Memento
April 2, 2014
Christopher
Nolan’s Memento takes the viewer on a
weird journey into the backwards life of Leonard. Leonard has retro-grade amnesia
where his short term memory is non-existent, so he takes photographs as a way
of remembering, well somewhat remembering. Leonard is ultimately trying to
discover who raped and “killed” wife, or is he? Leonard is an everyman, or to
be politically correct, everywoman. His journey on the surface is trying to
find the “bad” man who destroyed his life, but that is on the surface. Leonard’s
ultimate journey is to keep his life going? The fact that he is just trying to
catch “John G” is of no-consequence. Leonard is ultimately just trying to keep
a purpose in life, instead of sitting in a mental hospital not knowing up from
down. Leonard ultimately loses his own identity by keeping going after “John”. Leonard’s
sole purpose in life is to find the man who did him wrong, like some bad Clint
Eastwood Spaghetti Western. Leonard is
consumed for the quest or journey for truth and revenge that he forgets to dig
deep within himself to find the truth. Is Leonard really Leonard anymore since
the accident? What has become of the man that laughed at his wife’s obsession with
the same book? Leonard has become the modern Captain Ahab, a man so obsessed
with revenge that he drowns with very own obsession. (side note: Quint from Jaws is twist on the Ahab character). Leonard
never really changes in the movie. From beginning to end, Leonard is an amnesiac
version of Sherlock Holmes, but is Teddy his Watson and Natalie his Irene
Adler? Leonard’s lack of changing is due to the fact that filmmakers don’t
really want the audience to care for the character. If the audience cares for
the characters, then that same audience will be clamoring for a sequel. Like
most sequels, the sequel to Memento would royally suck. Leonard
is out for revenge. Leonard’s life was taken from him in one big thump, and as a
result he is constantly stalking out his prey. Leonard’s revenge is an exercise
in futility, because he will never remember getting his revenge and as a result
the mystery cycle continues on in a big messy and confusing loop. (Kind of like this blog post) Revenge is a
concept at one time or another we want to exact on our enemies. Leonard is the
perfect man for the job. Leonard will kill but won’t remember doing it, his conscious
is clean like a new born baby.
I would pick this Leonard's theme song, Ordinary World by Duran Duran. The song fits him. I will include the lyrics down below. Ordinary World is one of my favorite songs.
Lyrics for Ordinary World
Came in from a rainy Thursday
On the avenue Thought I heard you talking softly
I turned on the lights, the TV
And the radio
Still I can't escape the ghost of you
What has happened to it all?
Crazy, some'd say
Where is the life that I recognize?
Gone away
But I won't cry for yesterday
There's an ordinary world
Somehow I have to find
And as I try to make my way
To the ordinary world
I will learn to survive
Passion or coincidence
Once prompted you to say
"Pride will tear us both apart"
Well now pride's gone out the window
Cross the rooftops
Run away
Left me in the vacuum of my heart
What is happening to me?
Crazy, some'd say
Where is my friend when I need you most?
Gone away
But I won't cry for yesterday
There's an ordinary world
Somehow I have to find
And as I try to make my way
To the ordinary world
I will learn to survive
Papers in the roadside
Tell of suffering and greed
Here today, forgot tomorrow
Ooh, here besides the news
Of holy war and holy need
Ours is just a little sorrowed talk
And I don't cry for yesterday
There's an ordinary world
Somehow I have to find
And as I try to make my way
To the ordinary world
I will learn to survive
Every one
Is my world, I will learn to survive
Any one
Is my world, I will learn to survive
Any one
Is my world
Every one
Is my world
What made you make this connection to the Duran Duran song? How does it seem so relevant to the movie? It is an interesting idea here.
ReplyDeleteWhen you said, "Leonard is just trying to keep a purpose in life...," my first thought was, 'well, can you blame him?' I completely agree that Leonard is only trying to keep his life moving, while hiding from the truth, but part of me feels bad for him, and I can see why he would want to live in continuous action. However, he definitely goes about "finding purpose" in the worst possible ways, and I do blame him for those actions. In essence, Leonard has become the killer and monster he was trying to catch in the beginning. As you said, he loses his identity to keep his purpose, but in doing so, he has gained a new identity that he can't (or won't) remember. I find it strange that he feels he must forget the truth and forget who he was in order to have what he deems as "purpose." Yes, terrible things have happened to him, but many people face things like Leonard did/does and cope without hunting down and killing every J.G. they can find, or some equivalent, just to make their lives livable. So, my sympathy for Leonard is short-lived, and your statement about not caring about the characters is spot on for me, which I hadn't thought about until now.
ReplyDeleteI find your comment about us not caring for Leonard to be very interesting. I think we are supposed to feel a little conflicted about him. On the one hand, we have to relate to him somewhat because we are in a very similar situation as he is as we watch the film--we're both trying to figure out what's going on, and slowly putting the pieces together. But it is true that the more we know, the more distrustful we become of everyone (including Leonard). By the end of the film we experience a complete reversal. We find out that Leonard, who we have been sympathizing with for most of the film, has been lying to himself--and therefore us. So yes--we don't care for him, not in the end. This reversal of sympathies is just one more way in which the filmmakers mess with our heads.
ReplyDeleteI like when you said, "If the audience cares for the characters, then that same audience will be clamoring for a sequel." It is so true! We may have had sympathy for Leonard in the beginning, but by the end we don't know who to believe. Every character has seemed to have lost our trust, and so we don't want to know what happens after this film (it may add to the confusion, giving us more questions than answers).
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