Memento Christopher Nolan

Memento is a 2000 American neo-noir psychological thriller film written and directed by Christopher Nolan, based on the short story "Memento Mori" by his brother Jonathan Nolan, which was later published in 2001.[6] The film stars Guy Pearce, Carrie-Anne Moss, and Joe Pantoliano. The film follows Leonard Shelby (Pearce), a man who suffers from anterograde amnesia—resulting in short-term memory loss and the inability to form new memories—who uses an elaborate system of photographs, handwritten notes, and tattoos in an attempt to uncover the perpetrator who killed his wife and caused him to sustain the condition.

The film's non-linear narrative is presented as two different sequences of scenes interspersed during the film: a series in black-and-white that is shown chronologically, and a series of color sequences shown in reverse order (simulating for the audience the mental state of the protagonist). The two sequences meet at the end of the film, producing one complete and cohesive narrative.[7]

Memento premiered at the Venice Film Festival on September 5, 2000, and was theatrically released in the United States on March 16, 2001. It was acclaimed by critics, who praised its nonlinear structure and themes of memory, perception, grief, and self-deception. It was also a commercial success, earning $40 million over its $9 million budget and gained a cult following. Memento received many accolades, including the Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award at the Sundance Film Festival, and Academy Award nominations for Best Original Screenplay and Best Film Editing.[8] In 2017, the United States Library of Congress deemed the film "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant" and selected it for preservation in the National Film Registry.

The film starts with a Polaroid photograph of a dead man. As the sequence plays backward, the photo reverts to its undeveloped state, entering the camera before the man is shot in the head. The film then continues, alternating between black-and-white and color sequences.

The black-and-white sequences begin with Leonard Shelby, a former insurance investigator, in a motel room speaking to an unseen and unknown caller. Leonard has anterograde amnesia and is unable to store recent memories, the result of an attack by two men. Leonard explains that he killed the attacker who raped and strangled his wife Catherine, but a second clubbed him and escaped. The police did not accept that there was a second attacker, but Leonard believes the attacker's name is "John G" or "James G". Leonard investigates using notes, Polaroid photos, and tattoos to keep track of the information he discovers. Leonard recalls Sammy Jankis, another anterograde amnesiac, from his insurance industry days. After tests confirmed Sammy's inability to learn tasks through repetition, Leonard believed that his condition was at best psychological (and perhaps faked) and turned down his insurance claim. Sammy's distraught wife repeatedly asked Sammy to administer her insulin shots for her diabetes, hoping he would remember having recently given her a shot and avoid giving her a fatal overdose. However, Sammy administered each injection, and his wife died.

The color sequences are shown reverse-chronologically. In the story's chronology, Leonard self-directively gets a tattoo of John G's license plate. Finding a note in his clothes, he meets Natalie, a bartender who resents Leonard because he wears the clothes and drives the car of her boyfriend, Jimmy Grantz. After understanding Leonard's condition, she uses it to get Leonard to drive a man named Dodd out of town and offers to run the license plate as a favor through the Department of Motor Vehicle's database. Meanwhile, Leonard meets with a contact, Teddy, who helps with Dodd, but warns about Natalie. Leonard finds that he had previously annotated his Polaroid of Teddy, warning himself not to trust Teddy. Natalie provides Leonard with the driver's license for a John Edward Gammell, Teddy's full name. Confirming Leonard's information on "John G" and his warnings, Leonard drives Teddy to an abandoned building, leading to the opening where he shoots him.

In the final black-and-white sequence, prompted by the caller, Leonard meets with Teddy, an undercover officer, who has found Leonard's "John G", Jimmy, and directs Leonard to the abandoned building. When Jimmy arrives, Leonard strangles him fatally and takes a Polaroid photo of the body. As the photo develops, the black-and-white transitions to the final color sequence. Leonard swaps clothes with Jimmy, hearing him whisper "Sammy". As Leonard has only told Sammy's story to those he has met, he suddenly doubts Jimmy's role in his wife's murder. Teddy arrives and asserts that Jimmy was John G, but when Leonard is undeterred, Teddy reveals that he helped him kill the real attacker a year ago, and Teddy has been using Leonard ever since. Teddy points out that since the name "John G" is common, Leonard will cyclically forget and begin his search again and that even Teddy himself has a "John G" name. Further, Teddy reveals that Sammy's story is Leonard's own story, a memory Leonard has repressed to escape feelings of guilt.

