Film Analysis of Memento: How Memory Loss Shapes the Story

Division Of Memento
Andrew Park
Professor Benedict Hughes
English 111 (034M)
October 25, 2014
Division or Analysis: Memento
The film Memento, directed by Christopher Nolan, is an American neo–noir, mystery–psychological
thriller film that was released in cinemas in the year 2000. The movie was inspired and based off
one of Nolan's younger brother's short story; Memento Mori. Despite not widely known, the movie
is critically acclaimed for what it was able to accomplish. The movie did not do well in theaters nor
were its box office statistics notable, however the movie is well received by critics and cinema
centric websites. Memento is astounding and astounding film because of its innovative use of
narration and creative mystery that requires multiple viewings. ... Show more content on
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The film has one overall branching storyline but is told through two different time lines. The film
begins at the end of the story and is told backwards, colored, in fifteen minute intervals. Each scene
going backwards is told in these specific intervals to juxtapose Leonard's condition, where the
overall storyline is confusing and doesn't make a lot of sense, similar to how Leonard feels
constantly. And his general length of memory is also about fifteen minute parallel to the lengths of
scenes in the movie. While most of the plot is told backwards and new information is revealed in
these intervals, the story's reverse order sequence is broken off and alternated by no color, black and
white scenes. These scenes are shown interchanged with the main backwards plot and alternate
every scene. The colorless parts are depicted in standard chronological order to give the story better
overall rhythm. As the main story is nonlinear, the plot starts to become more and more difficult to
understand, so the director uses related black and white scenes that connect with the colored story
line. This structure is used to keep the flow consistent. In written material sentences are usually
structured so that old previously established information is shown at the beginning of the sentence
and new, untold information is organized toward the end. Without these black and white interludes,
the story would be constantly
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Film Analysis of Memento Essay
Film Analysis of Memento
Columbia Tristar Films starring Guy Pearce, Carrie–Anne Moss, and Joe Pantoliano released
"Memento" in 2001. The movie was produced by Suzanne and Jennifer Todd, and was directed by
Christopher Nolan. Christopher Nolan also wrote the short story and screenplay. This film is about a
man named Leonard, played by Guy Pearce, who suffered a major brain injury to the hippocampus
that left him with a rare memory disorder called anterograde amnesia. This disorder causes Leonard
not to be able to form any new memories. Leonard is now trying to find and kill the person who
murdered his wife to avenge his wife's death. Carrie–Anne Moss plays a friend of Leonard, or so he
... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
There is no way to take time to think situations over, a decision must be made immediately or the
thought will be forgotten.
While Leonard's memory problem causes him not to be able to form new memories, his memories
of everything that happened before the incident are still intact. According to MemoryLossOnline,
"Memories for events that occurred before the injury may be largely spared, but events that occurred
since the injury may be lost. In practice, this means that an individual with amnesia may have good
memory for childhood and for the years before the injury, but may remember little or nothing from
the years since" ("Anterograde"). Throughout the movie, Leonard recalls information that he
remembered before his incident, such as the insurance case he investigated that dealt with another
form of anterograde amnesia.
Leonard has the ability to carry on normal conversations with people, but after the conversation in
over or if he gets distracted for more than a few moments, he forgets what he was doing. This is
because "short term memory is generally spared, which means that the individual may be able to
carry on a conversation; but as soon as he is distracted, the memory of the conversation fades"
("Anterograde"). In one scene, Leonard is arguing with Carrie–Ann Moss' character about her
boyfriend. Moss'

Manipulations In Memento, By Christopher Leonard And Mollo
Throughout Memento there are a multiplicity of instances in which manipulation occurs. The
audience sees a plethora of people manipulating Leonard such as Teddy, Natalie and Burt. The
audience generally associates these individuals as the main manipulators in Memento, however that
Christopher Nolan and Leonard, respectively, manipulate the audience and themselves far more than
anyone else. Leonard is seen manipulating himself several times throughout Memento. One of the
ways he does this is through his tattoos. He writes certain things on his body to influence what he
will remember such as remember Sammy Jenkins. Leonard also uses photos and writes information
on these as well as the tattoos. The color sequences begin to elude that Leonard might have mixed
motives for writing something down on a photo. Teddy eludes that Leonard is a serial killer and that
he killed the real John. G. over a year ago. "After Teddy reveals this to Leonard, Leonard purposely
alters the memory and writes down on his photo to not trust Teddy. The audience begins to realize
that Leonard alters the tattoos and photos for his own personal gain" (Vane 2) Teddy later reveals
that Leonard had taken out pages in his own file and that his wife did not die in the attack and
instead Leonard killed her with insulin shots. At this point the audience realizes the tattoo is there so
he never has to remember killing his wife again. Leonard had manipulated those memories, so he
could live with himself and

Memento Mori Story
"Memento Mori" is a story formated by Jonathan Nolan. The short text is about a man named Earl
who cannot form memories. Nolan misleads the reader with the manipulation of narrative structure.
With a brief and fragmented development of the story, Nolan blurs the audience's understanding to
make the text confusing. The compact story composed by Jonathan Nolan is built off of shard ideas.
There is no obvious correlation to the parts in the story unless one reads the text more than two
times. Chapters in the short story change before any progress is made. Few things can be understood
in the story because of the bits and pieces given. The techniques mimic how Earl must live out his
life only having bits and pieces, his journal entries, to know

Memento the Movie Essay
In the film Memento, written by director Christopher Nolan, the main character Leonard Shelby, is a
confused and damaged man that wants the revenge for the murder of his wife. We can say that
Lenny lives in his own world uniquely different from everyone else. The reason for this is his
inability to store short term memory and convert into long term memory. This disability renders
Lenny's life into a repeatable lifestyle and has to start from scratch about every 15 minutes. The only
source he has is to go back to is his notes and tattoos he discovers every morning on his body. It
seems as though he only has his past memories but the only memories we learn about in the movie
is about Sammy Jenkins and the murder of his wife. I think that ... Show more content on
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Since they fill up his mind with many lies, his whole world is a big lie.
The things that Lenny knows about his world is the kind of certainties that people take for granted,
like objects that your memory recognized right away. In this quote, Lenny decribes how his memory
plays a big role on how he knows some objects and how we take that for granted. "Leonard Shelby:
I know what that's going to sound like when I knock on it. I know that's what going to feel like when
I pick it up. See? Certainties. It's the kind of memory that you take for granted." He also does know
everything thing that happened with his wife. He flashes back in a few segments and replays
everything that happened when his wife dies. Lenny remembers past memories about his world like
it happened yesterday. He remembers Sammy Jenkis with his condition and can't seem to forget
him. I found a good quote that Lenny says. It describes his own world and how he feels about it.
Leonard Shelby: "I have to believe in a world outside my own mind. I have to believe that my
actions still have meaning, even if I can't remember them. I have to believe that when my eyes are
closed, the world's still there. Do I believe the world's still there? Is it still out there?... Yeah. We all
need mirrors to remind ourselves who we are. I'm no

