the way i understood memento

The famous 2000 film that put Christopher Nolan on the map tells the story of a man on the hunt for the man he thinks killed his wife.
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Sorry I didn't put a spoiler alert on the post two above this one. If a moderator could edit it, that would be great.

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Also regarding whether or not Sammy was real:
Teddy says he was a con man with no wife, just trying to get money.

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The thing that doesnt stick with your theory is we know Leonard cant make new memories, his old memories are etched in stone. How could he lie to himself about being Sammy, when that memory takes place prior to when he as "Leonard" loses his short term memory. Its inconceivable. There's no way for Leonard to deceive himself into thinking Sammy is a separate person, if he really isnt.


I think Nolan uses those visuals to make us feel the uncertainty that Leonard feels. Its the same thing he did in Inception.

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talli wrote:The thing that doesnt stick with your theory is we know Leonard cant make new memories, his old memories are etched in stone.


Nope. He can make new memories through repetition. This is how he knows his wife is dead, how he knows he "can't make new memories." Through repetition, he's convinced himself that he can't but he can, which is why he has altered his files. He lies to himself.

You know where this is most telling? When Natalie tries to rip the Polaroid. Even in his agitated state, Leonard says, "You have to burn them." How does he reflexively know this? Because he has now destroyed his own photographic evidence many, many times.

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allmond guy wrote:
talli wrote:The thing that doesnt stick with your theory is we know Leonard cant make new memories, his old memories are etched in stone.


Nope. He can make new memories through repetition. This is how he knows his wife is dead, how he knows he "can't make new memories." Through repetition, he's convinced himself that he can't but he can, which is why he has altered his files. He lies to himself.

You know where this is most telling? When Natalie tries to rip the Polaroid. Even in his agitated state, Leonard says, "You have to burn them." How does he reflexively know this? Because he has now destroyed his own photographic evidence many, many times.
Yeah the photographic evidence that Teddy shows him...þhats what hes referring to, not anything else. He knows his wife was raped and murdered because obviously he was told by the police and the doctorsz at one point, and then he got it tattooed on himself...its not cause he made it up

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Are you watching carefully? :mrgreen:

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that scene wit Leo/Sammy on the mental hospital is in my opinion one of the most important scenes of the movie, most would related with Leonard's confusion but in my opinion is what leaves the film open to interpretation just like Inception, the final revelation reveals that Leonard's mind is quite capable of creating huge distorted memories and be self-manipulative, that's why for me the ending instead of being a wow WTF! like it was for many people it was an absolute WOW HOLLY SH*T!

I believe as we experience the story in reverse at the same time we follow Leonard we are also deceived by what we think we know and just as Leonard we leave wanting to believe something that simply may not be true within the plot, one of the reasons Memento's one of the greatest films of all time.

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I just posted this in another thread, but I think it's worth repeating here.


SPOILERS, OBVIOUSLY



Okay: The "I can't make new memories" thing is misdirection. He can make new memories, which is why he lies to himself -- doctoring his files, setting up Teddy, etc. He has a tattoo that says "Learn through repetition" but another part of the movie's misdirection is using the (false) case of Sammy Jenkis to suggest that someone with this condition cannot make new memories.

Let's look at just some of the new memories he has created:

That he has the retrograde amnesia condition
That his wife was murdered
That you have to burn Polaroids to destroy them
That, with this condition, you get by by faking recognition of others
That "you have to have a system"


Now, he can falsify "history" by repeatedly lying to himself, thus creating false new memories. One is that his wife was raped and murdered; he's removed any eveidence that he gave her the actual overdose (and thus landed in the mental institution.) One is that Sammy Jenkis, who was an unmarried con man he met in his insurance gig, was married and developed retrograde amnesia and subsequently gave his wife the overdose and landed in the hospital. We don't even know what Sammy's con was, exactly; he could be someone Leonard latched onto teh same way he latches on to Teddy at the end of the movie. Teddy is walking evidence; Leonard removes any evidence which distubs him so that he can go on living.

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allmond guy wrote: That he has the retrograde amnesia condition
That his wife was murdered
That you have to burn Polaroids to destroy them
That, with this condition, you get by by faking recognition of others
That "you have to have a system"

Your 1st, 4th, and 5th "proofs" can all be explained by the Sammy Jankis tatoo. He trained himself to remember Sammy and recognize his own condition.

His wife being "murdered" is the last thing he saw before his accident.

It is quite possible that he had experience with polaroids before his accident. He worked in insurance, they always want photographic evidence.

If you are happy with your resolution of the film so be it, but it isn't the be all or end all answer this makes more sense to me then yours does.

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"He trained himself..." is exactly my point.

And why on earth would he, as an insurance investigator, have experience with DESTROYING Polaroids?

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