Yes, I'm still obsessed with Memento. Here's why
aka let's see what makes a narrative structure brilliant
The first time I watched Christopher Nolan’s Memento, I had no idea I was entering a profound and life-changing relationship. I already loved Batman Begins for its dark and psychological approach to a “superhero” story and heard Memento had the same director. To be honest, that information didn’t tell me much at the time, but it sounded important and like something cinephiles cared about, so I knew I had to watch it.
When I read the movie unfolds in reverse, I immediately worried I’d feel lost, confused, and wouldn’t understand it. At the same time, I thought, “What a cool idea.”
Then I watched it. And, no surprise, loved it. LOVED IT. Memento was different; it messed with my head; it made me think; it gave me a unique experience.
It was the coolest film I had ever seen.
The infamous structure
At the time, I was 15 years old; needless to say, not everything I found cool was also high quality. And although the film was met with critical acclaim, not everyone shared my infatuation with it. My 15-year-old self saw the “reverse” storytelling as genius. To many critics, it was an innovation of the genre. To others, it was a gimmick without much substance.1
But there is one thing we all had in common: whatever our verdict was, it relied heavily on the film’s narrative composition. After all, there is no way to discuss Memento without addressing its structure. At least no meaningful way.
Because the structure is inextricably connected to the film’s themes. More than that, the structure is the main method of addressing, exploring, and expressing the themes. That is what makes it brilliant.
And it’s what we’ll get into today.
Genius or a gimmick?
Initially, I started writing this post as a reflection on what makes a nonlinear narrative structure work, focusing on what differentiates the genius from the gimmick in general.
Memento was supposed to be just an example of a successful implementation of that.
However, I’ve discovered that once you get me started on any Christopher Nolan film, there is no stopping me. So I’ve decided to roll with it.
Today, we are diving into Memento’s narrative structure and uncovering how it is used to express and highlight the film’s main themes.
PLEASE NOTE:
The text below contains major spoilers for the movie Memento (2000).
In fact, even if you have seen it already, I recommend you rewatch it before reading the post for a more enjoyable reading experience.
Now let’s get into it.
Memento’s narrative structure
In Memento, we follow Leonard Shelby, a former insurance investigator who is fixated on avenging the attack on his wife, the last thing he can clearly recall. The thing is, Leonard suffers from anterograde amnesia or short-term memory loss, meaning he cannot form new memories. To cope with that, he uses tattoos, notes, and polaroid photographs as reminders for himself.
The story is told in two parallel storylines that converge at the end of the film:
The black-and-white storyline takes place in a motel room and mostly consists of Leonard talking to someone on the phone, telling them about his background and the story of Sammy Jenkis. It unfolds chronologically until the end when it merges with the chronological beginning of the second one.
The second storyline is in colour and unfolds in reverse chronological order (until it meets the first one). Scene by scene, it reveals Leonard’s search for John G., his interactions with Teddy and Natalie, and the events leading up to his murder of Teddy at the actual beginning of the film (and the chronological end of the entire story).
Unreliability of memory
One of the main themes of the movie is the nature of memory, especially in relationship to written text, documents, and files, as is highlighted in the conversation between Leonard and Teddy in the diner scene:
LEONARD: I go on facts, not recommendations, but thank you.
TEDDY: Lenny, you can’t trust a man’s life to your little notes and pictures.
LEONARD: Why not?
TEDDY: Because your notes could be unreliable.
LEONARD: Memory’s unreliable.
TEDDY: Oh, please.
LEONARD: No, really. Memory’s not perfect. It’s not even that good. Ask the police. Eyewitness tesimony is unreliable. The cops don’t catch a killer by sitting around remembering stuff. They collect facts, they make notes, and they draw conclusions. Facts, not memories. That’s how you investigate. I know. It’s what I used to do. Memory can change the shape of a room. It can change the color of a car. And memories can be distorted. They’re just an interpretation. They’re not a record. They’re irrelevant if you have the facts.
Short-term vs long-term memory
During this scene, the audience can get a false sense of safety because it seems like Leonard is referring to his condition. Of course the guy with amnesia says memory is unreliable, he knows best!
But the funny thing is, while Leonard himself mentions memory is not reliable, he still trusts his own long-term memory.
We know he doesn’t make short-term memories, but we trust that what he says about his wife, his motive to catch the attacker, his job, and Sammy Jenkis is true. Of course, we find out how distorted this is at the end of the film.
“For me, it sets up things that come into play later in the film, which is that it’s a very bald statement from the protagonist whose memories we are trusting. He himself sits there and says “You can’t trust memory. It’s an interpretation, not a record.” I felt that as the script was almost bound to start calling into question certain aspects of memory, including his long-term memory and his visualization of things, which blurred the distinction between visualization and memory. To play fair with the audience, you had to have somebody say this in a bald way—not just to have somebody else say it, but to have Leonard himself say it. Which is a nice irony, because once again, it’s the disparity between his awareness of himself and his reliance on his perception of the world, so [it seemed like] a nice way of playing fair with the audience, in a sense. Just saying here it is: he’s saying it himself.” (Christopher Nolan)2
The diner scene warns the audience: Don’t trust his memories, not even the ones he claims are true.
