Memento
Summary of Memento
Memento is a psychological thriller that is about a man, named Leonard, with short term memory loss trying to avenge his wifes killer. He remembers everything up to the point of the assult that caused his condition, which is asssociated with his wifes death, and since then has been trying to piece together who the criminal is. He tattooes the important details about his search to find the criminal so that he permenantly remembers what hes gathered about the killer whenever he sees himself in the mirror. He also writes notes and takes photos to then put in his pocket so that he remembers who he's spoken to, what to do next and where he's been. He learned to cope with his condition by remembering the investigation on a man named Sammy Jenkins before the assult. Sammy Jenkins also suffered from short term memory loss and Leonard was the insurance investigator on his case. During his search to find the murderer, who he knows is named John G, he encounters two other main charcters of the plot; Natalie and Teddy. Both these characters end up using him to kill people that they want dead, making him believe that they are connected to the death of his wife.
The characters confusion is integrated into how the film is edited as we see the events of the protagonists journey in reverse, making the audience just as confused as the main character as they dont know what has just happened. The ending of the film is at the beginning but the events eventually link together at the end. This structure used for the film makes it hard for us to apply Torodovs Equilibrium and Disequilibrium model easily.
Applying Torodovs Narrative Theory to Memento
The state of equilibrium in Memento would be when Teddy is killed at the beginning of the film and then the narrative moves to the disruption of the ordered state by an event. The disruption would be when his mind and tattoos tell him he needs to find someone and avenge his wife. The empty gaps in his memory reminds him of his condition and the tatoos reveal the key details of this murderer. The recognition that a disruption has taken place would also be when he notices the tatoos but, adding to that, it would be when he realises what he has been trying to do. After that, Torodovs theory moves onto the stage which involves the protagonist attempting to repair the damage of the disruption which in Leonards case is when he kills someone he believes to be the killer of his wife. The last stage, returning to the new equilibrium, is when he continues to search for the killer because he forgets that hes killed someone that he thought was the murderer, linking us back to the beginning.
This film doesn't exactly suit Torodovs narrative theory because instead of returning to a new equilibrium, we just return to the original equilibrium agian. But if we fit Torodovs theory to another prespective of the film, it could work better. If we apply the stages in the same way but in the chronological order of the protagonists narrative, we see the events of the film evolove backwards, making more sense to the audience as it is in the right way around. The state of equilibrium is that he kills someone he believes to be his wifes murderer; the disruption is when Teddy explains to Leonard that hes killed a John G before but forgot and that Teddy has been trying to help him move on by giving him John G's to chase down but also by using him to kill of people he wants dead; the recognition is when Leonard realises that he has just been following Teddys breadcrums this whole time; the attempt to repair the damage of the disruption is when he sets himself up to have clues leading to Teddy as the murderer of his wife; and the new equilibrium is when he kills Teddy.
Although this way makes a lot more sense, it makes watching the film a completly different experience as it is not a anachronic narrative which is how the film was originally meant to be.
Memento is a psychological thriller that is about a man, named Leonard, with short term memory loss trying to avenge his wifes killer. He remembers everything up to the point of the assult that caused his condition, which is asssociated with his wifes death, and since then has been trying to piece together who the criminal is. He tattooes the important details about his search to find the criminal so that he permenantly remembers what hes gathered about the killer whenever he sees himself in the mirror. He also writes notes and takes photos to then put in his pocket so that he remembers who he's spoken to, what to do next and where he's been. He learned to cope with his condition by remembering the investigation on a man named Sammy Jenkins before the assult. Sammy Jenkins also suffered from short term memory loss and Leonard was the insurance investigator on his case. During his search to find the murderer, who he knows is named John G, he encounters two other main charcters of the plot; Natalie and Teddy. Both these characters end up using him to kill people that they want dead, making him believe that they are connected to the death of his wife.
The characters confusion is integrated into how the film is edited as we see the events of the protagonists journey in reverse, making the audience just as confused as the main character as they dont know what has just happened. The ending of the film is at the beginning but the events eventually link together at the end. This structure used for the film makes it hard for us to apply Torodovs Equilibrium and Disequilibrium model easily.
Applying Torodovs Narrative Theory to Memento
The state of equilibrium in Memento would be when Teddy is killed at the beginning of the film and then the narrative moves to the disruption of the ordered state by an event. The disruption would be when his mind and tattoos tell him he needs to find someone and avenge his wife. The empty gaps in his memory reminds him of his condition and the tatoos reveal the key details of this murderer. The recognition that a disruption has taken place would also be when he notices the tatoos but, adding to that, it would be when he realises what he has been trying to do. After that, Torodovs theory moves onto the stage which involves the protagonist attempting to repair the damage of the disruption which in Leonards case is when he kills someone he believes to be the killer of his wife. The last stage, returning to the new equilibrium, is when he continues to search for the killer because he forgets that hes killed someone that he thought was the murderer, linking us back to the beginning.
This film doesn't exactly suit Torodovs narrative theory because instead of returning to a new equilibrium, we just return to the original equilibrium agian. But if we fit Torodovs theory to another prespective of the film, it could work better. If we apply the stages in the same way but in the chronological order of the protagonists narrative, we see the events of the film evolove backwards, making more sense to the audience as it is in the right way around. The state of equilibrium is that he kills someone he believes to be his wifes murderer; the disruption is when Teddy explains to Leonard that hes killed a John G before but forgot and that Teddy has been trying to help him move on by giving him John G's to chase down but also by using him to kill of people he wants dead; the recognition is when Leonard realises that he has just been following Teddys breadcrums this whole time; the attempt to repair the damage of the disruption is when he sets himself up to have clues leading to Teddy as the murderer of his wife; and the new equilibrium is when he kills Teddy.
Although this way makes a lot more sense, it makes watching the film a completly different experience as it is not a anachronic narrative which is how the film was originally meant to be.
Applying Propp's Chracter Theory to Memento
Propps model allows us to match the character roles to the charcters in the film. The hero who seeks something would be Leonard seeking to avenge his wife. The villian would be the wifes attacker and killer as he is the one who opposes the killer. The donor who helps the hero by providing information and the false hero would be Natalie as although shes tries to help him, she ends up using him for her own benefits. However their are a few contridictions as Teddy could also be classed as the false hero. He would also be the dispatcher who sends the hero on his way and the helper (the character who gives support to the hero). The princess would've been his wife but their is no father in the film, making Propps theory not exact to this film.
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