Film Techniques In Memento
Christopher Nolan's Memento
June 15, 2001 was business as usual for the Hollywood. The usual string of expensive summer
blockbusters were rolled out, with an array of commercial triumphs ("The Mummy Returns") and
disappointments ("Pearl Harbor"). It was heartening to film fans that a classic sleeper could still find
room in a marketplace filled with bloated extravaganzas nurtured by gray–suited Hollywood
greedheads. Unbenost to the gray–suits, the per–screen average for writer/director Christopher
Nolan's "Memento" –– a challenging art–house noir made for $5 million and released by a novice
distributor –– was but $2 less than the per–screen average of "Pearl Harbor," a $200 million
mediocrity, whose lavish, flag–wrapped premiere ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
And there's no question that this is a film that encourages repeat business: That is, its puzzles are so
intriguing and so impenetrable at first viewing that filmgoers are almost forced to go back for a
second look if they want to figure out just what the hell was going on. "Memento" is like "The Sixth
Sense" and "The Usual Suspects" in that nearly every scene takes on a different meaning once you
know where the film is going.
Or should that be "where the film has been"? Unlike "The Sixth Sense" and "The Usual Suspects"
–– indeed, unlike almost every other celebrated "puzzle film" in cinematic history –– "Memento's"
puzzle can't be undone with a simple declarative explanatory sentence. Its riddles are tangled up in a
dizzying series of ways: by an elegant but brain–knotting structure; by an exceedingly unreliable
narrator through part of the film; by a postmodern self–referentiality that, unlike most empty
examples of the form, thoroughly underscores the film's sobering thematic meditations on memory,
knowledge and grief; and by a number of red herrings and misleading clues that seem designed
either to distract the audience or to hint at a deeper, second layer of puzzle at work –– or that may,
on the other the other hand, simply suggest that, in some respects, the director bit off more than he
could chew.
All of the notices about the movie have told us that the story is told in reverse order. We hear that
Leonard, played by Guy Pearce ("L.A. Confidential"),

Memento Film Noir
The mental thriller and neo–noir film Memento, coordinated and composed by Christopher Nolan in
2000, was roused by his sibling's short story Memento Mori. Nolan is known for his dim mental
thrillers that frequently have non–straight timetables. His movies for the most part start with the
movies end scene, and close with characters settling or portraying issues or occasions exhibited in
the film yet never completely clarified. Nolan likewise has a repeating subject of supported
untrustworthiness and retaliation for the demise of a friend or family member in his movies, which
Memento is focused around. Nominated for two foundation grants for Original Screenplay and Film
Editing, this noir film low spending film takes after principle character ... Show more content on
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The cinematography of this film is imperative to story improvement, story solidarity, and building
up settings. Many key story components are uncovered through extraordinary close–ups. A key
component of the story is Leonard's Polariods. Leonard is always taking Polaroids of individuals,
spots, and things to help him recollect. As he adapts new data, he composes little notes on Polaroid.
Certain Polaroids are more imperative to the story all in all particularly as a result of notes he has on
them, and when he included the note. The nearby ups with outrageous profundity of field are
frequently utilized at whatever point Leonard is taking a gander at a Polaroid, however they are
constantly utilized when he is making a note on one. One Polaroid is more essential than the rest, the
photograph of Teddy. Having close–ups of Leonard adding three notes to Teddy's Polaroid at three
unique parts of the story, shows how huge that data is to the

In the Moment Essay
"Time is an absurdity, an abstraction. The only thing that matters is the moment." (Nolan 12). If this
is true, then in the story "Memento Mori" and the movie Memento, it is ironic how the main
character, Leonard, who is suffering from severe memory loss, is constantly trying to figure out the
past, even though he knows he will not remember it once he learns what has happened. His wife is
dead, and he is searching through a system of notes and Polaroid pictures for her killer. Though the
story is unclear at first, through narration, structure, and repetition, the plot of the story becomes
clearer.
The story is told in reverse order. Since the events in Memento are presented backwards, this allows
the viewer to get into the mind frame of ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
Narration in a movie or story is what people rely on to know what is going on in the plot and what is
true or false information. Without narration in a movie or story, it would make it difficult to find out
who is right and who is wrong. In addition, narration is what sets the tone for a movie or story so the
viewer never really questions what the narrator is saying because under normal circumstances we'd
believe it to be true. Narration is supposed to make things easier for the viewer to understand, in a
way it simplifies and breaks down the plot into a person's thoughts which is much easier to catch on
to than figuring out the story on one's own.
In order to truly enjoy the film Memento and the story "Memento Mori," it is necessary to
understand the structure and order of the plot. To see how Leonard tracked down his wife's killer,
the movie ends with what is, chronologically, the story's beginning. The structure of the film and
story is quite unique since the facts are not presented in chronological order, or following the casual
relationship. It is hard to provide a logical version of the story, since at the end of the film we realize
the unreliability of the main character's recollections. From the beginning of the movie and story, we
have to grasp the unusual structure of daily events and the structure of

Memento Mori : Personal Identity And Consequences Of My...
In Memento Mori¸ The story revolves around a man names Earl. Earl has amnesia, to the grade
where he forgets what happens in the past 24 hours. Specifically, in which as he persists through
time physically but once Earl goes to sleep, he forgets all the past actions of the day. When Earl
cannot remember a past event and needs to remember something for the future he puts it down on a
note, or gets a tattoo of the Memento. We start the story of Memento Mori with no prior information
of Earl's past, so as the story goes on, we find out about as much as Earl is currently finding out
regarding his past. We find out through multiple notes and photos scattered about the room that his
wife was murdered by someone and the brain trauma that he ... Show more content on
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The Soul view focuses around the soul being separate from the body. The soul, being separate from
the body, when a person dies can move on from one body to another. It doesn't only consider death
as a distinction between soul and body, the persistence comes into question as well. "If a person x
exists at one time and something y exists at another time, under what circumstances is it the case
that x is y?". When the soul view is put into question for this the answer is that x and y are the same
person. Although their body may have changed over time they are still the same person. This can be
applied to sleeping, death, and other extreme circumstances. For instance, when you sleep you begin
to lose consciousness but then wake up as the same person and can identify yourself, therefore you
are the same person, no matter the body. The same can be tied to death, if body was not in question
when you "wake up" you persist with the same soul and memories. Therefore, the soul View holds.
The Body view on the other hand can be described with the persistence question as well, where
person x and y persist through time as the same body. The body changes as time passes. When you
look at a photograph of yourself from the past you know that it is the same body because it is of the
same appearance as of how you remembered it. If you're looking at a school photo from elementary
school you can instantly recognize yourself from the rest

