Please enable JavaScript.
Coggle requires JavaScript to display documents.
Memento Revision - Coggle Diagram
Memento Revision
Auteur Theory
Auteur - A French term that originated in the pages of Cahiers du Cinema in the 1950s to refer to directors who infused their films with their distinctive personal vision
Andrew Sarris - The strong director imposes his own personality on a film; the weak director allows the personalities of others to run rampant.
“Directors who had a distinctive visual style and thematic concerns. ~ Francois Truffaut, Cahiers Du Cinéma
-
Christopher Nolan Auteur Themes: Memory and Identity, Time as a narrative structure, Subjective Truth, Male Protagonists driven by obsession, Moral Ambiguity
Christopher Nolan Auteur Style: Non linear or fragmented narratives, Restricted narration, Use of voiceover, Minimal CGI, Complex narratives causing an active spectatorship
-
Contexts
2000 Neo-Noir, Crime Thriller
-
-
-
-
-
Composer David Julyan composed the two different sections of the film differently - colour scenes: “brooding, classical” tones, black and white: “oppressive, rumbly” tones
Film Form
-
Mise en scene
-
Leonard's eyes and clothes are also blue reminding the spectator we are seeing events through his eyes
-
Editing
Though much of the film's dramatic sequences use conventional match on action and shot reverse shot, the regular switching between the narrative modes often cuts away from the action at a key moment or back into the present halfway through the action
The balance between the confusing jumps in time and the conventional editing makes the spectator feel immersed in Leonard's perspective
-
-
Sound
David Julyan uses the film's audio to also help orient the viewer and further contrast the black and white scenes and the colour scenes
He used brooding classical tones for the black and white and oppressive and rumbly sound design for the colour scenes
Julyan said his aim was to create one long Leonard's theme that reflects the fragmented nature of his identity and story
Performance
Critics praised Guy Pearce's portrayal of Leonard, grounding the narrative complexities in human emotion
His performance combines grief and vulnerability with the toughness required to bluff his way through his confused existence
Aesthetics
-
The Black and white scenes show the protagonist isolated and trying desperately to piece things together
-
-
Narrative
-
In a conventional film events happen in a linear, chronological order, and are usually seen from an objective point of view. With Memento the events of the story are challenged and disrupted by the plot.
-
The story events in colour are told in reverse order; but they are intercut with a different, apparently isolated scenario in black and white
The Black and White sequences are also intercut with an adjacent narrative - Sammy Jankis - Later revelations make us question whether this story is accurate
-
Experimental Film
Film Movement: Film movements are often typified by a new generations desire to overturn existing conventions - They are often unified in an attempt to challenge the established order within film often having long term effects on the history of cinema
Patrick Philips says, "A film movement is constituted by a distinctive body of films, each directed by an auteur."
He also says, "A film movement will be of significance in film history because of thematic and formal/stylistic innovations which characterise the films"
Five Elements of Film Movements: Forefront innovation and experimentation, Challenge and oppose existing filmmaking practices, Driven by enigmatic and passionate individuals, Often nation specific, Influence across borders over long periods of time
Experimental Narrative Techniques: Reverse Chronology, Fragmented episodic structure, Disruption of narrative causality, Circular Ending
Characters
Leonard (Guy Pearce) - Protagonist, Morally Ambiguous, Unreliable, Vulnerable, Villainous
Teddy/John Gammel (Joe Pantoliano) - Sidekick, Enigmatic, Empathetic, Morally Ambiguous
Natalie (Carrie-Ann Moss) - Manipulative, Femme Fatale, Damsel in Distress, Enigmatic
Meaning and Response
Representations
-
In terms of representations of gender, the portrayal of women is fairly stereotypical. Similar to the female characters in other Nolan films, the female characters seem to follow film noir conventions
The portrayal of men is more complex. On the surface, Leonard is a typical tough but flawed hero, but he is also confused, vulnerable and unstable
Most of the characters in the film are adult, in their mid thirties or approaching middle age. This age group is represented as having had complex relationships and life experiences.