Plot Structure of Momento - Essay Example

Memento Movie Review
This movie rotates around the character of Leonard who is a former police investigator Leonard suffered memory losses after being involved in an accident. He remembers everything about his life except the event that occurred the night he and his wife were attacked and his wife was murdered. Leonard is motivated by the mission of seeking revenge for the murder of his wife. When his wife died, they were attacked by two men. He succeeded in killing one of them and the other one disappeared and he came to recognize him as John G. He ends up killing teddy and Jimmy as he suspects that they were the attacker who disappeared after killing his wife. However, in the end, it turns out that Leonard was delusional and had killed his own wife. He keeps telling himself the story of the attackers in order to forget about his mistake of killing his wife. Instead, the movie follows a unique plot where the events are displayed in two sequences, the white and black sequence that follows a chronological order and the colored one which is reverse. For instance, instead of the climax appearing after the introduction, it comes at the end of the movie where Leonard realizes that he was actually the one who killed his own wife. Nolan develops rising action by showing the confusion in Leonard’s mind. Teddy, who is a corrupt policeman working with drug dealers is seen as a bad person while in an actual sense he was trying to help Leonard who cannot tell if he is telling the truth.

Leonard says that he knows who he was before the attack an insurance broker. He however has a problem keeping short-term memory. Teddy points out that Leonard has created the unsolvable puzzle of John G. in order to give his life meaning. He tells him that the real attacker had been killed a year ago after tricking him to Kill Jimmy who was a drug dealer. A hotel attendant charges him double for a motel and points out that he would not remember it. He also says that even after getting his revenge, Leonard would not remember it. After the narration that Teddy gives about the killing of the attacker one year ago, the audience question who Leonard really is.

Teddy’s story is more reliable than that of Leonard. This is because the movie establishes that since the attack, Leonard could not keep short memory. This is seen in the movie when he pays twice for a room in a motel without realizing it. Moreover, he wears Jimmy's clothes and drives his car after killing him. He then walks into a bar where Natalie who was familiar with Jimmy recognized his clothes. It is thus possible that Leonard may have killed the real attacker as Teddy says. Although Leonard has a reminder of the story of Sammy he does not seem to understand the relationship that the story has in his own condition. It can thus be true that Leonard’s wife died of an overdose of insulin shot under the direction of Leonard who could not remember events happening around him. He keeps repeating to his listeners that he talks fast since he has a problem with short-term memory. The notes and pictures that he keeps are unreliable sources of information. The notes are flimsy and are not enough to base memory on. Leonard is unable to read other people and does not realize that Natalie and Teddy are manipulating him.

The role of the reverse sequencing used by Nolan is to get the audience to sympathize with Leonard the main character who is unable to create a long-term memory. The fragment stories reflect what goes. The events that have taken place before cannot be seen since Leonard cannot recall them. In the two sequences the chronological one and the reverse one, Nolan helps the audience to gather clues about the real story. This is because the audience cannot see what happened in the past as they rely on the narration of Leonard who cannot form new memories.

In conclusion, the movie Memento is very unique in structure as it follows a distinct style and plot arrangement. The movie's fragmented plot creates confusion in the audience with the ending creating an unexpected revelation that Leonard actually caused the death of his wife by making her take an overdose of insulin.