Presence of Memory in Memento directed by Christopher Nolan

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How can life have enduring meaning without the presence of memory? Christopher Nolan scrupulously delves into the innermost facets of this harrowing question in his brilliant neo-noir film, Memento. Nolan’s cogent piece of work completely transforms a run-of-the-mill murder mystery into something completely different. Leonard Shelby suffers from an extreme case of anterograde amnesia, forbidding him from forming new memories; yet he still possess the ability to recall the early events of his previous life. However, an intact memory is not synonymous with an accurate one, and the audience is thus forced to determine his innocence or conversely, his guilt. Throughout the film, Nolan uses various visual cues that call into question not only Lenny’s reliability as a narrator but also the authenticity of his character. The disjointed chronology employed reinforces both the audience’s and Lenny’s bewilderment as to whom he truly is. “You don’t know who you are Lenny. That’s who you were. That’s not who you are”.
Nolan attempts to elucidate not only the various complexities involving Lenny’s self-discovery but also the value of life itself through his theatric display of anterograde amnesia. Anterograde amnesia is a devastating form of memory loss in which the individual loses the ability to create new long-term memories (compared to retrograde amnesia which affects memory from the onset of the pathology backward) (Emilien 185). This disorder can arise from damage to parts of the brain such as the hippocampus, diencephalon and other structures within the prefrontal cortex (Sano 1). For a long time, neurologists struggled to determine the most fiscally and scientifically efficient way to study amnesia. Electrical stimulation of patients...

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...ly forbid him from creating new memories but also from developing a life of true significance. Maybe it’s a form of self-punishment for his deeds. Maybe it’s a way to keep on living with a soul that’s already dead. Leonard committed suicide (metaphorically, of course) the moment that someone violated his home and his wife. But then who is the real victim or perpetrator? Who deserves to die, and who deserves justice? Lenny was manipulated by Teddy, this unknown perpetrator and even by his own hand. The line between warranted and unwarranted vengeance becomes progressively more blurred; both superficially in Lenny’s hunt for the murderer, John G., but also in his own internal balance between penance and self-justification. But in the end, Nolan’s Memento wrongs the wrongdoers in a perverted way that is only fit for achieving justice in such a seemingly unjust world.

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