A Rebirth In Christopher Nolan's Short Story 'Memento Mori'
Losing My Memory: A Rebirth "What like a bullet can undeceive!" as stated in Herman Melville's
poem "Shiloh helps" define the underlying message in the Nolan brothers literary and cinematic
works. In Johnathon Nolan's short story "Memento Mori" and in Christopher Nolan's film Memento
they both have an underlying theme of death being the great equalizer. In the short story we are
introduced to Earl, the protagonist of the story, who is a presumed to be a patient in a mental
hospital. Earl is unable to make new memories and is only reminded of his past life through notes
and tattoos left by "old forms" of himself. The clues that the "Old" Earl leaves the reborn Earl lead
him to revenge for his murdered wife his last memory. The film ... Show more content on
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"Memento Mori" utilizes all three points of view in its narrative and Earl and his plight. While the
main flow of the story is told in a traditional third person narrative we still see many examples of
first and second narratives throughout the story. From the very beginning sentence the reader is
introduced to the story in a second person narrative "Your wife always used to say you'd be late for
your own funeral" As the reader progresses through the story there are many references to this
second person narrative "You will forget–I guarantee it", and "Maybe you can't understand what
happened to you". These are a just few examples of how Jonathon Nolan in the narrative of his story
seemed to be creating almost a parallel characterization of Earl. The separate character was almost
one of a condescending hurtful nature who continually torments Earl's predicament. While the story
continues into a more traditional third person narrative there are still parts in which the narrative
falls back into first and second person narrative. In Memento, Christopher Nolan uses the same type
of narration through black and white and color sequences. The color sequences of the film are that
of third person as we see the story develop through the actions of the additional characters
introduced into the film. The black and white scenses as Lenoard is talking throughout the movie to
an unknown person on the end sets us up in more of a first and third person

Memento Mori In Antigone
A young woman must decide whether to follow the laws of her gods or her king in order to bury her
dead brother. The punishment from her king is death, but the punishment of the gods could be
everlasting after death. Which punishment does she choose? A philosopher journals his thoughts on
many different topics including life as part of the whole, carpe diem, mortality and its consequences,
and the ability to release negativity from our lives.
In Latin, there is a phrase of deep meaning and great impact: memento mori, or remember you must
die. Mortality is a common theme in literature due to the relatability and commonality that lies in
death as a natural occurrence. People are born and die every single day. Some people may say that
we live to die, and die to live. Although we may try to extend our lives by the ways in which we
live, no one can truly escape death. All of the exercise, sleep and heathy foods in the world will not
let us live on forever. We must keep in mind that we are mortal beings and our fate is inevitable.
That being said, we must not live our lives dwelling on negativity, but make the most of our time.
Antigone by Sophocles as well as book four and five of Meditations by Marcus Aurelius explore this
theme of memento mori.
In Antigone, it is clear to see that Antigone is aware of her mortal state. She placed great value on
how the gods would react to her actions. The basis of the story is that Antigone desired to bury her
dead brother

Anterograde Amnesia In The Movie Memento
Background
Memento is an American psychological thriller, written and directed by Christopher
Nolan. With inspiration from his little brother, Nolan wrote the Memento Mori which was
eventually turned into this movie. The main character in the movie is Leonard, an ex–insurance
investigator who suffers from anterograde amnesia after a horrible incident. Throughout the film
there are some other characters that Leonard interact with that he becomes friends with: Teddy
and Natalie. Teddy is a cop and Natalie is a bartender.
The movie begins with Leonard holding a Polaroid picture of a dead person. The film
rewinds the actions from Leonard holding the picture to before the man is shot in the head. The
sequence of the movie appears ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
Because of the disorder, throughout the movie you'll see that Leonard is forced to leave himself
notes, photographs, and even tattoos to help him keep his train of thought.
Evaluation
The psychological disorder portrayed throughout the movie Memento is Anterograde
Amnesia. According to the dictionary, anterograde amnesia is "amnesia caused by brain damage
in which the memory loss relates to events occurring after the damage." In the movie, Leonard's
inability to recall the information tracing his wife's death without assistance was an example of
amnesia. His ability to only remember things fifteen minutes at a time made the type of amnesia

anterograde. People who suffer with amnesia from brain injuries have a hard time recalling
Running Head: MEMENTO
things because of damage to the hippocampus. The hippocampus is the part of the brain that
"acts as a gateway through which new fact information must pass before being permanently
stores in memory" (Myers, 2010).
Living with anterograde amnesia affected the character in more ways than one. The
struggle of living with the disorder caused Leonard to be very emotional throughout the

Memento Mori Essay
"Memento Mori" is a short story following a man struggling with anterograde amnesia and his
pursuit of his wife's murderer. The short story was adapted into a feature length film titled Memento
which makes many changes to the narrative structure and characters of the short story, but maintains
the same premise. "Memento Mori" features multiple narrators, one first–person and one third–
person. The first–person narration is provided by the story's protagonist Earl via notes addressed to a
"you," which turns out to be Earl. The third person narrator provides details as to what actions Earl
is currently taking in the present time. After successfully murdering the man he believes killed his
wife, Earl is riding in the back of a car. The ambiguity of the third–person narrator in this scene
causes the viewer to question whether Earl escaped via a taxi or was apprehended by the police. The
story reaches its climax as Earl loses his pen and begins frantically trying to obtain a replacement so
that he can document his success in killing the man who ruined his life. All tension dissipates after
the car hits a pothole and "dies", forgetting the events that just transpired. The ultimate antagonist in
this story is Earl's anterograde amnesia. His condition is the primary obstacle ... Show more content
on Helpwriting.net ...
The date of his birth, and another date which Earl does not remember the significance of. The
second date is likely the date his wife's murder. The title of the story is symbolic. "Memento Mori"
is a Latin phrase which loosely translates to "remember your death" and is most often used to
describe objects that remind people of death such as skulls. The bell is meant to serve as a memento
mori for Earl that reminds him of his figurative death following his wife's murder. Earl lives in short
increments, constantly "dying" and being reborn as a new individual. Earl himself hints at the irony
of the bell in one of his

