Memento

In viewing Memento, you feel a sense of being lost and confused at the beginning of the film but gradually everything becomes clear until the ending, when you find out what has happened. This film is shot from the ending backward, so you know what happens at the end but in watching you find out what led to that particular conclusion. The director on the film was Christopher Nolan who in my opinion choose to edit in this particular manner as to create confusion and suspense. In the chapters that we read from our textbook, the editing is done to lead the viewer in a particular assumption or idea about the character. This film takes that notion but to a different level, such as when we find out that Leonard has short term memory loss, yet Teddy is trying to manipulate Leonard, as well as Natalie for their own personal gain. This sequence of events or editing of the film tries to push our feelings for Leonard of pity, sadness rooting for him not to be manipulated. Yet as we go further into the film we find out that Leonard has an evil side to him, now we are made to believe that he is a bad man, despise, angry is now felt after it is revealed his actions.

The director changing the film between color and black and white has two different meanings. In the watching the film you notice that the film starts out in color and as it is progressing to a photograph turns black and white. The is used throughout the film as you are following the action of Leonard going backwards it is viewed in a color sequence, yet when he is shown sitting in a motel room explaining his background or views about Sammy Jankis we see this in black and white. I think this allowed the viewer such as myself to watch two films in one about the same movie. This was necessary to differentiate between reality (color) and psychological thoughts (black and white), so when the film appeared in color we were given facts about what had happen, yet when black and white shots appeared we were given an explanation of what occurred or what we were believed to have occurred. It added to the film using this use of color or black and white during the film, because it clearly divided the film between fictional and reality.

The relevance of Sammy Jankis was that Leonard was Sammy Jankis. Leonard conjured up this fictional character to supplant in his thoughts as to justify his actions. In believing what had happened to Mr. Jankis in the film, you feel that Leonard was helping a client to believe his condition was a real disease and needed treatment. This was in fact Leonard's diseased and justification on his actions of killing his own wife. This was how the movie ended or started, Leonard killing a rapist of his wife finding out another person was in the same room knocks out Leonard. As Teddy tells Leonard at the beginning (ending) that he had already exacted revenge for his wifes rape, Leonard finds his next victim (Teddy) that he makes up for himself.