Memento...again

[sulawesigirl4]

So I bought a used copy of this video this weekend since I'd enjoyed it so much the first time around.

I must say...it feels very different upon repeated viewing. I didn't feel *quite* as sorry for Lenny, as he made a pretty conscious decision to deliberately add that license plate clue knowing it would eventually lead him to kill his 'friend'. And I'm still wondering who exactly he was on the phone with in the B&W scenes. Also if Sammy Jankis was real or if it was something Lenny created to help him cope...or was Sammy really Lenny?

Still however, one of the best flippin' movies I've seen in a long time. Wow.

 

[Mrs.Clayton]

I really need to watch this again...
but I'm so slow when it comes to movies like this....
I *think* I understood it the first time.......

 

[Sicy]

* needs to watch it like 10 more times

Still, I dont think that movie was meant to be completely understood.

 

[oliveu2cm]

Was this a horror movie?

 

[sulawesigirl4]

Was this a horror movie?

nononono. It's a suspense movie with strong film noir elements. If you haven't watched it, you should!

Basic premise...the main character's wife was killed and during the attack he was hit on the head and is now suffering from a condition that prevents him from making new memories. So basically, he will forget he has met you ten minutes or so after doing so, etc. He's trying to track down the killer and in order to keep things straight takes Polaroids of everything and everyone and makes notes on them which tell him if he can trust the person or not. When he finds crucial clues, he tattoes them on his body. And the whole movie is shown in reverse...each scene precedes the one you just saw. It's really intruiging.

 

[Sicy]

 

[kobayashi]

***spoiler*** or at least what i believe to be. i had this all worked out in my head a few months ago when i last watched but that was a few months ago now so let's see if my theory makes sense.

first off the black and white scenes are the beginning of the story. if you wanted to watch memento in chronological sequence you would watch first the black and white parts then the 'in color' parts, which obviously begin with the end, but that's a whole other deal...

in those b&w parts, lenny is speaking with teddy who tells him he is a cop. i don't think we ever really find out if he is or not, i'm going to guess no. if he is, he is most definitely a corrupt cop since he seems quite involved in drugs.

both natalie and teddy 'use' lenny. he becomes a tool in the battle between the two. lenny is asked by nat to get rid of dodd, teddy leads lenny to jimmy and nat leads lenny back to teddy.

though lenny doesn't really do anything purposely 'wrong' he is very obviously dangerous.

the thing i wanna understand is whether or not lenny's wife really died. i believe toward the very end there is a shot of lenny and his wife and lenny is partially covered by tattoos. he didn't have those tattoos before the attack, perhaps he went on his own crusade. teddy accuses lenny of having extrapolated sammy jenkis from his own experiences. at that time lenny remembers pinching his wife in the thigh, followed by an image of him jabbing a syringe into her to inject what we would assume is insulin. there is also a definete physical familiarity between sammy's wife and lenny's, allowing for aging obviously. i don't think there is anything conclusive but there is a definite suggestion that the story of sammy jenkis is made up and that this is how lenny's wife really died.

great movie, there is a new dvd of it out with new features but i don't have it yet. great movie though.

 

[oliveu2cm]

OOoooh! Sounds wicked good, I'll check it out and let you know what I think.

I dont like scary movies that's why I asked

 

[AliEnvy]

I loved Memento too...one of the best films of it's kind ( I like a good mind-f*** LOL).

So here's my two cents:

The story of Sammy is really the story of Lenny. His wife survived the attack (remember the scene where she's in the bag but her eyes open and also his tatoos) but he was injured. She couldn't cope with his condition, like Sammy's wife, so committed suicide by insulin OD using Lenny. So he continues to search for her attacker (who he thinks killed her) which gives his life purpose not realizing he did it himself.