Editing And Compression In Memento, By Christopher Nolan
A person's identity relies heavily on one's memories. How can one know who they are, if they
cannot remember who they were and what they experienced to get to the present? In Memento,
director Christopher Nolan highlights the importance of memory in forming one's identity. The
movie follows a man named Leonard who is determined to track down and kill the man who raped
and murdered his wife. Unfortunately, Leonard suffers from anterograde amnesia, meaning he can
remember everything leading up to the incident, but he is incapable of forming memories of
anything which occurred after his wife's death. Throughout his investigation, Leonard compensates
for his handicap by writing himself notes which he tattoos on his body. But as Leonard's
investigation moves forward, Leonard himself cannot. With his wife's death as his last memory, he
finds himself out of sync with the rest of the world as his identity remains stuck in the past. In
Memento, Nolan uses editing and mise en scene to reinforce the idea that a person's identity relies
heavily upon their memories.
One of the most outstanding film techniques in Memento is its use of editing. The scenes of the
movie are sequenced in reverse chronological order, with the film beginning at the storyline's end
and ending at its beginning. In doing this, Nolan is able to mimic an experience for the viewer which
is similar to Leonard's anterograde amnesia. Without previous context for each scene, the audience
is often unable to

Motif Of Memento Mori
Memento mori motif in Baroque art
Tianyao Wang
Introduction：
'Memento mori' in Latin means "remember that you have to die".[1] It's the medieval Latin Christian
theory and practice of reflection on mortality, especially as a means of considering the vanity of
earthly life and the transient nature of all earthly goods and pursuits. [2] In art, memento mori are
artistic or symbolic reminders of mortality.[3] For example, the 'Danse Macabre', also known as the
Dance of Death is as artist genre in the medium of paintings, frescoes and even in the musical
settings closely related to the Memento mori motif. Danse Macabre can be traced back to Late
Middle Ages which was about allegory on the universality of death. The visual example of Danse ...
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Above his heads , there is a very slim halo, which in the shape of a ring, with only half of it can be
seen ambiguously and the other half melted into dark. His head was almost bald with salt and pepper
hair on the temple. For Jerome frowned, we can see the wrinkles on his forehead.
Jerome's left hand took the edge of one open book and the right hand stretched naturally on the table
with a pen in his hand. For there is no additional paper under the pen, the pe should be used to make
notes and commentary on the book. On the left side of the table, we can see white cloth laying down
the table, above which two books overlapped upon. And upon the books, a skull is laid on it. The
skull symbol is the most common memento mori element. When it appears in the portraiture, it also
reflects person's own meditation and research on the mortality, death and the related staff.
This painting exemplifies many of the characteristics of Caravaggio's paintings, which is typical in
the Baroque period.
There are plenty of details which can illustrate Caravaggio's realism. The latter book on the left side
is broken in the bottom of the book back, where cover rolled up revealing the paper sheet groups
inside. The book head was in a color of brown while the page was totally white. The contrast of the
color showed the time and the traces of use of these

Analysis Of The Movie Memento
The most important thing a tourist does before they leave a new city is buying a trinket to
immortalize their vacation. The streets of New York City are lined with memorabilia people use as
mementos; street vendors, gift shops, and monuments all placed to get tourists to buy their items.
People line up to buy these trinkets to freeze memories in time, to keep these moments in their head
forever, to save as a memento. A memento is an object used for remembrance, usually used to
remember a time, a place, or a person. In the movie Memento, the main character (Leonard) has
short–term memory loss and he creates his own memento to remember important events. He uses
tattoos on his body as a roadmap for significant events by inking details all over his skin.
The tattoos are necessary to help Leonard remember. Every morning Leonard wakes up forgetting
who he is and every morning he has to take the time to investigate his surroundings to remember. He
has created a system he routinely follows involving Polaroids, notes, and tattoos. These things
remind him where he is, where he is going, and the purpose if his actions. The tattoos are imperative
because they define his actions throughout the movie. A specific scene continually plays during the
movie that involves Lenny opening his shirt to reveal a large tattoo across his chest reading "John G.
raped and murdered my wife." This tattoo is important because it reminds Lenny of the investigation
he is undergoing, Lenny is

A Comparison Of Memento And Memento Mori
Unlike other pairs of literary work and their adaptations that the movie version is published after the
literary work, "Memento" and "Memento Mori" are created in the inverse order. The main plot of
the two stories is very similar: a man having no short–term memory finding and killing the murder
of his wife. They are inspired by the same idea, anterograde amnesia. For creators, the factors they
need to look at when presenting a story largely depend on the medium of story–telling. The qualities
of different mediums and the characteristics of the audiences of that medium determine many
preferences of creators when designing the plot and the characters. Of course, those preferences are
not rigid rules, but we can easily find that there are many common traits among the literary products
or movie products of the same type. This is also why some literary works and movies are criticized
to be formulaic. In "Memento Mori", the author deleted some elements that are presented in the
movie to make the story more suitable to be presented in the text. 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

Themes Of Memento Mori
literature around this time revolve mostly around lyric poems and plays to let people express their
feelings. One of the themes that you often occur in lyrical poems and plays is memento mori.
Memento mori means "remember the dead" (pg.162). This saying was created because of the
massive amount of death that happens around this time, such as the black death and constant battles.
Not only does the saying apply to death in battle, but it also applies to those who have not excepted
Christ and follow his rules shall receive hell. The
Europeans who live in the medieval era were very religious and believe in Jesus Christ and
Virgin Mary. For examples, stories like the Everyman and Ubi Sunt Qui ante Nos Fuerunt are often
read in "musical rhythm and their topics often explore romantic feelings"
(vocabulary.com). In the Medieval era, the major theme in stories that are used constantly is
memento mori, to helps teach and express a lesson in plays, lyrical poems, and about the belief of
the Europeans in the 15th century.
In addition, the use of memento mori is mostly used in plays, normally to leave a great impact at the
end to give the audience something to remember and learn some sort of lesson.
For example, a popular play that was performed at the time was Everyman. Everyman's plot was to
let everyone know that time waits for no man and if your heart is not purified and clean enough for
God, then he or she will spend entirety in hell when death reaches them. We see
this when death