After hearing Teddy confess all of this, Leonard burns the photograph of the dead Jimmy and the photo of himself right after killing the real attacker a year ago, pointing to his chest where he would get a tattoo to document his successful revenge. In a monologue, Leonard explains that he is willing to lie to himself in order to get justice against anyone who has wronged him. He, therefore, targets Teddy by ordering a tattoo of Teddy's license plate number and writing a note to himself that Teddy is not to be trusted so that he will mistake Teddy for John G and kill him. Leonard drives off in Jimmy's car, confident that, despite this lie, he will retain enough awareness of the world to know that his actions have consequences.

• Guy Pearce as Leonard Shelby
• Carrie-Anne Moss as Natalie
• Joe Pantoliano as John Edward "Teddy" Gammell
• Mark Boone Junior as Burt
• Russ Fega as Waiter
• Jorja Fox as Catherine Shelby
• Stephen Tobolowsky as Samuel R. "Sammy" Jankis
• Harriet Sansom Harris as Mrs. Jankis
• Thomas Lennon as Doctor
• Callum Keith Rennie as Dodd
• Kimberly Campbell as Blonde
• Marianne Muellerleile as Tattooist
• Larry Holden as James F. "Jimmy" Grantz

The film is structured with two timelines: color sequences are alternated with black-and-white sequences. The latter are put together in chronological order. The color ones, though shown forward (except for the first one, which is shown in reverse), are ordered in reverse. Chronologically, the black-and-white sequences come first, the color sequences come next.

Using the numbering scheme suggested by Andy Klein—who took numbers from 1 to 22 for the black-and-white sequences and letters A–V for the color ones in his article for Salon magazine[7]—the plotting of the film as presented is: Opening Credits (shown "backward"), 1, V, 2, U, 3, T, 4, S, ..., 22/A, Credits.

There is a smooth transition from the black-and-white sequence 22 to color sequence A, which occurs during the development of a Polaroid photograph.

The chronological order of the story can be viewed as a "hidden feature" on the 2-Disc Limited Edition Region 1 DVD[9] and the 3-Disc special Edition Region 2 DVD.[10] In this special feature, the chapters of the film are put together into the chronological order and is shown: Ending Credits (run in reverse), 1, 2, 3, ..., 22/A, B, ..., V, then the opening title runs "backward" to what was shown (the opening title sequence is run in reverse during the actual film, so it is shown forward in this version).

Stefano Ghislotti wrote an article in Film Anthology[11] which discusses how Nolan provides the viewer with the clues necessary to decode the plot as we watch and help us understand the chronology. The color sequences include a brief overlap to help clue the audience into the fact that they are being presented in reverse order. The purpose of the fragmented reverse sequencing is to force the audience into a sympathetic experience of Leonard's defective ability to create new long-term memories, where prior events are not recalled, since the audience has yet to see them.

Development

In July 1996, brothers Christopher and Jonathan Nolan took a cross-country road trip from Chicago to Los Angeles, as Christopher was relocating his home to the West Coast. During the drive, Jonathan pitched the story for the film to his brother, who responded enthusiastically to the idea.[12] After they arrived in Los Angeles, Jonathan left for Washington, D.C., to finish college at Georgetown University. The mysterious killer character known only as "John G." was actually an homage to Jonathan's Georgetown University screenwriting professor at the time, John Glavin.[13] Christopher repeatedly asked Jonathan to send him a first draft, and after a few months, Jonathan complied.[14] Two months later, Christopher came up with the idea to tell the film backwards, and began to work on the screenplay. Jonathan wrote the short story simultaneously, and the brothers continued to correspond, sending each other subsequent revisions of their respective works.[15] Christopher initially wrote the script as a linear story, and then would "go back and reorder it the way it is on screen to check the logic of it."[16] Nolan was also influenced by the short story "Funes the Memorious" by Jorge Luis Borges. "I think Memento is a strange cousin to 'Funes the Memorious'—about a man who remembers everything, who can't forget anything. It's a bit of an inversion of that."[17]