Trust in Leonard’s system of notes
But the scene has another function: it solidifies the audience’s trust in Leonard’s system. You say memory is unreliable? Sure, got that. Luckily, we have notes and files and written text to rely on.
The scene displays Leonard’s absolute conviction in his system. While Teddy tries to plant the seed of doubt, Leonard’s lines show why he has full confidence in his notes and tattoos.
And the narrative structure helps us to see these notes the way Leonard does.
We see a note and make assumptions based on it because that’s all we have to go on. Then the film shows us what happened before and how the notes came to be, exposing that written records can be manipulated and distorted too. Because it is humans that make them.
Memory may be unreliable, yes, but so are people.
Fragility of identity
Questioning the nature of memory inevitably brings up reflections on identity. Not in the modern-day identity-politics sense, but in the philosophical, existential, and material sense of asking questions like, “Who am I? How do I know who I am? Do I know who I am? How have I become what I am? Is it my idea of myself that makes me who I am or is it my actions?”
Here, the structure enables two essential things:
The black-and-white chronological storyline gives the audience a deep look into Leonard’s backstory and mind. We get an insight into how he sees himself, his history, and the world.
Simultaneously, the reverse storyline in colour enables us to perceive Leonard the way he perceives himself in relation to the world on a daily basis: without having the awareness of his recent actions and relying solely on the notes on his body and his polaroid photographs. This provides an understanding of his actions that the same story told in chronological order wouldn’t.
So it makes sense that we follow the information he believes he knows in chronological order and the main story the way he perceives it by chunks of time without knowing what has happened right before this.
This narrative approach allows us to get a somewhat full picture of what’s happening while expressing and mirroring Leonard’s own experience.
Deception and Manipulation
The film is full of unreliable characters - from Burt, the motel clerk, through Teddy and Natalie, all the way to Leonard himself. Leonard even mentions some people may take advantage of a guy with his condition.
Burt
One of the more obvious and clear examples of manipulation is the motel’s taking advantage of Leonard’s condition, represented by the motel clerk Burt.
BURT: This was your room. You’re up in 304 now.
LEONARD: When was I in here?
BURT: Last week. Then I rented you another one on top of this.
LEONARD: Why?
BURT: Business is slow. I told my boss about your condition and stuff. He told me to try and rent you another room.
[…]
LEONARD: So how many rooms am I checked into in this dump?
BURT: Just two. So far.
LEONARD: Well, at least you’re being honest about cheating me.
BURT: Yeah, well, you’re not gonna remember, anyway.
LEONARD: You don’t have to be that honest, Burt.
This straightforward example sets the stage for uncovering other, more subtle and complex forms of manipulation in the film.
Natalie
The role of Natalie is one of the most mysterious ones in the film. There is a lot of speculation regarding how much exactly she knows and what her exact role in the story is. In fact, this could be a whole post by itself, so right now, we’ll just focus on the more obvious aspect of her role.
Namely, we do witness her using Leonard’s condition to manipulate him into getting rid of Dodd, an associate of her boyfriend Jimmy (whom, we later find out, Leonard has killed).
She is not as honest about it as Burt; her manipulation is exposed through the reverse unfolding of the story. This is already a great example of the structure enabling us to see both how Leonard perceives certain things and discover what actually happened.
Teddy
Since we know Leonard kills Teddy at the chronological end of the story, we are already suspicious of him, whether we take him to be the “bad guy” or not.
There are times that he himself suggests Leonard might be manipulated by someone. But at the same time, we keep seeing Leonard’s note under Teddy’s photo: “Don’t believe his lies.”
This is another character whose role is unclear throughout the film. Even when Teddy reveals “the truth” at the end of the film (and the chronological convergence of the two storylines), we cannot be sure that that is in fact the truth.
There is an interesting pattern about how people tend to perceive Teddy based on whether they rely more on their visual or verbal memory:
“By the time I finished writing Memento, it was apparent that the different devices I was using to make up for Leonard’s memory were either visual or verbal, either written or photographic or tattoos. So you present those to people when the devices are at odds with each other and see what people choose to believe. What divides people along the question of whether Teddy is lying or not is whether they favor their visual memory or their verbal memory, if you like. By visual I mean you’ve spent the whole film seeing this photograph that says, “Don’t believe his lies” underneath it. That’s continually hammered home to you. What he says at the end [about Leonard’s quest, and Sammy Jankis] is clearly at odds with that. It’s a question of which type of memory you favor, which you think has more weight. It seems to be an element in the way people sift through the information of the film.” (Christopher Nolan)
Leonard
While we do receive hints that his memory may not be as reliable as he claims or wants it to be, the audience probably doesn’t suspect Leonard to be another person intentionally taking advantage of his situation and manipulating himself.
Which is exactly what he turns out to be.
