Memento

Maria Bianca Ysabelle I. Hernandez

12 - Prometheus

Memento – something that holds memory; an insight on the past that one
had rather let time take its toll, had not there been an object of significance. It
is a thing with which you assign a moment, especially one you not ought to
forget. I have a bunch of mementos - they manifest themselves in receipts, tissue papers,
letters, candy wrappers and keychains. I bet you have your mementos too. Yes?

Well, Leonard from the movie Memento also has mementos. His vestiges of memories come
to life in the form of Polaroid pictures in which he scribbles notes or reminders at the back
and tattoos. This act isn‟t merely just for keepsake purposes only though. To Leonard, doing
so is mandatory as it literally preserves his memories – all of it. You must
wonder why? Well, in the movie, Leonard‟s home was intruded by guys
who raped and „murdered‟ Leonard‟s wife. He found her lying on the floor,
with the intruder on top, suffocating Leonard‟s wife with the bathroom
curtain. He came to the rescue but he was too late. He hit the intruder and
tried to attend to his wife but after a few seconds, he was met with a blow
to the head which caused Leonard to hit a mirror. The blow to the head and impact caused
him brain damages. Leonard suffers from a brain disorder called short-term memory loss
(Sounds familiar? Finding Dory, anyone?). Because of this, he cannot store new memories;
they all just fade away in matters of minutes. Often times in the movie, amidst a scene,
Leonard would forget why he was in a particular place, where he was, who he was talking to,
or who was he supposed to meet. The movie is a series of flashbacks and present time.
Vengeance was Leonard‟s fuel to go through everyday. Underlying the „revenge‟ was finding
a sense of purpose – basically, to have a reason to live. The story also involves a man named
Sammy Jankis whose story Leonard always tells. According to Leonard, Jenkins also suffers
short-term memory loss though he asserts that he was faking it. (Sammy Jankis has a diabetic
wife who died because unknowingly, he injected too much insulin to her wife.) He uses his
noted Polaroid pictures and tattoos to lead to clues. Teddy, a rather sketchy
cop, has also „helped‟ him. (though in the latter part of the story, it was
revealed that he was only taking advantage of Leonard‟s brain condition to
murder and steal money). A woman named Natalie, has also somehow shown
assistance. In the latter part of the story, it was dramatically revealed that
Leonard has already actually killed the intruder about a year ago from the
time Teddy and Leonard talked with the help of Teddy – only that the memory didn‟t last
long in Leonard‟s brain. As Teddy said and I quote, “Nothing ever sticks.” Also, Sammy
Jankis‟ story was actually his own story (His wife survived the assault but died because of
Leonard) It was also revealed in the movie movie has also uncovered that Leonard was just
actually altering the truth according to what would make him feel less guilty of what
happened to his wife and just to have a purpose.

First of all, let‟s admit it - this isn‟t the kind of movie you‟d fully comprehend
at the first watch. There sure looks like a lot is going on with all the switching
of places, pictures, emergence of a cop, an ambiguously-presented Natalie. I
also tend to get the flashbacks and present time mixed up. The way the story
is presented, through the perspective of Leonard, doesn‟t
help as well for I, personally, in every movie I watch, I
try to get into character. I especially like to associate myself on the
character‟s head or thinking. I like to feel as if I‟m the one experiencing
things. And well, in the case of Leonard who has short- term memory
loss, I also feel as somehow clueless as he is when his memory snaps
and he looks at his surroundings and ask himself why is he at that particular place anyway.
You‟d realize that the entirety of the movie is brilliant in itself in the first watch but it‟s
during the nth times of watching the movie will you truly appreciate its underlying beauty.
This isn‟t your typical movie. It really gets your mind working and never a dull moment there
is as one clue leads to the other or whenever a new memento appears,
you‟ll try to remember it, trying to find the connection to the other
mementos and on how this would signify the success or failure of his
vengeance. I think that‟s a very important aspect to consider in movies –
brilliant a movie is if it gets people to stay because it triggers the
people‟s curiosity, leading them on and on onto the end to seek answers to
undeniable confusion. Leonard‟s brain condition in it itself is a „mini mind game‟ for the
watchers. You will somehow guess if Leonard remembers something, or his memory is
distorted, or does he ever have flashbacks of some memories after the intruder incident. The
movie is also somehow told in Leonard‟s perspective so we see the truth the way he sees it;
we believe the truth the way he has seen it regardless of its subjectivity. So we see the
characters‟ personalities according to the mementos of Leonard – his notes or scribbles at the
back of Polaroid pictures. If you realize, you‟ll eventually wonder if the characters in the
story really are what Leonard deemed them to be. And if you deeply realize soon enough, you
may wonder if the entirety of the movie itself is true or if things really happened? You see,
the plot twist in the story is that Leonard makes up his own truth proving once again that
“Truth is subjective”. Leonard really could have already killed the intruder but he erased
evidence. He took away 12 pages from the incident report about the actual death of his wife
(from overdose of Insulin) which stated that he was the one who injected
these – could not accept it, he took away evidence once again, and set up
new subjective clues and everything, knowing that he won‟t remember
his actions anyway. He already got his vengeance. What‟s in it for him
now? So yes, if truth in the Memento movie is subjective to
Leonard‟s perspective, then how are we sure of the legitimacy of
„truth‟ as told in the movie? The more intriguing question is if the movie really ever
happened. You see, Leonard makes up memories. Evidence would be that in the latter part of
the movie, we see Leonard‟s wife lying on his chest, running her fingers down the tattooed
sentence “I‟ve done it.” on Leonard‟s chest. If he has already „done‟ it (or the vengeance)
then it‟s impossible for his wife to be present at that moment as by that time (when he has
already „done‟ the revenge), his wife should be dead. Note that this tattoo was not even in the
earlier parts of the movie – not even the scene with Natalie. So that indicates that his wife by
that time is already dead. That would indicate that Leonard makes memories he only wants to
remember and quite possibly, he distorts them. There‟s a possibility that the movie itself, is a
distorted memory. So did it ever really happen? I guess one has to see for himself.

All in all, I actually really loved the movie even if I was beyond baffled the first time I
viewed it. It‟s a timeless piece indeed. Every time I view it, it gets more and more interesting
and intriguing (unlike other movies that go the other way
around – watch them many times and you‟ll get bored of it because
you already know everything; no mystery). If you‟re up for a mind-
baffling movie, then this is for you. If you want to play detective
or simply just want to watch a great movie, then this is definitely
for you. The movie also lets you create your own perception and I
think that‟s fun especially when you get to share it so spread the word –
Memento movie night, anyone?