Memento as a post-classical Hollywood thriller

Christopher Nolan’s Memento manipulates chronology and time to piece together Leonard’s distorted memories into a story. Leonard’s short-term memory loss plays a crucial role in the film; the plotline depends largely on Leonard’s handwritten and tattooed notes. The unreliability of Leonard’s memories casts a shadow of ambiguity on the entire film, leaving the audience to interpret the events through a nonlinear narrative (black and white chronological and color reverse chronological sequences). In this aspect, Nolan’s Memento represents the post-classical Hollywood by forcing the audience to analyze the film. Nolan treats the film like a puzzle, weaving subtle clues into each scene. According to Peter Kramer’s “Post-classical Hollywood,” an example of a stylistic change in classical Hollywood filmmaking is the ambiguity that leaves the audience contemplating the film’s meaning. Memento serves as a unique blend of post-classical Hollywood film qualities. Its complex narrative addresses more mature and graphic subject-matter with its themes of memory, perception, and revenge. Leonard struggles with his wife’s rape and death and seeks his vengeance throughout the film, using his notes to guide him to the killer. The violent nature of his revenge reflects the post-classical Hollywood’s new youth-oriented attitude; the film begins and ends with the gruesome deaths of the alleged killers. Leonard’s murderous and vengeful behavior classifies him as the anti-hero of post-classical Hollywood. However, Leonard’s behavior is juxtaposed with the actions of a romantic hero avenging his wife’s murder. The film’s ending leaves the audience with the choice of regarding Leonard’s actions as heroic or antiheroic. Leonard’s choice to burn the evidence of his revenge raises the question of whether his revenge was for the sake of his wife or for his self-deception for a meaning and purpose in his life. Nolan leaves many questions unanswered and ends the film on an ambiguous note. Was Sammy Jankis’ story actually Leonard’s story? Was Sammy Jankis actually Leonard? Because of the uncertainty surrounding the actuality of the plot, Nolan successfully turns Memento into a thought-provoking post-Hollywood film.



-C. Nguyen