There is absolutely no doubt that the structure of Memento unconditionally shapes the cinematic experience. By telling the story backwards Christopher Nolan denies the audience the same information that the protagonist is denied. We are just as unaware of whether or not a new character is to be trusted or even if he has met them before (Eyes on Cinema, 2014). The film begins with a literally reverse scene for the title sequence where we see a polaroid un-develop, this helps introduce the audience to the backwards structure of the film. The back and white scenes, which are going foreword in time, separate the colour flashbacks so that we can comprehend them more clearly and get a stronger feeling for the progression further back in time. Both …show more content…
The mix of objective and subjective scenes and their collision at toward the end of the film creates a confusion for the viewer, this suggests the relationship between imagination and memory and the way they are mixed to form a narrative. Because of his condition, Leonard is able to manipulate the audience’s as well as his own interpretation of certain memories based on the context in which we are seeing them. Even if the images remain the same, their meanings change. This is apparent not only with his memories but with some of the repeated beginnings/endings of the colour scenes; for example when Leonard is searching for a pen we don't quite understand, but the second time we see this we realise he needs to make an important note that Natalie, another main character, is using him. Changing what the action means to the spectator relays again into his subjective view of what he is doing at that specific time, presents the idea between our subjective view of the world in which we experience life and our faith in an objective reality, something Leonard does not have, an important overall theme of the
Most of us feel that we're “different” in one way or another at some point in our lives. Being different, however, is not always the “bad” thing that we sometimes imagine it to be. In fact, Charles Evans Hughes once said, “When we lose the right to be different, we lose the privilege to be free.” Literature often portrays differences as a good thing, too. In Flowers for Algernon, for example, vary from others, that person still has value and worth. Likewise, the movie Awakenings sends a similar message in the character of Leonard. Interestingly enough, even though the first story is science fiction and the second is based on real life events, Flowers for
Nolan made the movie in reverse chronological order. This was done this way so the audience could connect more with the character Leonard. For example, in the beginning of Memento we start off with Leonard holding a photograph in his hand of what looks to be the murder of Teddy, as he flicks the photo back and fourth the picture slowly fades away turning the photo pitch black, soon you begin to realize that everything is being reversed and then we switch to a black and white scene of Leonard going over how he got in a motel room. Those specific scene edits automatically make the
In Memento, the film uses flashbacks of either color or black & white scenes to illustrate the difference between current actions, and the previous events that build up or lead to those events or actions. These choices in color also reveal the chronological order of the film, and in that way two versions of the story are conveyed. The black & white part of the film runs chronologically forward, while the color parts of the film run in reverse order. And both of these color choices, and the time lines they create, at the end of the film, meet in the middle! That’s something unique.
The way this movie messes with time in the past is not new. Pulp Fiction did it, and many other movies did, but never like the way Memento has chosen to work it. The movie is broken up into individual segments, and each one ends where the one before it began. This is confusing, but it does not take long to understand how the story is going to be told. Nolan wants the audience to feel what it is like when you cannot make any new memories and cannot trust anyone. That is what Nolan accomplish, the audience feels like they are in Leonard’s shoes. This method Nolan uses creates an amount of tension and suspense. The audience knows what happened, but now they want to know why it happened. We learn the bits Leonard forgets. Nolan created a unique movie, blending color and black and white images and with this technique of filmmaking. It is truly original; the audience will feel just as confused and lost as Leonard when each scene begins.
One of the most conventional uses of a flashback is to give the viewer some answers through back story. In Memento, the audience is getting information thrown at them, but it is confusing and mysterious. It invites the viewer to ask more questions rather than answer questions. Nolan does this intentionally, so that the audience relates to Leonard’s jumbled life. Roger Ebert, a well-known film reviewer, wrote “One striking element of the film is a series of flashbacks that illuminate, or confuse, the
The first thing deleted from the movie is a large proportion of the plot. In “Memento”, the director presented a relatively complete story line, and explained how the whole event happens in detail. Although the movie is not chronological and is rather obscure, audiences still can have a thorough understanding of what happens at the end of the story. However, in “Memento Mori”, the focus of storytelling is different. The author did not
Also, from the viewpoint of neuroscience, Leonard confabulates some of the stories on the day of the incident. He thought that his wife was killed by the assailant and wanted to take revenge all along; however, his wife was not dead at that time. It was Leonard himself who had killed his wife by giving her insulin shots more than
At the beginning of the movie you feel bad for Leonard and emphasize with him. As the color sequence progresses towards the start we start to see how Leonard is not exactly the kind of person we thought we has. The color sequences began to elude that Leonard might have mixed motives for writing something down on a photo. In the last 15