Christopher Novan's Use Of Narrative Structure In Memento
In Christopher Nolan's 2001 neo–noir psychological thriller, Memento, he explores the idea of trust
through a unique narrative structure. The film explores trust through the protagonist, Leonard
Shelby and his interactions with characters, Natalie and Teddy in his hunt for the man who raped his
wife. The structure of the film is split into two parts: colour scenes (the main plot line) and black
and white scenes (the sub–plot line). Nolan alternates between the two; however, the colour scenes
are shown backwards in time, from Leonard's point of view, in first person; and the black and whites
scenes are told forwards in a documentary style with just voice over and simple images.
The start of the film opens with a scene literally shown backwards, which makes the audience aware
of the structure of the way the story will be told. There is repetition within the colour scenes, when
one colour scenes starts it is the end of the next one. The use of this makes the audience rethink
everything they have been told in the previous scene. This adds the effect of watching the film how
Leonard would perceive it. The main ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
However this is not the case: Teddy is the one helping Leonard find the man who raped his wife and
protects him throughout. In the end Teddy is shot in the head by Leonard. Due to the way the film is
structured Teddy is made out to be the bad person, but towards the end of the movie it is found out
that Teddy was there the whole time to help Leonard and make sure that nothing happens to him on
his investigation. Due to the unique narrative structure of this film, the perception of Teddy is all
wrong. Nolan uses this technique as it makes the audience form their own views on the characters
and keeps them guessing until the end of the film. Due to the narrative structure, the film relies
heavily on first impressions on characters, however, these views change as the film

Memento Movie
Summary
The crime film Memento is about a man named Leonard Shelby (Lennie) who suffers from a
condition called anterograde amnesia. Anterograde amnesia, as Lennie explains in the movie, is the
inability to create new memories. He refers to it as "no short term memory" because everything he
recently does quickly fades away from his head and he can't remember any of it, he can only
remember things that took place in his life before he had the condition. A major injury to the head
was the cause of Lennie's anterograde amnesia, one night he was at his home sleeping in his bed
when all of a sudden loud screams from another room woke him up. He noticed his wife wasn't next
to him in his bed like she normally was and that's when he realized it was she who was ... Show
more content on Helpwriting.net ...
Lennie immediately grabbed a gun he kept hidden in his room and approached the room where he
heard his wife. He opened the room door and to his surprise he found a man in a ski mask raping his
wife, suffocating her to death. Lennie reacted fast and shot a bullet through the intruders head,
however, he was too late to rescue his wife. As Lennie approached her he received a hard hit from
another intruder on the back of his head causing him to lose consciousness. Throughout the entire
film Lennie is on a search to find the other man responsible for raping and murdering his wife, but
he has trouble doing so because of his injury that makes him constantly loose his memory.
Discussion
Anterograde amnesia was portrayed in the film very accurately. Lennie had a camera so he could
take pictures of important things he did throughout his day, and he would write a note on the back of
each photograph as a reminder of why he took it. He couldn't remember his daily tasks like eating or
cleaning, so he wrote notes and placed them all

Psychological Disorders And Psychological Disorder
In the world we live in there are many things that we can 't explain, such as the change in humans
emotion, diseases, and more. Which many people want to make those unknowns into stories, novels,
films and inform others to find a way to solve the unknown. Many films that would make people to
think and use their minds would be related to psychological, because it makes people want to
understand the plot and meaning of the film. Films that related to psychological disorder are a really
interesting tool for many psychology students. Even is not really informative, but it still can provide
students a new learning experience. Many people are not fully understand what psychological is
about, which there some films include psychological disorder can help people to understand more
about the psychological disorder.
Films such as "Memento", is a great represent for films that related to psychological. "Memento" is
mainly focus on one psychological disorder that is call Anterograde Amnesia. According Duff,
Wszalek, Tranel, & Cohen(2008),the symptom for individual who suffer from Anterograde Amnesia
have problems with remember new knowledge and new memories. People who often can't
remember the new things around them, and even they do remember it will only be few minutes after
that they will forget. Which for people who know they has this disorder they often find a way to
help them remember. For example, notes, pictures, voice messages, blog post, diary and stuff that
can be store and

Analysis Of The Movie ' Memento We Come Across A Diner...
In Memento we come across a diner scene where we see Teddy trying to help Leonard realize that
living his life day by day based solely on pictures and notes can be problematic. In this scene Teddy
says, "Lenny, you can't trust a man's life to your little notes and pictures. Because your notes could
be unreliable." Christopher Nolan directed Memento in 2000, which is adapted from "Memento
Mori" written by Jonathan Nolan in 2000. Both Memento and "Memento Mori" tell a story about a
man who uses photographs and notes to help him remember things as he searches for his wife's
murderer without the use of his long–term memory. Christopher Nolan produced a free adaptation of
the shorty story, although the movie itself grasped the general concept it didn't exactly stay true to
the little details presented throughout the short story. One of the ways this is done in the movie is
through Nolan's editing.
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

Theme Of Memory In Memento Mori
Action speaks louder than words. These actions are shown in both in Memento (film) by
Christopher Nolan and Memento Mori (short story) by Jonathan Nolan. The short story is turned
into a movie, but it will never be as good. A book has a storyline, base descriptions are given, and
our mind gets to create it with every turn of the page. A movie is someone else vision and very
directed with certain details. The story starts off with Earl who has amnesia due to a traumatic event
that his wife got rape and murder due to this he is unable to create new memories. Earl uses specific
strategies to remember what he has already done and will be doing by he uses pictures, letters and
transfers important notes onto his body. However, both brothers were able to create a point about
Earl mental illness condition who is the main character of Memento Mori in different ways. One of
the most important techniques that were both shown in the Memento Mori is time, thus, the film had
a better justice of showing the audience/reader the power of past, present, and future.
In the beginning of the short story, time is being used as important information about the main
character illness and one of the strategies that the character used to remember which is taking
photographs. The author Jonathan Nolan introduce Earl in a matter of way where he questioned Earl
thoughts about not remembering his own memories before he got amnesia. This evident when Nolan
used irony about the incident where he quotes

Memento Mori Short Story Romanticism
After close reading the short story Memento Mori by Jonathan Nolan I have come to the conclusion
that Romanticism is prevalent in the story. After the attack that killed Earl's wife and injured Earl's
brain, he lost his ability to make new memories and so he was controlled and confined by other
people saying what they are doing is for his own good. Earl was trying to find his place in the
universe, as every day he had to wake up and relearn where he is and what he is doing. He was a
man driven by emotion, he had lots of hate and seemed pretty helpless but he also has a sense of
dark humor that helps him deal with his reality. His emotion was a key part of the story as it
triggered his actions. But of course, the only way he kept track of information ... Show more content
on Helpwriting.net ...
When Earl was looking at the picture of himself with flowers standing over his wife's fresh grave,
"Earl looks at the picture for a long time. Maybe he begins to cry. Maybe he just stares silently at the
picture. Eventually, he makes his way back to the bed, flops down, seals his eyes shut, tries to sleep"
(p. 87). The 'hall of mirrors' shows how lost and confused Earl still is. Earl would make jokes that
are sly remarks aimed at no one but himself. An example of this is, "CIGARETTE? CHECK FOR
LIT ONES FIRST, STUPID. Earl laughs at the sign, lights his cigarette, and takes a long draw"
(p.86). He also titles himself "The ten–minute man". These all show how Earl did not take anything
too seriously, he really had nothing to lose and he knew it. "You can't have a normal life anymore.
You must know that. How can you have a girlfriend if you can't remember her name? Can't have
kids, not unless you want them to grow up with a dad who doesn't recognize them. Sure as hell can't
hold down a job" (p. 88). Being that he remembers everything before the accident he vividly
remembers the accident it also means that he will never forget the face of the man who do it. After
searching the internet, I found the name of the article Memento Mori has Latin roots, quoting
Wikipedia, "Memento mori is the medieval Latin theory and practice of reflection on mortality".
What this all means for the story is it's about destiny and Earl is reflecting upon his wife's death, he
would probably be content if he had gotten