Jonathan's short story, titled "Memento Mori", is radically different from Christopher's film, although it maintains the same essential elements. In Jonathan's version, Leonard is instead named Earl and is a patient at a mental institution.[18][19] As in the film, his wife was killed by an anonymous man, and during the attack on his wife, Earl lost his ability to create new long-term memories. Like Leonard, Earl leaves notes to himself and has tattoos with information about the killer. However, in the short story, Earl convinces himself through his own written notes to escape the mental institution and murder his wife's killer. Unlike the film, there is no ambiguity that Earl finds and kills the anonymous man.[19]

In July 1997, Christopher Nolan's girlfriend (later wife) Emma Thomas showed his screenplay to Aaron Ryder, an executive for Newmarket Films. Ryder said the script was, "perhaps the most innovative script I had ever seen",[20] and soon after, it was optioned by Newmarket and given a budget of $4.5 million. [5] Pre-production lasted seven weeks, during which the main shooting location changed from Montreal, Quebec to Los Angeles, California, to create a more realistic and noirish atmosphere for the film.[21]

Casting

Brad Pitt was initially slated to play Leonard. Pitt was interested in the part, but passed due to scheduling conflicts.[22][23] Other considered actors included Charlie Sheen, Alec Baldwin, Aaron Eckhart (who would later work with Nolan on The Dark Knight), and Thomas Jane, but the role went to Guy Pearce, who impressed Nolan the most. Pearce was chosen partly for his "lack of celebrity" (after Pitt passed, they "decided to eschew the pursuit of A-list stars and make the film for less money by using an affordable quality actor") and his enthusiasm for the role, evidenced by a personal phone call Pearce made to Nolan to discuss the part.[24][25]

After being impressed by Carrie-Anne Moss's performance as Trinity in the 1999 science fiction film The Matrix, Jennifer Todd suggested her for the part of Natalie. While Mary McCormack lobbied for the role, Nolan decided to cast Moss as Natalie, saying, "She added an enormous amount to the role of Natalie that wasn't on the page". [26] For the corrupt police officer Teddy, "comedian Denis Leary was mentioned, though proved unavailable".[27] Moss suggested her co-star from The Matrix, Joe Pantoliano.[28] Although there was a concern that Pantoliano might be too villainous for the part, he was still cast, and Nolan said he was surprised by the actor's subtlety in his performance.[27]

The rest of the film's characters were quickly cast after the three main leads were established. Stephen Tobolowsky and Harriet Sansom Harris play Sammy Jankis and his wife, respectively. Mark Boone Junior landed the role of Burt, the motel clerk, because Jennifer Todd liked his "look and attitude" for the part (as a result he has re-appeared in minor roles in other productions by Nolan).[29] Tobolowsky said that he took the role of Sammy Jankis as he liked the script and also he knew the role was perfect for him as he had suffered from amnesia in real life.[30]

Filming

Filming took place from September 7 to October 8, 1999,[31] a 25-day shooting schedule. Pearce was on set every day during filming, although all three principal actors (including Pantoliano and Moss) performed together only on the first day, shooting exterior sequences outside Natalie's house. All of Moss' scenes were completed in the first week,[32] including follow-up scenes at Natalie's home, Ferdy's bar, and the restaurant where she meets Leonard for the final time.

