Memento (2001) ft. Heather Stewart

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cTpMVoyeo2k

Guest:

• Heather Stewart

  • The Revisionist Almanac's Senior European Correspondent

  • @heatherjstewart on IG, X, Letterboxd

  • Previously on Monty Python's Life of Brian (1979), Requiem for a Dream (2000), Little Miss Sunshine (2006)

Cast:

• Christopher Nolan, Writer/Director

• Wally Pfister, Cinematography

• David Julyan, Music

• Dody Dom, Editing

• Guy Pearce as Leonard Shelby

• Carrie-Anne Moss as Natalie

• Joe Pantoliano as John Edward "Teddy" Gammell

• Mark Boone Junior as Burt

• Russ Fega as Waiter

• Jorja Fox as Catherine Shelby

• Stephen Tobolowsky as Samuel R. "Sammy" Jankis

• Harriet Sansom Harris as Mrs. Jankis

Background:

• Memento was wide released on April 16, 2001 making this its 25th anniversary.

• On a budget between $5-9 million, Memento grossed roughly over $40 million and finish at #86 at the worldwide box office for 2001.

• It was immediately lauded by critics with near universal acclaim, the film was on both the National Board of Review and the AFI top 10 lists of 2001, and Memento was nominated for two Oscars: original screenplay and film editing.

• In 2005, the Writers Guild of America ranked the screenplay #100 on its list of 101 Greatest Screenplays ever written.

• In 2012, the Motion Picture Editors Guild listed the film as the fourteenth best-edited film of all time based on a survey of its membership.

• In 2017, the United States Library of Congress selected it for preservation in the National Film Registry.

• In 2021, members of Writers Guild of America West (WGAW) and Writers Guild of America, East (WGAE) ranked its screenplay 10th in WGA’s 101 Greatest Screenplays of the 21st Century (so far).

• Memento currently holds a 93% among critics on RT, an 83 score on Metacritic, and a 4.2/5 on Letterboxd.

Plot Summary: Leonard Shelby (Guy Pearce) is a man driven by a single, desperate purpose: to find and kill the man who raped and murdered his wife. However, his quest is complicated by a rare, untreatable form of anterograde amnesia—a result of the same attack—which leaves him unable to store new memories for more than a few minutes. To navigate a world that constantly resets, Leonard relies on an intricate system of Polaroid photos, handwritten notes, and permanent tattoos etched across his body to track his progress and identify his allies and enemies. As the film unfolds in a unique, non-linear structure that mirrors Leonard’s own disorientation, he must piece together the fragmented truth of his past while questioning the reliability of his own "facts" and the motives of those claiming to help him.

Did You Know:

• The Limited Edition DVD allows the movie to be watched in the exact chronological order of the events in the film. The first couple of scenes of the regular cut of the movie appear normal in this version, meaning they are not reversed. However, this version of the movie on Disc 2 is quite difficult to reach (the user must answer several questions and solve a puzzle), and forward, reverse, and chapter skip capabilities are disabled.

• During Teddy's line "You don't have a clue, you freak!", director Sir Christopher Nolan felt that Joe Pantoliano (Teddy) did not quite nail the end of the line, so he decided to re-record the last two words to his liking, delivering them himself. Therefore, in the final film, the words, "you freak", as we hear them, are actually being said not by Pantoliano, but by Nolan impersonating Pantoliano's voice. Pantoliano was unaware of the dubbing until an interview for Memento (2001).

• Stephen Tobolowsky has stated that during his audition for Sammy, he had mentioned to Sir Christopher Nolan that he had experienced amnesia personally. A few years earlier, he was given an experimental pain killer that induced amnesia for a surgery he had undergone. Tobolowsky said it may have helped him get the part, because no other actor would likely have had his first-hand experience.

• Originally, the entire Sammy Jankis story was told in one scene. However, Christopher Nolan felt the story and the Sammy Jankis character was so important that it needed to be spread out over the course of the film's middle section.

• Christopher Nolan addresses the question some people have about how long Lenny can keep hold of certain memories. "He can keep things in mind as long as he pays attention, so depending on how much is being thrown at him, that time-span can vary." Nolan also states that throughout the middle of the film, while numerous things are happening, Lenny's memory gets shorter and shorter.

• If you pay attention, the camera is always a little closer to Lenny than it is to the person he is speaking with. This is another way of getting the audience into Lenny's head without using first-person shots.

Best Performance: Christopher Nolan (Writer/Director)

Best Secondary Performance: Guy Pearce (Leonard)

Most Charismatic Award: David Julyan (Music)/Dody Dom (Editing)/Stephen Tobolowsky (Sammy)

Best Scene:

• Killing John G.

• Remember Sammy Jankis

• Who is Dodd?

• Stay Off the Phone

• John G.

Favorite Scene: Stay Off the Phone/Remember Sammy Jankis/John G.

Most Indelible Moment: John G./Who is Dodd?/

In Memorium:

• N/A

Best Lines/Funniest Lines:

Leonard Shelby: We all lie to ourselves to be happy.

Teddy: So you lie to yourself to be happy. There's nothing wrong with that. We all do 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 different.

Leonard Shelby: Remember Sammy Jankis.

Leonard Shelby: [running] OK, so what am I doing?

[sees Dodd also running]

Leonard Shelby: Oh, I'm chasing this guy.

[Dodd shoots at Leonard]

Leonard Shelby: No... he's chasing me.

Leonard Shelby: I don't even know how long she's been gone. It's like I've woken up in bed and she's not here... because she's gone to the bathroom or something. But somehow, I know she's never gonna come back to bed. If I could just... reach over and touch... her side of the bed, I would know that it was cold, but I can't. I know I can't have her back... but I don't want to wake up in the morning, thinking she's still here. I lie here not knowing... how long I've been alone. So how... how can I heal? How am I supposed to heal if I can't... feel time?

Leonard Shelby: I have this condition.

Natalie: Is that what your little note says? It must be hard living your life off a couple of scraps of paper. You mix your laundry list with your grocery list you'll end up eating your underwear for breakfast.

Leonard Shelby: I'm not a killer. I'm just someone who wanted to make things right. Can't I just let myself forget what you've told me? Can't I just let myself forget what you've made me do. You think I just want another puzzle to solve? Another John G. to look for? You're John G. So you can be my John G... Will I lie to myself to be happy? In your case Teddy... yes I will.

Teddy: You don't want the truth. You make up your own truth.

Leonard Shelby: Memory can change the shape of a room; it can change the color of a car. And memories can be distorted. They're just an interpretation, they're not a record, and they're irrelevant if you have the facts.

Leonard Shelby: If we can't make memories, we can't heal.

Teddy: You know, I've had more rewarding friendships than this one. Although I do get to keep telling the same jokes.

Leonard Shelby: Now... where was I?

The Stanley Rubric:

Legacy: 7.33

Impact/Significance: 7.33

Novelty: 10

Classic-ness: 7.33

Rewatchability: 6.83

Audience Score: 9.2 (90% Google, 94% RT)

Total: 48.02

Remaining Questions:

• What's with the hair?

• How many John or Jimmy Gs has Leonard killed?

• Is anyone telling the truth in this story?

• Who killed Mrs. Shelby?

• Does Leonard create new memories?