Essay Of Fight Club And Memento
Critical Essay by Agnes Bruinsma 385859 "When you have insomnia, you're never really asleep...
and you're never really awake" (Fight Club, date). The neo–noir movies Fight Club (1999) and
Memento (2001) illustrate a reality, as seen by the protagonists. However, what exactly is reality?
This issue is employed skilfully in both Fight Club and Memento, which makes them interesting to
watch and analyse. The Usual Suspects, another neo–noir film, also employs the issue reality in the
narrative but, it differs from Fight Club and Memento, as reality is twisted by intention. This critical
essay will take a look at the different causes for a distorted reality, how the protagonists receive
reality, the use of narrative to create a distorted reality ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
These twists lets one question everything that just happened. In Fight Club, the narrator finds out
that Tyler Durden is not another men, but him. This changes the whole context. The audience has no
idea that Tyler Durden is the narrator, as they are most likely captivated by his chaotic, sociopathic
and masculine character. Once finding out the truth, one needs to rethink the entire film. Every
scene has a different meaning once finding out that Tyler and the narrator are one. In Memento
Leonard is confronted by Teddy a cop and his 'friend' that Sammy Jankis the men Leonard often
talks about is actually him. He tells Leonard that he has been lying to himself in order to be happy
and that he is chasing a men who he believes is John G. Teddy furthermore suggests that actually
has created a different reality in which he is chasing John G, in order to cope with the fact that his
condition killed his wife. When Leonard later gets in his car and askes himself "Do I lie to myself to
be happy?" (Memento, 2000), which he admits, a distortion in reality is justified by himself. He then
makes Teddy the new John G, which changes the way the audience looks at Leonard.
To conclude, both Fight Club and Memento use an unconventional narrative structure and tell
thrilling stories. The movies enchant the viewers from the beginning with their absorbing storylines.
The distortion of reality is created by protagonist with different views on reality,

Memento Movie Analysis
Memento Movie is a cast directed by Christopher Nolan. The movie is a Psychological thriller that
narrates the events that have driven the cause of the protagonist called Leonard Shelby to murder
Teddy. The movie has received serious acclaim for its special time sequence, which can be attributed
to both its chronicle and reversed order. The formation of the film serves two purposes, to imitate
the process of human recollection, and to allow the audience to understand the nature of anterograde
amnesia, a disease Leonard Shelby ails from.
According to Buckland, the film is very difficult to fallow and it requires to be watched at least
twice to fully comprehend all the director Christopher Nolan who doubles as an actor is trying to
pass across (2009). Leonard Shelby is suffering from Anterograde Amnesia a disability which makes
it technical for him to comprehend new memories beyond the victimization before his trauma. In the
bid to cope with his Amnesia, he relates to a client has had while he was serving as an insurance
agent. The client goes by the name Sammy Jenkins and he has the same experience of suffering
from the same amnesia as Leonard. Initially, Leonard worked on Sammy's case while attempting to
prove that unlike his case, Sammy was mentally ill. Leonard narrates this story to everyone in the
attempt to explain his amnesia. Leonard's amnesia came about during an incidence when he was
struck in the head while trying to save his own wife, after two assailants invaded

Memento Mori Death
Death A common theme in Muriel Spark's novels is death. This theme is especially prevalent in the
novels, Memento Mori and The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie. In Memento Mori, Spark introduces
many older characters some of which do not want to recognize that death is close. These older
people get phone calls that remind them that they will eventually die. On the contrary, The Prime of
Miss Jean Brodie introduces young characters. Remembering death is not the main theme of this
novel but it is present in some flash–forwards of the girls' lives. In both novels there are characters
that die violently, and there are similarities and differences in Spark's writing style, the violent
deaths, and how the deaths play a role in the overall themes. Spark's ... Show more content on
Helpwriting.net ...
They are different because of the way that they die. Dame Lettie dies from being beaten to death and
Mary dies from a hotel fire. However, these deaths are similar because they are slow and torturous
deaths. Spark makes them seem quick because she uses short phrases for example in Brodie she
says, "Stumbled and died" and in Memento Mori she says, "Battered her to death". These are short
phrases that make the action and death seem quick and painless, but in reality, they are not quick and
painless at all. It takes about 10–15 minutes to die from smoke inhalation, so Mary suffered for a
while before she died which is not described in the novel. And for being beaten to death, the time it
took to die would depend on where Dame Lettie was hit, but either way it is still painful and
torturous. Also, another similarity is how Spark tells their ages. In Brodie, Spark mentions a few
sentences earlier that Mary, "lived into her twenty–fourth year" (13). And in Memento Mori Spark
says for Dame Lettie, "It was her eighty first year" (182). Spark does not say she was 24 years old or
81 years old instead she says what year they lived up until. She does this to show that their age or
how old they are does not matter because death still found

Memento Film Techniques
In the movie memento it pretty much tells the story in reverse. Thoughts on the movie are also
subjective since we don't really know who killed Leonard's wife. We are in a way put in Leonard's
shoes when we watch the movie because the movie gives us information in puzzle pieces just so we
can understand what he is going through due to his memory loss. Sounds and images in the movies
at times don't go together, images move backwards while sound moves forward. The movie is also
very suspenseful and can be quite confusing if you do not focus. There are black and white scenes
are the scenes that happen in order and the color scenes are the flashbacks and dreams he has. The
entire movie pretty much feels like we are going through what Leonard is

