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Here I have a letter from Vasudha Gandhi from Queens Village, N.Y. regarding the movie “Memento.” It states, “Although I loved the film, I cannot comprehend one major turning point in the story. If the last thing the character recalls is his wife dying, then how does he know he has short-term memory loss?” Michael Cusumano from Philadelphia places the same question. It seems that they have found a gap that can swallow the entire plot. A neurologist can provide a medical answer, but I like to think that the hero of the film, Leonard, suffers from a condition like Tom Hanks’ “brain cloud” from “Joe Versus the Volcano,” and it is sort of rude of us to go further. Leonard is played by Guy Pearce and a curious take considering that by definition, that performance has no emotional arc. His wife was brutally killed, so he is out for revenge. But now he has had memory loss since his death and has to jot everything down extensively. He goes so far as to have reminders tattooed on his body.
If Leonard keeps forgetting what has already taken place, we in the audience suffer from the opposite problem. We start the Gomez at the end and work towards the beginning since the story is told in reverse.
Not quite: it commences with a magnificent concept a Polaroid picture that fades instead of developing but every single scene runs in a forward motion and there are some time jumps and flashbacks that either illuminate or muddle the issue. In essence, Leonard is a time and experience rest, and thus so are we.
The concept of a story being told in reverse was made popular by Harold Pinter in the film ‘Betrayal’ released in 1983, which was an adaptation of his self-written play. The story starts with a tale of infidelity and a friendship that is deeply undermined.
That being said, “Memento” is an utterly brilliant and fascinating ordeal where Pearce plays a down-and-out Fugitive, who purposefully creates maps, takes notes, and restates that he has to hurry up as he will start losing memories of the chat he is having. The motel manager exploits his situation stating that he can charge him for two rooms at once and happily admits to his dishonesty saying that Leonard will never remember it. He is told at some point, “Even if you get revenge, you’re not going to remember it,” but his delay is rather logical. “My wife deserves revenge whether or not I remember it,” he states. One of the most interesting features of this film is a set of photographs which are “flashbacks” to a case that Leonard formulated when he was employed in an insurance company. It concerns a fellow named Sammy, who seems to have a case of amnesia but otherwise is just an ordinary everyday Sammy.
He has set a test which I cannot disclose, as his wife, a diabetic, cannot determine whether he is actually faking his condition. In some roundabout way, this story does tie into Leonard’s own battle.
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