 

[jkayet]

I love Memento! If you haven't read this article, I highly recommend it (as long as you've seen the movie, b/c the article gives lots away!):
http://www.salon.com/ent/movies/feature/2001/06/28/memento_analysis/

 

[Sicy]

http://www.salon.com/ent/movies/feature/2001/06/28/memento_analysis/

"We hear that Leonard, played by Guy Pearce ("L.A. Confidential"), kills the murderer of his wife in the film's first scene, and that the film then moves backward from that point, in roughly five-minute increments, to let us see how he tracked the guy down, ending with what is, chronologically, the story's beginning. "

what. lol

 

[sulawesigirl4]

I love Memento! If you haven't read this article, I highly recommend it (as long as you've seen the movie, b/c the article gives lots away!):
http://www.salon.com/ent/movies/feature/2001/06/28/memento_analysis/

Wow. Thanks SO much for posting that link. That was GREAT! Really tied up a lot of the nagging questions I had.

Fascinating.

 

[Sicy]

Erm ya but they kept calling Lenny Guy Pearce.

 

[spinninghead77]

I loved Memento, and I love Guy Pearce!! Thanks for starting this thread Sula, it gives me an excuse to post picture's of my second favorite male celebrity......

I loved Memento because it left you thinking. The story can be interpreted so many different ways!!

 

[sulawesigirl4]

I loved Memento, and I love Guy Pearce!! Thanks for starting this thread Sula, it gives me an excuse to post picture's of my second favorite male celebrity......

omg, you beat me to it. I was just about to post in here and ask someone to throw some pictures in the thread, cuz DAMN that boy is...umm...sortanicetolookat *mumbles*

btw, only the first one shows up...the others are Geoshitties red-Xs.

 

[spinninghead77]

These should work better..... drool away girls!!

 

[Sicy]

o
m
g
.
.
.


It's SOOO Monday. For some reason today I thought Brad Pitt was in Memento.

* goes back to bed.

 

[sulawesigirl4]

o
m
g
.
.
.


It's SOOO Monday. For some reason today I thought Brad Pitt was in Memento.

* goes back to bed.

omg...is THAT why you were freaking out over the article referring to Lenny as Guy Pearce?



oh me oh my.

 

[AliEnvy]

Fabulous article, jkayet...thanks so much for the link. I have the DVD and haven't had a chance to watch it yet so the article really is helpful. Btw, if I leave it out by the tv it'll give me an excuse to be watching the DVD all the time...really honey, I'm just trying to figure it all out...and I'm NOT drooling.....hehe.....

Bless ya Spinny

 

[spinninghead77]

Fabulous article, jkayet...thanks so much for the link. I have the DVD and haven't had a chance to watch it yet so the article really is helpful. Btw, if I leave it out by the tv it'll give me an excuse to be watching the DVD all the time...really honey, I'm just trying to figure it all out...and I'm NOT drooling.....hehe.....

Bless ya Spinny

Hehehehehehe!! I told my (then) boyfriend the same thing when I watched the movie twice the week that it came out on DVD after already seeing it twice in the theatre..... !!

Oh, and Sicy.... Guy is hotter then Brad *gasp*!! (At least in my books!)

 

[jkayet]

Fabulous article, jkayet...thanks so much for the link.

No problem! I think the article may have made me even less sure of what happened, but it's still fun... I love movies that totally mess with your mind, like Usual Suspects, etc.

 

[ghetofabu]

Serious mind voodoo!

I usually like those type of movies BUT dude that movied messed with me for daaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaays. I am usually the one at movies that would have to explain shit to my friends cuz they would not be paying attention and not get a movie, but this made you really think, analyze, contemplate, and mull over everything. It was like a dagger in my brain and I could not get it out.

 

[Basstrap]

Me and my friend finished watching and it was really fun afterwards trying to figure everything out.
We'd be all...'but what was the purpose of the girl?'
And then we'd figure it out and move on.

There's so much crazy stuff to figure out still.

One thing:
His wife is not really dead right? Or she is but she's not the one he was thinking of. Cos in one of his flashbacks his wife is there and he already has the tatoo that says he killed John G!!

He's been killing John G's for who knows how long!!
crazy!

 

[sulawesigirl4]

One thing:
His wife is not really dead right? Or she is but she's not the one he was thinking of. Cos in one of his flashbacks his wife is there and he already has the tatoo that says he killed John G!!

Well but is that reality or just his troubled mind making it up? Because we?ve SEEN his body at present and there is NO tattoo there?so it?s either in the future or it?s hallucination. Definitely crazy. Go read that article that jkayet posted!