Synopsis
Memento follows the story of Leonard Shelby, a former insurance investigator who, after being attacked by a burglar, now suffers from a form of memory loss. He also believes to have lost his wife during the robbery, at the hands of one of the burglars, and now spends his days tracking down John G, the man responsible for the murder of his wife. However, due to his amnesia, Leonard can no longer form new memories and has to use tattoos and Polaroids to keep track of his investigation, reminding himself of where he currently is multiple times a day. He is helped out by Teddy, a self-proclaimed police officer that wishes to get Leonard justice for the murder of his wife, and Natalie, a waitress who takes sympathy on Leonard’s situation, and luckily has enough connections to also assist him. With the help of a few acquaintances, all Leonard has to do is find out the true identity of John G.

Themes, Symbols and Motifs
There are many prominent Themes, Symbols and Motifs shown throughout Memento, with some being more noticeable than others. These features are embedded into the movie’s narrative and are often used to progress the plot forwards in a more natural and cohesive manner.

Easily the most obvious theme of the movie is that of Memory, with the entire premise of the movie being based on following the memories of the protagonist Leonard Shelby as he attempts to find and kill the person who murdered his wife. However, towards the end of the film it is revealed that, due to his faulty memory, what the audience had learned about Leonard was not entirely true. The non-linear narrative structure of the movie almost perfectly matches Leonard’s memory, or lack thereof in this case, and thus creates an obvious theme that almost completely drives the story-line of a movie with little to no actual contextual information given.

Another theme that is rather prominent in Memento is Identity, as without Leonard’s previously mentioned lack of memory, the current state of his identity can be brought into question. This can go in two different directions as it either means that due to not being able to create any new memories his identity is stuck permanently in the state that it was on the night of his wife’s murder, or possibly that a lack of current memories has completely removed any semblance of an actual identity. Furthermore, it becomes apparent that his identity has been consumed by the potentially false memories that Leonard gains throughout the movie. The fact that Leonard’s own identity is constantly questioned by himself, those around him, and the viewer throughout the duration of Memento shows that it is clearly a major theme. It is not just Leonard’s identity that is in question however, due to the movie not going in chronological order, the identities of those around Leonard are also a mystery to both him and the viewer.

Manipulation can be argued as either another theme or more of a motif, however either way it is a fairly large aspect of the movie. During the movie, multiple people are shown to use manipulation to their advantage, with Leonard typically being the person manipulated: Teddy manipulates Leonard into killing Jimmy as a way of making money for himself, and Natalie uses Leonard for protection. Once again going back to Leonard’s memory, it shows us that everyone who knows about his amnesia is likely to attempt to manipulate him. Even Burt, a man merely employed at the hotel Leonard is staying attempts to manipulate him, charging him for the price of multiple rooms and hoping that he doesn’t remember later. Of course, this inevitably means that there are different levels as to just how much each person manipulates Leonard, with Natalie clearly being the most heartless. Teddy, a person who manages to manipulate Leonard into killing multiple people even comes off as less cold, due to him repeatedly granting Leonard a false memory of finally killing the man that murdered his wife.

A major symbol in Memento are polaroids, constantly appearing throughout the movie, they are Leonard’s way of maintaining the memories that he gained after his accident as he can no longer store them within his mind. Leonard has polaroids of pretty much every person and object that he needs to keep track of, acting as clues that will help to eventually lead him to his ultimate goal of finding out the identity of his wife’s murderer.
Tattoos are another symbol that are quite common along the course of Memento. Just like polaroids, they help Leonard to keep a recollection of prior events that occurred after his accident. He has twenty-three confirmed tattoos on his body, many containing hints and clues that will lead him to the man who murdered his wife. These tattoos act as a symbol to Leonard as well as the viewer, reminding both parties that Leonard has a mission that he needs to complete. Evermore, the tattoo that is brought up the most is one saying, “Remember Sammy Jenkins”, referring to the person of the same name that Leonard had investigated before his accident. Sammy himself, depending on who you believe, also had memory loss just like Leonard, and serves as an example to him on how to remember things along with how not to. It could even be argued that Sammy himself serves as a symbol throughout Memento.
Of the many themes, motifs and symbols that are displayed throughout the movie, the most noticeable would easily be the theme of memory, due to it serving as a major plot point for the majority of the film. Out of the two primary symbols, polaroids and tattoos, the polaroids are slightly more noticeable. This is due to the tattoos being more of a passive symbol, placing themselves on Leonard’s body but only being actually focussed on in a few scenes. This contrasts with the way that polaroids are used as when Leonard needs to take a note of something, he goes out of his way to take out his camera and get a photograph. Leonard is only seen going out of his way to get a tattoo once during Memento.

Review
Christopher Nolan’s second feature film Memento is a rather experimental psychological thriller that isn’t afraid to take risks in it’s storytelling. The movie shows us this from the very beginning, choosing to start the move right at the end of the story chronologically, and going backwards from there. As one set of scenes progress backwards, they are separated by another group of black and white scenes that are in fact progressing forwards, resulting in a good contrast that is complex enough to be intriguing without alienating the viewer. This all makes for a very compelling story-line that somehow maintains your interest all the way throughout despite already knowing the conclusion. The addition of solid performances from a relatively unknown cast (no A-list celebrities), provides an additional sense of immersion. There are a few minor plot holes, primarily to do with Leonard’s occasionally inconsistent memory, but they are nowhere near noticeable enough to damage the viewing experience. While not fit for a light viewing, I would definitely recommend this movie to people looking for an intelligent thriller movie. It is also a stellar example of how to create a solid non-linear story-line.

All images taken from the movie Memento and its respective DVD cover.