Memento: A keepsake; an object kept as a reminder of a place or event.

I want to explore the connections between Memento and the amnesia case studies that we have read. I am particularly curious as to what everyone has to say about Leonard's anterograde amnesia and his conscious choices in dealing with this state. In Oliver Sacks “The Abyss” he describes the severe retrograde amnesia of Clive, a man who constantly lives in a confused and displaced state. He does not consciously remember how to describe how is wife looks, the lay out of his home, or his favorite musicians. While Clive shares the same disease as Sacks, Mr. T from The Man who Mistook His Wife For A Hat, Clive greatly differs in his approach to his disease. Mr. T is in a constant state of ‘chatter’ in attempts to fuse himself with a narrative, some form of self reference and understanding. While Clive is often talking and joking he does not confabulate as severely and fantastically as Mr. T does. While Leonard suffers from a different kind of amnesia, not effecting his past memories, he still deals with this idea of conscious confabulation Versus Sub-conscious Confabulation. Sacks describes Clive’s memory reconstructions or communications saying that “This sort of confabulation was not one of conscious fabrication. It was, rather, a strategy, a desperate attempt—unconscious and almost automatic—to provide a sort of continuity, a narrative continuity, when memory, and thus experience, was being snatched away every instant.” Leonard's confabulations differ from Clive and Mr. T in that they are conscious decisions at the times when he alters his physical documentations of his life (i.e. polaroids, notes, tattoos). Leonard's confabulations are actually self inflicted manipulations. They are conscious yet, he would forget about his choice in one moment to change his puzzle pieces. He makes these alterations to continue his investigation much like Mr.T would create this “inner narrative” at every moment of the day to continue his story; the one thing that connects a person to themselves, the world around them. What does it mean that Leonard's method of “remembering” is not that at all? It is in fact quite the opposite. Not only does he forget the truth, his version of the truth is self created, skewed to continue to keep himself from actually remembering what actually happened to his wife.
Leonard manipulates himself because he feels that this unsolvable puzzle he has created is the only means to his happiness; his worth. He struggles to find meaning and identity in his life much like many other memory loss patients of Sacks and Luria. There is this sense of struggle to find identity and connection in Leonard's existence.

Aesthetically, I think that this is shown through the choices of setting in the film. Christopher Nolan has purposefully created a Film Noir feel throughout the entire film. Film Noir is stylistically linked to German expressionist films which highlight the concept of physical confusion in one’s environment in relation to the unrealistic sets designed to represent shadow and light. Memento fits in with the idea of being a film noir in a lot of ways--there is moral ambiguity, the concept that the world is inherently corrupt, and certain character types such as the “femme fatal.” The black and white high contrasted hotel shots are the most blatant visual cue to Memento’s alikeness to a Film Noir. Leonard serves as the sinister and dark character who is never pleased, always in a state of loneliness and despair while Natalie serves as the “femme fatal” who uses Leonard to get what she wants. There is also very apparent moral ambiguity regarding Leonard's motives as well as all the other characters in the film. We, along with Leonard, are stuck in this mystery case. We have no understanding or reference to any of Leonard's past except for the “facts” that he has supplied...and he has a memory problem. This unreliable narration is the audience’s window into the film. The scenery surrounding the film is bleak and unrecognizable. We are never told where the film is taking place or given any sort of visual understanding as to where Leonard actually is or has been. We only know that he has been staying in a motel for an undeclared amount of time. Our very idea of what was going on in the movie, or the motives that were supposed to justify Leonard's actions are shattered at the end of the movie, forcing the audience to then do an active re-evaluation of all the previous actions just like Leonard has to do each day .. or every ten minutes. The audience is put into the mind and situation of a person with short term memory loss. We have to take the clips and bits of information that are completely out of order and try to make sense of them. How does Sammy Jankis fit into the story? Wait, who was Natalie again? Her boyfriend ? You are left with all of the questions and seemingly loose ends, but if you are able to piece the story back together in it’s completeness it still doesn’t make complete sense. We are forced to infer just like Clive, or just like anyone with memory loss has to do. You infer what you’ve just done or where you’ve just been.

Lastly, I wanted to comment on the quick editing that Nolan used in small portions of the film. It is actually really hard to catch if you aren’t paying attention but, there are parts of the film when Leonard will be talking about Sammy--for instance, when Leonard is describing Sammy in sitting in the hospital, Sammy is shown sitting in a chair. Very quickly the film cuts for a split second revealing Leonard sitting in the chair instead of Sammy. With this quick edit it becomes apparent, very early in the film, that there is a strong comparison between the two---or as we come to find out that he is Sammy Jankis. This happens again when Leonard is sitting on the couch in Natalie’s house with the TV remote. In a quick edit Nolan reveals an insulin shot in his hand instead of the remote. I think that Nolan has used this quick editing technique to portray the way in which Leonard possibly gets these quick glimpses of reality---The reason I think this could possibly be true is because it seems that when Leonard writes something in cursive either in a tattoo or on his polaroid he doesn’t intend to remember it. Or believe it at least. His tattoo of the “Remember Sammy Jankis” on his hand is in cursive. When he writes down what Teddy is telling him about Natalie he writes it in cursive...just to later cross it out. It is like Leonard is using this technique to ensure that he won’t remember these things or when he does that they are not valid.