How Do You Study The Film “Memento”?
“Memento” (2001), written and directed by Christopher Nolan, is a psychological neo-noir film with an experimental narrative structure. It is based upon the short story “Memento Mori” by Nolan’s brother Jonathan. “Memento” can be difficult for some viewer’s to understand. The following guide will help you to study and analyze the film. Get used to the narrative being told in reverse chronological order. This might take a while because it presents a new way of receiving information. Think about how this mimics the fact that Leonard has anterograde amnesia and can only retain new information for five minutes (the scenes are five minutes long). Take good notes while you’re watching or re-watching. There are several reasons for this: the story’s unusual narrative structure (backwards chronologically), the differing motivations of the characters and how the characters use Leonard to get him to respond to what they want. Pay close attention to the information given from scene to scene. Since
