Christopher Nolan’s Memento retraces the steps of a man and his memory in search of closure he may never get (he’s trying to find the man who killed his wife). As the audience follows his path in reverse, they are immersed in his fractured world filled with equally broken people. Memento’s mise en scene elements range from a traditional film noir use of lighting to the more unique qualities of Polaroid pictures and homemade tattoos. However, what makes Memento a reputable and respectable film is not limited to the aforementioned factors; instead, Nolan takes the film’s setting to the next level by combining the narrative device with the unique obstacle of the protagonist to give us a jarring film helping the audience to better appreciate the story’s gravity.
As the film begins we see a hand flapping a clear Polaroid picture in what the audience assumes is the final moment before the photographer takes a look at his newfound masterpiece. Here, the audience makes a mistake; as the picture flaps the image becomes increasingly clouded until it’s all together gone and the silver inside has reverted to its inert stage. A puzzling situation though it is, there’s no better summary for the film than this one. Memento’s directorial and narrative styles are catered to fit the plight of its tragic hero Lenny, a man who lost his short-term memory on the last night he can remember. The analogy of the reverse Polaroid picture for Lenny fits his situation well when you consider that his mind works the same way; with every second his ability to remember something grows ever fuzzier – and then it’s gone. The connection becomes even more apparent as Lenny refers to the Polaroid photographs numerous times every day in an attempt to survive in a world he can’t remember. As we watch we see the photographs mean everything to him; they tell him who people are, if they’re trustworthy, and even where he lives. It isn’t until the final moments of the film though that we realize the photographs are his version of selective memory. After Teddy reveals to Lenny the shocking cycle he’s followed since his incident, Lenny decides to deceive his future memory-stricken self into repeating it all and killing James “Teddy” Gamble merely to satisfy a temporary state of denial and anger. We find Lenny’s unfortunate state of mind is not only a curse, but in rare cases functions as a benefit, even if it is a rather twisted one. The direction of the film, however, follows a reverse course making the reverse Polaroid sequence all the more profound. We start off having a seemingly inexplicable murder at the hands of our protagonist and with every jump into the past the circumstances surrounding our hero’s plight become clearer (a poetic reversal of the suggested theme of increasing obstruction).
The lighting themes of film noir live on in Memento’s black and white scenes in Lenny’s motel room. His room is poorly lit casting ominous shadows of dichotomy across his face; the right side enveloped in shadow and the other clearly lit. A common tool in film noir, lighting typically tends more towards a prevalent darkness, a concept we only see in the colorless portion of this film. This split in lighting allows the audience to make their own theories as to the nature of our main character. Is he as guilty as his crime from the first scene would lead us to believe? Or is he actually a good human being trapped in a combination of manipulation and handicapped consciousness?
Lenny, for all intents and purposes, is a giant walking costume: a body covered in tattoos, two fingernail-sized scrapes on his left cheek, a face poorly shaven, well coiffed hair, and the clothes of dead man. With his tattoos we see a contrast between the trust given to facts on Polaroid photos and those worthy of bodily disfigurement. While we see evidence he’s burned Polaroid photos in the past, showing there are some things not deemed entirely memorable, the tattoos are permanent markings giving the information they hold higher validity it.
Films such as this are the norm for Christopher Nolan who often employs a variety of time skewing techniques to not only befuddle the audience but also to create a suspended state of disbelief. Memento’s mise en scene first aims to confuse, in an attempt to put you on the same page as the protagonist, and then to reveal; the plotline developing in reverse gives Nolan control over exactly how much we know about an event when it happens: none. Instead, Nolan relies on the audience’s patience feeding them each character’s motives with every passing scene. To add to the complexity of this gradual unfolding he gives each character distinct qualities, not only physically, but psychologically as well. From bruised exteriors to bruised interiors, to pictures on the body or pictures in the hand, to femme fatale to deceptively helpless damsel, Christopher Nolan has intricately woven a beautiful story that confounds and then clarifies through a cunning use of mise en scene properties.
If you want a film that will keep you guessing and thinking about how it all works for days to come, watch Memento. It’ll satisfy your desire for a movie to challenge your thoughts, not many films these days can say that.
"Memento" opens March 16, 2001 and is rated R. Drama, Thriller. Directed by Christopher Nolan. Written by Christopher Nolan (screenplay), Jonathan Nolan (story). Starring Carrie Anne Moss, Guy Pearce, Joe Pantoliano, Stephen Tobolowsky.
