In 2000, a film directed by Christopher Nolan was released. The film was called Memento, and his brother had previously written a short story that was similar in concept called Memento Mori. When comparing and contrasting the two, one particular plot element stood out to me that was evident in both.
“Earl’s eyes are wide open, staring through the window of the car. Smiling eyes. Smiling through the window at the crowd gathering across the street. The crowd gathering around the body in the doorway. The body emptying slowly across the sidewalk and into the storm drain. A stocky guy, facedown, eyes open. Balding head, goatee. In death, as in police sketches, faces tend to look the same. This is definitely somebody in particular. But really, it could be anybody. Earl is still smiling at the body as the car pulls away from the curb. The car? Who's to say? Maybe it's a police cruiser. Maybe it's just a taxi. As the car is swallowed into traffic, Earl's eyes continue to shine out into the night, watching the body until it disappears into a circle of concerned pedestrians. He chuckles to himself as the car continues to make distance between him and the growing crowd. Earl's smile fades a little. Something has occurred to him. He begins to pat down his pockets; leisurely at first, like a man looking for his keys, then a little more desperately. Maybe his progress is impeded by a set of handcuffs. He begins to empty the contents of his pockets out onto the seat next to him. Some money. A bunch of keys. Scraps of paper. A round metal lump rolls out of his pocket and slides across the vinyl seat. Earl is frantic now. He hammers at the plastic divider between him and the driver, begging the man for a pen. Perhaps the cabbie doesn't speak much English. Perhaps the cop isn't in the habit of talking to suspects. Either way, the divider between the man in front and the man behind remains closed. A pen is not forthcoming. The car hits a pothole, and Earl blinks at his reflection in the rearview mirror. He is calm now.”
In this part of the story, we can assume that Earl has found the man that killed his wife and finally gotten his revenge on him. It is the final chapter; he has finally accomplished what he set out to do. However, he makes the mistake of not writing it down. In that instant, he knows he must document it in some way or his search will never end. He scrambles to find a pen to mark the completeness of his journey, but something small like hitting a pothole causes his mental clock to restart, and the memory is gone. His story could have been finished; he could have found closure, but know he won’t even remember it.
This reminds me of the scene during the film where Natalie purposefully hides all of the pens in her home. She knows she can say whatever she wants and he won’t remember it if he doesn’t write it down. Her true character is revealed and we realize that she might be sabotaging Leonard’s mission. He scrambles for a pen, similar to the way that Earl did in the short story. But the slamming of the car door breaks his focus and everything is gone.
This is an important part in the development of the story, because it helps us to see the true dangers of Earl / Leonard’s condition: if it isn’t written down, it’s almost like it never happened. Something huge could occur and if it slipped past his system of writing it down, it would be forgotten forever. So, the viewer becomes more aware of the fact that despite all of Leonard’s and Earl’s notations, even we might not know the whole story. This however is essential to the story, because it puts us in the place of someone with only ten seconds of memory. We have no clue of what happened before; all we have to rely on is what we hear from others and what has been written down. This leaves plenty of room for loopholes, because who knows what might have been neglected in writing down.
Memento
In 2000, a film directed by Christopher Nolan was released. The film was called Memento, and his brother had previously written a short story that was similar in concept called Memento Mori. When comparing and contrasting the two, one particular plot element stood out to me that was evident in both.
“Earl’s eyes are wide open, staring through the window of the car. Smiling eyes. Smiling through the window at the crowd gathering across the street. The crowd gathering around the body in the doorway. The body emptying slowly across the sidewalk and into the storm drain. A stocky guy, facedown, eyes open. Balding head, goatee. In death, as in police sketches, faces tend to look the same. This is definitely somebody in particular. But really, it could be anybody. Earl is still smiling at the body as the car pulls away from the curb. The car? Who's to say? Maybe it's a police cruiser. Maybe it's just a taxi. As the car is swallowed into traffic, Earl's eyes continue to shine out into the night, watching the body until it disappears into a circle of concerned pedestrians. He chuckles to himself as the car continues to make distance between him and the growing crowd. Earl's smile fades a little. Something has occurred to him. He begins to pat down his pockets; leisurely at first, like a man looking for his keys, then a little more desperately. Maybe his progress is impeded by a set of handcuffs. He begins to empty the contents of his pockets out onto the seat next to him. Some money. A bunch of keys. Scraps of paper. A round metal lump rolls out of his pocket and slides across the vinyl seat. Earl is frantic now. He hammers at the plastic divider between him and the driver, begging the man for a pen. Perhaps the cabbie doesn't speak much English. Perhaps the cop isn't in the habit of talking to suspects. Either way, the divider between the man in front and the man behind remains closed. A pen is not forthcoming. The car hits a pothole, and Earl blinks at his reflection in the rearview mirror. He is calm now.”
In this part of the story, we can assume that Earl has found the man that killed his wife and finally gotten his revenge on him. It is the final chapter; he has finally accomplished what he set out to do. However, he makes the mistake of not writing it down. In that instant, he knows he must document it in some way or his search will never end. He scrambles to find a pen to mark the completeness of his journey, but something small like hitting a pothole causes his mental clock to restart, and the memory is gone. His story could have been finished; he could have found closure, but know he won’t even remember it.
This reminds me of the scene during the film where Natalie purposefully hides all of the pens in her home. She knows she can say whatever she wants and he won’t remember it if he doesn’t write it down. Her true character is revealed and we realize that she might be sabotaging Leonard’s mission. He scrambles for a pen, similar to the way that Earl did in the short story. But the slamming of the car door breaks his focus and everything is gone.
This is an important part in the development of the story, because it helps us to see the true dangers of Earl / Leonard’s condition: if it isn’t written down, it’s almost like it never happened. Something huge could occur and if it slipped past his system of writing it down, it would be forgotten forever. So, the viewer becomes more aware of the fact that despite all of Leonard’s and Earl’s notations, even we might not know the whole story. This however is essential to the story, because it puts us in the place of someone with only ten seconds of memory. We have no clue of what happened before; all we have to rely on is what we hear from others and what has been written down. This leaves plenty of room for loopholes, because who knows what might have been neglected in writing down.