Memento

Question 1

Opening Sequence - John G: Sequence Order

Answer 1

Last scene —> Lenny in B&W on the phone —> the penultimate scene —> beginning of the last scene

Question 2

Opening sequence - John G: editing

Answer 2

• opening shot is in reverse
• non-linear: intercutting strands of the story
• last scene overlaps at at the end of the sequence

Question 3

Opening Sequence - John G: performance

Answer 3

• Lenny is serious & focused, sure of himself
• Teddy seems really nice & to know Leonard really well

Question 4

Opening Sequence - John G: sound

Answer 4

• sad music - could be in reverse
• voiceover in the B&W
• lots of exposition on Lenny’s story in dialogue

Question 5

Opening Sequence - John G: representations

Answer 5

• Polaroids are mementos but make him seem as if he’s a serial killer
• Teddy’s ulterior motives - he just wants the money from the boot of the car

Question 6

Opening Sequence - John G: Experimental Features

Answer 6

• fragmentation & disorientation which replicate Lenny’s condition
• Lenny isn’t the typical hero - where is he on the masculinity pyramid

Question 7

Opening Sequence - John G: cinematography

Answer 7

• ECU combined with Dutch on the Polaroid so we understand he too feels disoriented
• colour —> black & white —> colour

Question 8

Opening Sequence - John G: Mise-en-scene

Answer 8

• losing social commentary due to lack of setting
• finding the bullets which offset his suspicions about Teddy
• Polaroids, Lenny’s handwriting & tattoos - not only do other manipulate his system, by the end of it he manipulates himself - his system is far from foolproof

Question 9

Opening Sequence - John G: aesthetics

Answer 9

• neo-noir detective psychological thriller
• desaturated monochrome colours - Neo-noir
• sound makes it eerie and haunting
• reverse gives it the temporal aesthetic of memory loss

Question 10

Opening Sequence - John G: themes

Answer 10

• memory & its fragility
• time
• identity and self-deception
• revenge & moral ambiguity

Question 11

Natalie’s: sequence order

Answer 11

Natalie returns home as Lenny looks for a pen — she convinces him to go after Dodd — Teddy appears in Lenny’s car —> B&W sequence — Lenny asks to block calls to his room —> Lenny at Natalie’s house (she takes all of the pens) — she manipulates him and leaves — Lenny tries to find a pen whilst he loses his memory and then the scene overlaps

Question 12

Natalie’s: editing

Answer 12

• because Natalie appears as a damsel in distress & Lenny as a hero, Teddy is portrayed as guilty in the first scene of the sequence when Teddy is actually just a corrupt helper
• ‘Don’t answer the phone’ B&W shows Lenny can’t really trust anyone - especially in this sequence

Question 13

Natalie’s: performance

Answer 13

• Lenny flexing his hand & looking at his bruised knuckles
• Natalie’s two-facedness - lying to Lenny about Teddy & Dodd
• Natalie’s language subverts damsel in distress - she’s the femme fatale, evil

Question 14

Natalie’s: representations

Answer 14

• Lenny punching Nat- not noble
• Natalie as the femme fatale
• Teddy is very friendly and helpful

Question 15

Natalie’s: cinematography

Answer 15

• CU on Lenny’s red knuckles as he flexes his hand - he’s just hit Natalie
• two shot to show their false closeness - Natalie has a premeditated plan to exploit their closeness
• cinematography, editing & sound increase in speed until Leonard loses his memory

Question 16

Natalie’s: experimental features

Answer 16

• subversion of character representations - Natalie & Lenny

Question 17

Natalie’s: aesthetics

Answer 17

• manipulation & deceit - everyone uses Lenny
• memory - loss, the failure of Lenny’s system

Question 18

Natalie’s: mise-en-scene

Answer 18

• fleeting picture of Natalie - grey & unknown, like her
• blood on Natalie’s lip

Question 19

Natalie’s: themes

Answer 19

• memory loss
• psychology

Question 20

Institutional context:

Answer 20

• homage to classic film noir through B&W, coloured inspired by Hollywood thrillers
• $9 million budget - moderate
• made by Summit Entertainment & owned by Lionsgate
• small distributor, small festivals eg Sundance
• Oscar nom for Editing & Screenwriting
• Nolan’s 2nd feature film before he became a Hollywood director
• ‘puzzle box’ genre - popular sub-genre of thrillers in which active spectatorship is encouraged

Question 21

Social context:

Answer 21

• early 2000’s - rapid advancements of technologies & rise of the internet
• themes of disinformation, manipulation & ‘fake news’ - increasingly interconnected & information-driven society (even more relevant today)

Question 22

Experimental narrative

Answer 22

• formalist approach (focuses on structure) - non-linear / non-chronological
• subjective narrative - scattered view of the story from Leonard’s POV - we are aligned with him & experience his confusion, figuring the plot out alongside him
• can you apply Todorov / cause&effect?
• narrative fragmentation makes us question our own reality

Question 23

Post-modern narrative

Answer 23

-non-linear & fragmented - reflects a fractured society
- requires active spectatorship to engage with it
- anti-hero / unreliable protagonist - his amnesia is the fractured lens through which we experience the narrative
- structuralist approach (content) - complex characters who are morally gray (natalie) - thematically ambivalent
- lacks a clear resolution
- questions the idea of objective truth
- playfulness / self-reflexivity - the constructed nature of storytelling
- once non-chronological structure is understood cause&effect can be applied
- goal oriented protagonist is typical of Hollywood
- generally story driven - each scene contributes to the narrative function
- conforms to genre conventions e.g thriller, noir, detective