Pantoliano returned to the set late in the second week to continue filming his scenes. On September 25, the crew shot the opening scene in which Leonard kills Teddy. Although the scene is in reverse motion, Nolan used forward-played sounds.[33] For a shot of a shell casing flying upwards, the shell had to be dropped in front of the camera in forward motion, but it constantly rolled out of frame. Nolan was forced to blow the casing out of frame instead, but in the confusion, the crew shot it backwards.[33] They then had to make an optical (a copy of the shot) and reverse the shot to make it go forward again. "That was the height of complexity in terms of the film", Nolan said. "An optical to make a backwards running shot forwards, and the forwards shot is a simulation of a backwards shot."[34]

The next day, on September 26, Larry Holden returned to shoot the sequence where Leonard attacks Jimmy.[35] After filming was completed five days later, Pearce's voice-overs were recorded. For the black-and-white scenes, Pearce was given free rein to improvise his narrative, allowing for a documentary feel.[34]

The Travel Inn in Tujunga, California, was repainted and used as the interior of Leonard's and Dodd's motel rooms and the exterior of the film's Discount Inn. Scenes in Sammy Jankis' house were shot in a suburban home close to Pasadena, while Natalie's house was located in Burbank.[36] The crew planned to shoot the derelict building set (where Leonard kills Teddy and Jimmy) in a Spanish-styled brick building owned by a train company. However, one week before shooting began, the company placed several dozen train carriages outside the building, making the exterior unfilmable. Since the interior of the building had already been built as a set, a new location had to be found. An oil refinery near Long Beach was used instead, and the scene where Leonard burns his wife's possessions was filmed on the other side of the refinery.[37]

Music

David Julyan composed the film's synthesized score. Julyan acknowledges several synthesized soundtracks that inspired him, such as Vangelis's Blade Runner and Hans Zimmer's The Thin Red Line.[38] While composing the score, Julyan created different, distinct sounds to differentiate between the color and black-and-white scenes: "brooding and classical" themes in the former, and "oppressive and rumbly noise" in the latter.[39] Since he describes the entire score as "Leonard's theme", Julyan says, "The emotion I was aiming at with my music was yearning and loss. But a sense of loss you feel but at the same time you don't know what it is you have lost, a sense of being adrift."[40]

Initially, Nolan wanted to use Radiohead's "Paranoid Android" during the end credits, but he was unable to secure the rights.[41] Instead, David Bowie's "Something in the Air" is used, although another of Radiohead's songs, an extended version of "Treefingers", is included on the film's soundtrack.[42]

The film gained substantial word-of-mouth press from the film festival circuit. It premiered at the 2000 Venice Film Festival, where it received a standing ovation, and afterwards played at Deauville American Film Festival and the Toronto International Film Festival.[43] With the publicity from these events, Memento did not have trouble finding foreign distributors, opening in more than 20 countries worldwide. Its promotion tour ended at the Sundance Film Festival, where it played in January 2001.[44]

Finding American distributors proved more troublesome. Memento was screened for various studio heads (including Miramax chief Harvey Weinstein) in March 2000. Although most of the executives loved the film and praised Nolan's talent, all passed on distributing the picture, believing it was too confusing and would not attract a large audience.[45] After famed independent film director Steven Soderbergh saw the film and learned it was not being distributed, he championed the film in interviews and public events,[46] giving it even more publicity, although he did not secure a distributor. Newmarket, in a financially risky move, decided to distribute the film itself.[45]

After the first few weeks of distribution, Memento had reached more than 500 theaters and earned a domestic total of $25 million in its box-office run. The film's success was surprising to those who passed on the film, so much so that Weinstein realized his mistake and tried to buy the film from Newmarket.[47]

Marketing

Jonathan Nolan designed the film's official website. As with the marketing strategy of The Blair Witch Project, the website was intended to provide further clues and hints to introduce the story, while not providing any concrete information.[48] After a short intro on the website, the viewer is shown a newspaper clipping detailing Leonard's murder of Teddy. Clicking on highlighted words in the article leads to more material describing the film, including Leonard's notes and photographs as well as police reports.[49] The filmmakers employed another tactic by sending out Polaroid pictures to random people, depicting a bloody and shirtless Leonard pointing at an unmarked spot on his chest.[50] Since Newmarket distributed the film themselves, Christopher Nolan edited the film's trailers himself.[50] Sold to inexpensive cable channels like Bravo and A&E, and websites such as Yahoo and MSN, the trailers were key to the film gaining widespread public notice.

