Film Analysis: Memento

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Havard

Donald Havard

Dr. T. Gould

English 111

24 March 2005

Film Analysis: Memento

        Columbia Tristar Films starring Guy Pearce, Carrie-Anne Moss, and Joe Pantoliano released “Memento” in 2001.  The movie was produced by Suzanne and Jennifer Todd, and was directed by Christopher Nolan.  Christopher Nolan also wrote the short story and screenplay.  This film is about a man named Leonard, played by Guy Pearce, who suffered a major brain injury to the hippocampus that left him with a rare memory disorder called anterograde amnesia.  This disorder causes Leonard not to be able to form any new memories.  Leonard is now trying to find and kill the person who murdered his wife to avenge his wife’s death.  Carrie-Anne Moss plays a friend of Leonard, or so he thinks, that assists him in finding the person who killed his wife.  Joe Pantoliano plays another friend of Leonard who takes advantage of his memory problem.  “Memento” accurately depicts some of the problems associated with a person diagnosed with anterograde amnesia.

        Leonard, played by Guy Pearce, suffered a brain injury to the hippocampus during a struggle with an attacker that leaves him unable to form new memories.   Having “damage to the , , or  can result in anterograde amnesia, suggesting that they are involved in the process of laying down long-term memories” (“Enpsychlopedia”).  The hippocampus is the part of the brain that “mediates incoming new information.  It is concerned with facts, data, and events that occur in the present and is involved with temporary memory representation allowing for controlled attention and rehearsal” (“Causes”).  This injury to Leonard’s hippocampus is what causes him to not be able to form new memories.  Not being able to form any new memories causes the victim to “literally live in the present at all times” (“Amnesias”).  There is no way to take time to think situations over, a decision must be made immediately or the thought will be forgotten.

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        While Leonard’s memory problem causes him not to be able to form new memories, his memories of everything that happened before the incident are still intact.  According to MemoryLossOnline, “Memories for events that occurred before the injury may be largely spared, but events that occurred since the injury may be lost. In practice, this means that an individual with  may have good memory for childhood and for the years before the injury, but may remember little or nothing from the years since” (“Anterograde”).  Throughout the movie, Leonard recalls information that he remembered before his incident, such as the insurance case ...

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