Me And Earl And The Dying Girl Analysis
Me and Earl and the Dying girl is directed by Alfonso Gomez–Rejon and it was released in 2015.
This movie is a comedy drama, with a pinch of romance in it, and is adapted by a novel of the same
name, written by Jesse Andrews, which was written in 2012. This movie is set in Pittsburgh in the
present day. It tells the story of the seventeen year old Greg Gaines, the "me" in the title. Greg has
managed to be part of the different social groups that exists in school, without befriending or being
close to anyone, but his life took a change, when his mother forces him to befriend a girl he wants
knew when he was younger named Rachel, and she has leukaemia. While this movie may sound like
your cliché teen favourites where it is a romance story that involves either one or both partner to be
diagnosed ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
Although many would ask, why not concentrate on the other 2, they might have interesting life,
something audience might be attracted to, but the director has his reasons for doing so, he may have
a certain massage to convey to audience. Personally for me, I have nothing against Greg being the
main character, in fact, I feel that it is a good decision by the director. Here is why I feel so, firstly
Greg may seem like a boring typical teenager, but actually he is interesting. For instance, Greg tries
not to be friends or close with anyone in school, but instead, he just associate himself with all the
different cliques, he calls it "gaining citizenship in every nation", and to me, this is relatable to me, I
feel that during my time in secondary school, although I still have best friends, I try to befriend
others in the school, this way, I create minimum feud with others or even give them little doubt
about myself. I believe that is what Greg was trying to achieve, but little do people interpreted, Greg
is also socially awkward, something many teens can relate to out

Essay on Amnesia in Memento Directed by Christopher Nash
The film, Memento, tells a multidimensional story about a man, Leonard Shelby, who suffers from
short–term memory loss illness, anterograde amnesia. He is impaired by this medical issue due to
being hit on the head when defending his wife, who was attacked and raped in their house during the
middle of the night. He kills one of the invaders during the attack. With inability to form new
memories, one of the last things Leonard remembers is seeing his wife, die. He then devotes his life
to finding and killing the second attacker. However, Leonard, being unable to store and remember
new memories, develops a technique to help him recall what has already happened in his life post
head trauma. He does this by using hand–written notes, tattoos, ... Show more content on
Helpwriting.net ...
The movie switches back and forth between various series of color and black and white sequences.
The black and white scenes illustrate the story in chronological order; whereas the scenes in color
continue in reverse chronological order, demonstrating the use of flashbacks. However, the opening
credits unfolds a scene of Leonard killing Teddy, who is a claimed and assumed, but unproven
police officer, assigned to the rape of Catherine Shelby, Leonard's wife. He is also an acquaintance
of Leonard, who attempted to assist him in his determined search for his wife's killer. Although, the
audience realizes this beginning scene actually exposes the end of the conclusion of the story. The
black and white sequential scenes and the reversal color scenes alternate awaiting the conclusion of
the film where they meet in the middle of the story.
Director and screenwriter, Christopher Nolan, portrays the movie's protagonist, Leonard Shelby, as a
flawed hero tries to find some justice in an unfair world, as wrong was done onto him with the rape
and murder of his wife. This neo–noir thematic device is displayed through Leonard, as he is, at
heart, a genuinely good person, despite making questionably moral decisions, in this case to naivety
and gullibility due to his mental incapability. Suffering anterograde amnesia, the death of his wife is
a fresh,

Memory Loss In Memento
Memento has a distinct, unique structure. The movie title demonstrates and describes how the story
is governed by past particles, rather than plain memory. By working backwards, Christopher Nolan
(director) unveils the process in which Leonard (Guy Pearce) attempts to find the man who raped
and murdered his now dead wife. The catch of it all is Leonard suffers from a special form of short
term memory loss which is not treatable. The extraordinary frame work lures you into each moment,
as if you're figuring out what Leonard wrote on paper and his body. Due to his memory loss
condition, he writes notes as soon as he knows the timely, crucial information. Leonard believes
someones memory changes what actually happens, it can change the color of

Movie Review: Memento
Movie Review: Memento
Once in a while, a movie turns up and gives extreme experience to viewers.
Memento is one of these movies and calls a lot from the viewers. This is not a movie that nearly
every audience will be able to grasp without difficulty. When one is passive while viewing this
movie, he or she will end up not seeing significant parts of the story as the film is done in reverse to
demonstrate the dilemma of the leading role, Leonard.
The story line is imparted in a mixed–up manner, having Leonard gone through a short–term–
memory lost while the audience essentially depends on him for the whole story. The film shows
highly–flavored words, some combating and blood and a depressing strong experience. Characters
of the story smoke, steal, drink, lie, trade drugs and kill.
Leonard is in crisis of his rare case condition of amnesia which crafts the difficulty for him to bear
in mind what has occurred to him in the urgent past, even though he can recollect his life previous to
the accident. Leonard's situation was a result of an attack when his wife was murdered and his mind
was injured.
Leonard is being provoked the whole time exclusively by his craving to locate and kill the man he
supposed murdered his wife. Given that Leonard retains information that happened previous to the
attack, he is going on an expedition to take revenge for the loss of his wife. To stay on the trail of
wherever he is and whatever he is doing, he environs himself with mementos using his own

Analysis Of Memento
Christopher Nolan's Memento follows Leonard Shelby in his vengeful quest to find the murderer of
his wife. Leo suffers from short–term memory loss and traces any recent information and memories
through tattoos, notes, and photographs. Throughout the film, time is distorted yet linear. Scenes in
color are followed by ones in black–and–white. There is a sequential order to the film, but it is not
presented in that manner. Time is treated as a changing, personal force rather than a solely
standardized, detached authority. This creates a beautiful dynamic within the film, for beauty, I
think, is seeing or portraying everyday concepts or things in a new light. My experience and analysis
of literature and art deeply impact my notion of beauty. For ... Show more content on
Helpwriting.net ...
His goal is to uncover his wife's killer, yet he has to continuously remind himself that "she's not
here." This dissonance is frustrating, consuming, gritty, and even ugly, yet it is beautiful. The beauty
arises from time's dismantlement. Standardized time looms over Leo and is real, yet his sense of
time is also real. The ambiguity and multiplicity of time in Memento challenges time's common
perception as undeviating and monotonous. This departure from the normal view of an everyday
concept exists within this scene and the entire film and, for me, make Memento