Home media

Memento was released on DVD and VHS in the United States and Canada on September 4, 2001, and in the United Kingdom on January 14, 2002. The UK edition contains a hidden feature that allows the viewer to watch the film in chronological order. The Canadian version does not have this feature but the film chapters are set up to do this manually or through DVD programming. The original US release does not have the chronological feature nor are the chapters set up correctly to do it.

The film was later re-released in a limited edition DVD that features an audio commentary by Christopher Nolan, with four different endings; the original short story by Jonathan Nolan on which the film was based; and a Sundance Channel documentary on the making of the film.[51] The limited edition DVD also contains a hidden feature that allows the viewer to watch the film in chronological order.[51]

The Limited Edition DVD is packaged to look like Leonard's case file from a mental institution, with notes scribbled by "doctors" and Leonard on the inside.[51] The DVD menus are designed as a series of psychological tests; the viewer has to choose certain words, objects, and multiple choice answers to play the movie or access special features.[51] Leonard's "notes" on the DVD case offer clues to navigating the DVD. Some of the "materials" seem designed to induce paranoia and uncertainty (a picture of one person whispering to another is captioned, "They know what you did"), alluding to Shelby's mental state.

Memento was re-released in the UK on a 3-disc Special Edition DVD on December 27, 2004. This release contains all the special features that are on the two US releases in one package plus a couple of new interviews. The menus appear as tattoos on Leonard's body and are more straightforward than the US 2-disc limited edition DVD.

Memento was released on Blu-ray on August 15, 2006. This release lacks the special features contained on the Limited Edition DVD, but does include the audio commentary by director Christopher Nolan. The single-layer disc features an MPEG-2 1080p transfer and PCM 5.1 surround audio. The film was also released on iTunes as a digital download.

The film was re-released on the Blu-ray and DVD in the US on February 22, 2011, by Lionsgate following the 10th anniversary of the film. Both the Blu-ray and DVD have a new transfer that was also shown in theaters. Aside from the transfer, the Blu-ray contains a new special featurette by Nolan on the film's legacy.[52]

Box office

Memento was a box office success. In the United States, during its opening weekend, it was released in only 11 theaters, but by week 11 it was distributed to more than 500 theaters.[53] It grossed over $25 million in North America and $14 million in other countries, combining for a total worldwide gross of $40 million.[4][3] During its theatrical run, it did not place higher than eighth in the list of highest-grossing movies for a single weekend.[53]

Critical response

Memento was met with critical acclaim. On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film received an approval rating of 93% based on 183 reviews, with an average rating of 8.3/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Christopher Nolan skillfully guides the audience through Memento's fractured narrative, seeping his film in existential dread."[54] On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 83 out of 100 based on 34 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".[55]

Film critic James Berardinelli gave the film four out of four stars, ranking it number one on his year-end Top Ten list and number sixty-three on his All-Time Top 100 films.[56][57] In his review, he called it an "endlessly fascinating, wonderfully open-ended motion picture [that] will be remembered by many who see it as one of the best films of the year".[58] Berardinelli praised the film's backwards narrative, saying that "what really distinguishes this film is its brilliant, innovative structure", and noted that Guy Pearce gives an "astounding ... tight, and thoroughly convincing performance".[58] In 2009, Berardinelli chose Memento as his #3 best movie of the decade. William Arnold of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer writes that Memento is a "delicious one-time treat", and emphasizes that director Christopher Nolan "not only makes Memento work as a non-linear puzzle film, but as a tense, atmospheric thriller".[59] Rob Blackwelder noted that "Nolan has a crackerjack command over the intricacies of this story. He makes every single element of the film a clue to the larger picture ... as the story edges back toward the origins of [Leonard's] quest".[60]

