialogue, music, colours and other representative elements that often are connected with symbols. All motifs have a symbolic significance that are repeated in the film. In Memento, some of the key motifs are:

Sammy Jankis
The Phone

Sammy Jankis:

Throughout the film we pick up on information through other characters interacting with Lenny, or Lenny revealing tattoos or notes he’s written on his polaroids (symbols). Lenny has a tattoo on his hand that says, “Remember Sammy Jankis”, a contestant reminder to him and the audience. This implies that Sammy Jankis has some sort of significance to Lenny, which is displayed to the audience by the permanent note on his body and the way Teddy reacts whenever Lenny brings up Sammy as a topic of conversation. The story of Sammy is revealed to the viewer when Leonard recalls upon the event. Lenny explains that Sammy was a man who suffered with a memory condition, which Lenny had investigated while he was working as an insurance investigator. He then goes onto explain how it was unsure if Sammy was faking or not, how Sammy was tested to see if he was realistically suffering from a condition. It was also told that Sammy’s wife had died due to an overdoes that Sammy unknowingly inflicted upon her, as he was unable to build new memories, he kept giving her diabetic shots until she overdosed. However, this story is distorted throughout the film, with Teddy stating that Sammy Jankis was real, but never had a wife and was in fact faking his condition. Teddy implies that Leonard exposed him for faking; however, Lenny inconsequently projected his own life and accidental killing of his own wife, onto Sammy when recalling the story. Implying that Lenny actually killed his own wife, which derails the purpose of the protagonist’s ambitions. In Leonard’s distorted mind, Sammy represents the way his own memory condition has affected him. This motif is effective to the story, due to Lenny’s condition it is believable that he is easily manipulated. Because motifs are repeated throughout the film, this story that Lenny is able to recall upon is effective: it shows how his limited memories have been manipulated and at the end is a reminder to the audience that in this story we should feel unsure on who to trust.

The Phone:

The phone is a reoccurring item that appears in the black and white sections of the film. The audience sees Leonard on the phone with someone, he talks about things he can remember from his past; however, we are unaware at first who he is talking to (which later can be presumed to be Teddy). Doing this suggests to the audience that Lenny is also unaware of who he is talking to, due to his inability to remember. Further in the film Lenny finds a note to himself, which reminds he that he shouldn’t use/ answer the phone. The phone’s purpose is meant to emphasise that we cannot trust anyone in this story. Lenny feels as though he is unable to trust anyone, due to him being easily manipulated by others. The use of the phone is a clear signifier that these fears are completely true, and Lenny can in fact be easily manipulated/ duped. Along with this, we as the audience are also tricked and manipulated using the phone, unable to hear the other person and only listening to Lenny, the phone is a border to the truth of the story that we cannot access, and we are manipulated into being left unsure of the events of the film until the conclusion.