Leonard Shelby's Use Of Narrative Techniques In Memento
Memento is one of the more unique mainstream films of the 2000s. In this film, we see the
protagonist, Leonard Shelby, in search for the man who raped and killed his wife. This is no typical
detective tale as Leonard's investigation is complicated by his anterograde amnesia, which he
develops from a blow to the head. Leonard cannot make new memories, which makes remembering
new facts about the murder impossible. As a result, Leonard relies on an extensive photograph
record and tattoos of facts about the case to stay focused on his investigation. Even with his
methods, Leonard is not able to keep up with all new information. Consequently, he is manipulated
by a corrupt cop (Teddy) who eventually tells Leonard that his wife did not die in the attack, and
that he had actually killed his wife's killer long ago but forgot about it. As a result of being
manipulated, Leonard writes on a picture of Teddy that "He ... Show more content on
Helpwriting.net ...
The backward story telling implemented in Memento leaves the audience disoriented as the
audience experiences events without knowing the causes of those events (because Leonard's short
term memory forgets the causes of the event that takes place). The narrative structure of Memento
truly accentuates the condition of Leonard. Furthermore, the editing of certain sequences further
disorients the audience because the sequence of events is edited to fit the character of the
fragmented mind of the protagonist. Thus, the editing helps to reveal the mindset of Leonard.
Finally, the color changes experienced from certain scenes to other scenes highlight Leonard's
forgotten parts of the story being told, which, again, further complicates and disorients the audience
to fit the disoriented protagonist. All in all, certain elements of film can tell interesting and non–
traditional stories. No film can better exemplify this fact than

A Psychological Viewpoint on Memento
Memento is an American psychological thriller adapted from a short story, Memento Mori written
by James Nolan. The story displays the life of Leonard Shelby. Shelby has anterograde Amnesia
brought about by an injury to his head. He suffered this injury while confronting two people who
attacked his wife at their home in the middle of the night. Leonard kills one of the attackers during
the attack, although the second one escapes. Due to the injury and resultant amnesia, the last thing
Leonard remembers is his wife dying. He is unable to remember new information after that day. The
movie shows how he devotes his life to finding and killing the second attacker.
The movie uses a unique presentation style where the director starts with a ... Show more content on
Helpwriting.net ...
This focus seemed to motivate him to carry on, and gave him a purpose to live.
Problem
Shelby, suffers from a rare form of amnesia which makes him incapable of creating new memories.
Any bit of information he learns since his injury must be recorded or will be quickly forgotten. Due
to his memory problem, he would often find himself lost at places. He'd ask himself questions like
"Why am I here?" or "What was I doing?" He often made errors in judgment if the information or
clues available to him were incomplete. He was also slightly paranoid; he didn't trust new people
and avoided new situations. This is why he had no social life and only a couple of people he could
trust. Since his condition prevents him from creating new memories Leonard uses a clever system of
Notes, Polaroid photos, and Tattoos to record clues which may lead him to finding the man who
killed his wife. Every morning he would wake up and the body tattoos will remind him of what
happened and what his mission is. He will use post it notes, polaroid pictures to reconstruct what he
was doing and what he needs to do today. He followed some simple rules – focus on the objective
and take short notes and picture of relevant clues after key events. But the fact that Shelby was
aware of his condition made life even more challenging. Since he was AWARE of his condition he
forced himself to live a very structured routine; every morning he'd wake up study and observe his
body

Anterograde Amnesia In Memento
Memento is a psychological thriller, which describes the story of a man who suffered a serious head
injury during his wife's murder, as a result, developed anterograde amnesia. Leonard, the central
character is focused on finding the man who murdered his wife and left him with brain damage.
Anterograde amnesia is a form of short–term memory loss, where the individual is unable to form
new memories or acquire new knowledge. With anterograde amnesia, the individual is unable to
encode the information from short–term to long–term memory. Some of the symptoms associated
with Anterograde amnesia is the impairment of both semantic and episodic memory; in which the
individual is unable to form new memories for events or general facts.
In Memento,

Combining Thrilling and Killing:Use of Violence in...
Combining Thrilling and Killing:Use of Violence in Psychological Thrillers
As we speak, there is a man holding a gun to the back of your head. The cold muzzle stings the
tender skin of your scalp and blood trickles to the floor from where the handcuffs have cut into your
wrists. Your heart, sensing death approaching, struggles in vain to slip through its cage of ribs and
run screaming into the night, much like how the scream just behind your eyes makes your vision
blur and muscles twitch spastically. But perhaps you know the man behind you. Does that make you
more or less afraid? Perhaps there's no man at all. Perhaps it's you who's holding that gun. Maybe
that gun isn't there either. Is such a thing possible? A loud BANG is your ... Show more content on
Helpwriting.net ...
If a film attempts to be as "realistic" as possible, as many psychological thrillers do, it will more
likely than not contain violence simply because violence is a part of our reality.
Just because a good psychological thriller does not necessarily require violence to be intense and
suspenseful does not mean that violence is always an indication of trashy cinema. What
discriminates between the instances where film violence is powerful and where it is just so much
bloody fluff is the accompanying moral and emotional context. A journalist quotes author and film
critic Stephen Prince as saying, "nearly all filmmakers are concentrating on the visual, physical
aspects of violence and not on the emotional or spiritual dimensions of it" (Harris 2). A good
question to determine the value of a particular instance of violence might be, "Is the violence a part
of the story, or does the story exist merely for the purpose of exhibiting violence?" Most often, if the
content is critically integrated into the story, the "emotional or spiritual dimensions" are being
addressed to a far greater extent than if the story is simply a backdrop for cheap eye–candy.
A number of excellent examples of such "meaningful violence" can be seen in the movie Memento,
written by Christopher Nolan. His screenplay opens quite bluntly, with "A

Leonard's Short-Term Memory Loss In The Movie Memento
Memento In the beginning of the movie Memento you meet a guy named Leonard who is facing a
dilemma with his memory loss and trying to find his wife's killer. Through the movie he meets many
new characters that take part impacting his life in ways that he didn't expect. Leonard, however has
developed ways of dealing with his dilemma through methods of photos, and tattoos, but
unfortunately, he is in the same time loop dealing with the same dilemma over and over again.
Throughout the movie Leonard faces many difficulties one of which is his short–term memory loss.
One of the problems is that he cannot make any new memories. However, he can remember
everything before his accident. During a flashback we witness one of the brief moments that lead up
to his condition. Not to mention he cannot trust himself or other people. At one point in his life he
trusted his wife to no ends, and she took advantage of it and tried to help him to regain his memory.
She put his memory to the test and It lead to her death. After her death he had no one to rely on other
than what he wrote down. ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
In one scene he used part of an ink pin to give himself a tattoo on his leg. Also, he made some of the
tattoos backwards, so he could see them in the mirror. Every time Leonard would meet someone
new he would take their picture and write something along with it to remember them again later.
Leonard also takes notes to help him remember, but he can only trust in his own hand writing.
Writing is a cognitive tool that is used to help people to be able to remember things more clearly
(Dustin Wax, Writing and Remembering). However, Leonard is an unusual case in which he cannot
remember, so he writes things down in place of his

Film Analysis of Memento: How Memory Loss Shapes the Story

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