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This entry is an 'analysis' in my sense of the word. I'm confused about one part of this movie and this is my way of straightening it out... or not... as best I can. This 'analysis' pertains to the 2000 movie 'Memento' starring the brilliant Guy Pearce. If you have not yet seen this movie
A) GO WATCH IT! It's the best movie EVER! C'mon, it's probably on YouTube, I know for sure that it's on Movies-on-Demand.tv (completely free) and it's even on Comcast's On Demand in the free movie section. So DO IT! It's only 2 and a half hours and it’s COMPLETELY worth it! When complete, proceed to step B
B) Read this only AFTER you have watched the movie. If you haven't yet completed step A, go away right now. This will ruin it. This movie is pointless if you know a single detail about it prior to viewing. So go watch, then come back and maybe you can help me out with this. Comments greatly welcome. =]
Anyways... Lemon Curry?
All right, let's begin. The part of the movie that I'm referring to is right smack at the end, literally seconds before the movie ends (probably the best, and yet most angering, ending ever conceived). Leonard is driving towards the tattoo parlor to get Fact 6 (which he just finished concocting) put on his leg. For some reason, he closes his eyes. Here's my first question:
Who the deuce closes their eyes whilst driving? Sure, it's a pretty run down, abandoned part of town, but seriously. It makes sense in the context of the movie, but it can't escape my critical eye. cool
Anyways. He has what I shall call- for clarity's sake- a 'flash back' of Catherine and him lying together on a bed. He's just gazing off into space, and Catherine is stroking a tattoo on the left side of his chest (where his heart is. Coincidence? I think not!). The tattoo clearly states I've Done It
Here is a picture of the said moment. Yes, it's incredibly low quality; I'm looking for a better one. So I might switch it out eventually. So just take my word for it that it says 'I've done it' because you can't tell here. Or just go watch that part of the movie again; I've no objection to that.
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So there's the setup. Now we're past the boring stuff and at the fun stuff. So here I go.
There are many reasons why this moment gives me troubles in the head. I'll introduce my current opinion on this moment just so I can explain it better. I'd appreciate it if you could bear with me, and for the moment, pretend that the proceeding theory is actual fact.
This moment is a figment of Leonard's imagination. It never happened; it is simply his fantasy, or wish, of how things could be now. It's him visualizing the outcome of his revenge. A tattoo, so he could remember it, and his wife, naturally because he wants her back. Obviously.
Here are some other theories that I'll probably get to later. Wow, this is going to be one long entry. Again, bear with me.
-Leonard started looking for John G before Catherine actually died, killed him, got the tattoo, then removed it (don't ask me how, but I've heard it can be done with lasers or something) for whatever reasons.
-It is a goof. An error in editing or directing. This is the most commonly accepted theory, maybe because the movie raises enough questions and it makes one less thing to analyze. But really, who wants an answer that simple and boring? I toss it out the window. There it goes.
As I said before, I choose to accept the theory that Leonard is just imagining this image, that it's how he feels after killing John G, or maybe imagining how he will feel after he kills his new John G. After all:
-Leonard doesn't have that tattoo in any other part of the movie. If he did, he wouldn't be doing any of the things he does during the movie. Sure, it could have been some laser tattoo removal. He could have gotten so revenge crazy that he wanted to forget he killed the real John G to repeatedly get that feeling of satisfaction. Teddy pretty much uses this idea to justify leading Leonard to the wrong person, so it could work from Leonard's perspective as well. I don't really like that idea, however. I think the satisfaction of killing the real John G would be sufficient if he actually had the tattoo. Even if he forgot doing it, knowing he did it would be enough. Heck, it works for everything else in his life, doesn't it?
-C'mon. Catherine's there. Why would his wife let him go on a mad revenge quest, tattoo every inch of his body, and kill people to avenge her murder if she's still alive? I know he's a vegetable and he just keeps sitting watching TV (which certainly explains his vacant stare in the flash back), but he still sees her. I mean, he killed her with the insulin so he must have realized that she was there. He remembers her dying on the night of the attack, but he wouldn't disbelieve his own eyes if he saw her and even gave her deuceing insulin shots. Maybe his mind messed him up that bad, but Catherine wouldn't let him do that to himself. And since Teddy is the one who helps him out, Catherine would have either stopped him or told the police, or a mental institution, or someone, about them working together. It just couldn't work.
There's an odd point for you to wrap your mind around. The last thing he remembers is Catherine dying from the attack. Yet he killed her (or she killed herself, say it however you want) with the insulin however long after the attack. So he remembers her dying, then looks over and hears her say 'Lenny, it's time for my shot'. Wouldn't he completely spaz out?
Maybe... He didn't think she died in the accident until she actually died in the insulin over dose. Maybe he accepted that she was alive, but after she died and he was institutionalized, he wrote himself multiple notes (sloppy ones, like he describes of Sammy Jankis) saying that 'She's gone, she's not coming back'. These are not mentioned in the movie but are found on Memento's official website. Go there now. It rocks.
So here's a possibility: They get attacked, he loses his memory. He knows she's still alive because... well... she's there. She's alive right next to him. He goes all 'vegetable' like we see happen to Sammy Jankis. Catherine can't take this. Over dose, institution, yeah.
Then, in the institution, Leonard starts writing himself a new set of notes. He had a system of notes at home, but they didn't bring them to the institution, so he had to start over, just with what they'll tell him there. So the doctors, or whoever's there, tells him that his wife died, but not about the insulin bit. He brings up his last memory, of her during the attack, knows she's dead, and puts two and two together. He assumes that's where she died.
Ah! That makes sense! I'm satisfied with that answer! I bet I'm missing some huge fact there, so anyone reading this: find the loophole and post it so I realize how much of an idiot I am. =]
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So that's it for now. Believe me, 'Memento' will get many more journal entries, but I've solved this problem... well... my own opinion of the problem anyways.
My final verdict (through my own analysis and whatnot) is that Leonard was imagining that moment. It would be impossible for Leonard to believe that Catherine was killed in the attack while she was still alive. He was told she died, but not from insulin, after he was put in the institution. He just assumed it was the attack. The image of him with the 'I've done it' tattoo is the image of his revenge, or the satisfaction he gets from it anyways.
Okay. That's it. Farewell. Have a good life.
 Pasquel · Sun Mar 22, 2009 @ 02:55am · 0 Comments |
