Memento (Practice Research Project)

1)

The opening scene of Memento prepares the audience for the kind of challenging and perhaps even confusing narrative flow in which the rest of the film follows. The opening shot is over a minute in length, immediately introducing the polaroid photograph element and also the film's backwards structure, demonstrated literally in this scene by the use of slow-motion camerawork and a literal rewind of events, rather than events out of sequence yet still moving forwards individually, as in the rest of the film. This photograph and a hand are all we are given as far as story information in this first shot and are our first cues in understanding where we are in time and space in the narrative:

"We create the story in our minds on the basis of cues in the plot."   

                   (Thompson/Bordwell, Film Art: An Introduction, p77)

The first cue in the plot of Memento we are given is a photograph, the polaroid mentioned earlier featuring an unidentifiable blue figure off-centre on a floor and blood spatter upon a tiled wall above the figure. The image of this blood in such a vicious and even gritty or realistic sense immediately prompts questions from the audience, this image is an enigma code. The connotations of the blood in this context (a photograph) connotes a crime scene, and the very presence of blood is suggestive of the realistic and violent tone of the film going forward; or, more appropriately, backward. 

The audience also question who the hand holding the photograph belongs to and if they themselves have perpetrated the crime or are simply, like the audience, observing it. These questions are immediately significant, as there will be many times during the narrative in which the audience are placed in an unrecognisable place as far as time and space is concerned and must construct the story on the basis of cues in the first shot, e.g. a room, a bed, a car-seat. These cues tell the audience where they are, as they will often latch onto what they are given in order to find meaning, such as this polaroid. 

2)

Memento constantly alternates between our access to story information which Leonard knows and, as the film continues backwards in time, information which Leonard does not know. The first true sequence in the film, regardless of the first scene involving Teddy's murder by Leonard, features the same character in a cheery mood and very much alive. So, in this sense, the audience is above Leonard in the supposed 'hierarchy of knowledge' and again questioning why this character must die when he appears on good terms with Leonard. However, when the audience meets a new character they haven't met before, this character is also new to Leonard, aligning both in these moments. This shows that as the film progresses, our knowledge of future events inform our approach to Leonard and other characters' actions, determining whether these actions will act as a possible cause for a later effect. 

"...the agents of cause and effect are characters."

(Thompson/Bordwell, Film Art: An Introduction, p77)

The film alternates between a restricted and unrestricted narrative, although across many films there is always something we are not told. The audience always knows more than Leonard, having previously seen what he is going to do next e.g. kill Teddy and take a photograph. However, there are a few instances in which Leonard knows more than the audience, as we are sometimes dropped right into a scene with characters we have never met before. The characters in the film, therefore, will always know much more than Leonard, due to his condition. This means we can never truly know everything or understand each character's motivations in the narrative, demonstrated in the scene featuring the reveal of Natalie's true intentions. As in the quote, characters are the agents of cause and effect in Memento, often manipulating Leonard into furthering his self-inflicted 'romantic' detective story by opening up various avenues of investigation.

3)

Memento is certainly a film centred around a mystery, particularly in regards to how the characters and events in the narrative are associated with John G, as if there were some vast conspiracy surrounding Leonard's wife's supposed murder and rape. This turns out to be false, however, suggesting that Leonard is merely looking for things that aren't there, such as this vast conspiracy and actual reasoning behind such a heinous crime. Although, if we as the audience were looking for instant causal relations between events, we would not be watching a film firmly within the mystery sub-genre.

"...whenever any film creates a mystery, it suppresses certain story causes and presents only effects in the plot."
                                                                           (Thompson/Bordwell, Film Art: An Introduction, p79)

This quote has certain precedence in the scene in the film which features Leonard introducing how his notes work, and how they could potentially be used to manipulate him. The note on Leonard's leg reading "SHAVE HERE" is an instant reminder to the audience that these notes could be manipulated easily, because they have no context, assumedly so that they remain simple in their instruction to someone with his condition. The plot withholds why certain notes are written until later, some not at all, in order to arouse our curiosity and promote the audience's job in assembling plot threads to eventually form the story. This is a key component of Memento's mystery, and the often non-linear approach to telling this story contributes to the confusion felt by both the main character and the audience in investigating such a mystery.