But it is all consistent with what we have seen before. The film shows Leonard’s ability to manipulate himself in the scene with the prostitute, where he instructs her to wait for him to fall asleep, then go to the bathroom and slam the door to wake him up. He knows he will wake up reliving the day of the incident.
“Any time you have a character leaving notes to himself, you very quickly come to the idea of “How much do we trust ourselves? Do we lie to ourselves?” Of course we do. This is a character who can make this really incredibly clear, through his story.” (Christopher Nolan)
How structure exposes manipulation
Deception and manipulation are common elements of thrillers and mystery stories and they often culminate in a plot twist that exposes long-standing deceit or manipulation from before the story even began.
In Memento, however, the narrative structure eliminates the need for such revelations. By unfolding in reverse, the film naturally uncovers the tactics of deception or manipulation. Both storylines converge right at the point of the story’s biggest and final twist, revealing how Leonard has been manipulating himself.
Revenge
Another one of Memento‘s main themes is obsession with revenge:
“What attracted me to the initial concept was the metaphorical potential that this condition provides, where you have someone who can’t make new memories but knows exactly what he’s looking for and what he’s trying to do. And the concept of revenge; what the inability to remember does to the whole idea of revenge. To me, it raises all kinds of very interesting ideas about whether revenge exists in any real sense outside of your own head, or whether it’s your own personal satisfaction and whether it has any value outside of that.” (Christopher Nolan)
Leonard mentions that besides using a system, a big difference between him and Sammy Jenkis is that Sammy didn’t have a drive whereas Leonard does.
The strong motivation that keeps him going is avenging his wife’s attack. He idolizes this moment of revenge as the moment that will fix everything, heal him, and even bring his memory back.
We may hope together with him and even believe that the murder we see at the beginning of the film is this magical moment he keeps dreaming of.
That is until we find out the actual moment already happened over a year ago and didn’t change anything. With Teddy’s help, Leonard has already found and killed the real John G., the man who attacked his wife. And he doesn’t remember any of it.
We learn that since then, Leonard has been investigating and “hunting” random men named John G. with Teddy’s help. It’s what gives him a sense of purpose and the will to go on.
On top of that, he is aware of it, at least on some level.
He needs another John G. to look for. He needs another puzzle to solve.
When Teddy tells him the truth, Leonard intentionally sets himself up to discover Teddy as his next John G.
This reveals the nature of revenge as less of a satisfaction-bringing goal and more as a state of consciousness that needs something to hold on to and derives pleasure from this unfulfilled - and unfulfillable - mission itself.
In Leonard’s case, it also serves as a convenient distraction from his own guilt. Sometimes, having a goal to focus on is easier than facing reality.
Obsession with revenge is a theme that would probably come through equally potent in a linear narrative since it is not directly related to the perception of time. However, as the director himself mentioned, the film’s structure automatically frames questions about revenge in terms of perception of time, memory, and identity.
It provides a unique framework to explore the nature of revenge within a fragmented experience of time and identity, which doesn’t take away from this theme but rather gives it new dimensions.
Let’s wrap this up
There is so much more to say about Memento and if you’d let me, I’d go on for hours. But my intention today was to focus on Memento’s narrative structure and analyse its role within the story and how it relates to its main themes.
I wanted to demonstrate how the film’s structure is not just a gimmick or a random idea the authors used because it seemed cool at the time; it is instead a very deliberate and well-thought-out narration of a story that expresses its main questions and themes.
Is Memento a masterpiece “because of its structure”? I believe so.
Not because of its structure per se - but because this structure offers a unique way of exploring the film’s themes and gives the audience insight into the protagonist’s experience that a conventional linear chronological structure never could.
Meaning, if the same structure was used for a different story, it might just be a disaster. And if the same story was told in chronological order3, it would probably still be an interesting thriller, but nowhere near as brilliant as it is now.
In two weeks, we’ll dive into another film that unfolds “in reverse”, Shimmer Lake, and further explore the role of narrative structure in storytelling. Aaaa it’s going to be awesome.
Meanwhile, jump into the comments below and share your first experience of watching Memento or any other film with a nonlinear narrative structure.
Stay creative ✨
Katja
Just look at what Blake Snyder writes about Memento in Save the Cat!: “Yes, it’s an entertaining movie; yes, it even falls into the category of genre “Dude with a Problem.” Does it also match the beats of the BS2? Or is it just a gimmick that cannot be applied to any other movie? HINT: For all the hullabaloo surrounding Memento, guess how much it made?”
And oh, my friend, I could go on and on in response to that :) You can find a bit of it in today’s entire post and you can also find a bit of it in this one:
All quotes by Christopher Nolan are from the interview from 20 July 2015 on Creative Screenwriting by Renfreu Neff and Daniel Argent available to read here: https://www.creativescreenwriting.com/remembering-where-it-all-began-christopher-nolan-on-memento/ (accessed 6 May 2024)
I think this version was available on some DVDs and you could probably find it online nowadays. Personally, I have no intention of watching it for the same reason I have no intention of watching any other film in a different way than its authors decided the final product should be. But it might be interesting to see it if you’re curious about it.