Not all critics were impressed with the film's structure. Marjorie Baumgarten wrote, "In forward progression, the narrative would garner little interest, thus making the reverse storytelling a filmmaker's conceit."[61] Sean Burns of the Philadelphia Weekly commented that "For all its formal wizardry, Memento is ultimately an ice-cold feat of intellectual gamesmanship. Once the visceral thrill of the puzzle structure begins to wear off, there's nothing left to hang onto. The film itself fades like one of Leonard's temporary memories."[62] While Roger Ebert gave the film a favorable three out of four stars, he did not think it warranted multiple viewings. After watching Memento twice, he concluded that "Greater understanding helped on the plot level, but didn't enrich the viewing experience. Confusion is the state we are intended to be in."[63] Jonathan Rosenbaum disliked the film, and commented in his review of Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind that Memento is a "gimmicky and unpoetic counterfeit" of Alain Resnais's 1968 film Je t'aime, je t'aime.[64]

In 2005, the Writers Guild of America ranked the screenplay #100 on its list of 101 Greatest Screenplays ever written.[65] In 2012, the Motion Picture Editors Guild listed the film as the fourteenth best-edited film of all time based on a survey of its membership.[66] Memento was considered "culturally, historically or aesthetically significant" by the US Library of Congress and was selected for preservation in the National Film Registry in 2017, the first narrative feature of the 2000s to be honored.[67]

Scientific response

Many medical experts have cited Memento as featuring one of the most realistic and accurate depictions of anterograde amnesia. Caltech neuroscientist Christof Koch called Memento "the most accurate portrayal of the different memory systems in the popular media",[68] while physician Esther M. Sternberg, Director of the Integrative Neural Immune Program at the National Institute of Mental Health, identified the film as "close to a perfect exploration of the neurobiology of memory."[69]

Sternberg concludes:

This thought-provoking thriller is the kind of movie that keeps reverberating in the viewer's mind, and each iteration makes one examine preconceived notions in a different light. Memento is a movie for anyone interested in the workings of memory and, indeed, in what it is that makes our own reality.

Clinical neuropsychologist Sallie Baxendale writes in The BMJ:

The overwhelming majority of amnesic characters in films bear little relation to any neurological or psychiatric realities of memory loss. Apparently inspired partly by the neuropsychological studies of the famous patient HM (who developed severe anterograde memory impairment after neurosurgery to control his epileptic seizures) and the temporal lobe amnesic syndrome, the film documents the difficulties faced by Leonard, who develops a severe anterograde amnesia after an attack in which his wife is killed. Unlike in most films in this genre, this amnesic character retains his identity, has little retrograde amnesia, and shows several of the severe everyday memory difficulties associated with the disorder. The fragmented, almost mosaic quality to the sequence of scenes in the film also reflects the 'perpetual present' nature of the syndrome.[70]

Interpretations and analysis

By going backward in time, Memento draws the real mystery from viewers learning the first step in Leonard's investigation, the origins of his self-deception. Yes, we also learn what really happened to his wife, what happened to him, and what happened to his killer, and we understand more about Teddy's complicated role in using Leonard for his own purposes. But the most telling revelation, at the end of Memento, isn't limited to his condition: Leonard lies to himself. And when he isn't outright lying to himself, he's guilty of confirmation bias, accepting only the facts that affirm his pre-cooked conclusions, and tossing out all the rest.

Scott Tobias, from The A.V. Club[71]

Since its release, Memento has been a widely noted topic of film discussion, both for its unique narrative structure and themes. Those searching for explanations of the film's plot have either resorted to online forums, message boards or scholarly material, or have ignored the film's official website and forums to maintain their own personal hypotheses.[72] On the same topic of self-deception, James Mooney of filmandphilosophy.com notes that the film suggests how "our memories deceive us, or rather, sometimes we deceive ourselves by 'choosing' to forget or by manipulating our memories of past events."[73] This is much in line with a psychological analysis of the film, specifically the act of confabulation. Leonard's use of confabulation poses the dilemma, as explained by SUNY Downstate Medical Center Professor John Kubie for BrainFacts.org: "In Memento we are faced with the question of how much of Leonard's memory of the past is real and how much constructed from beliefs and wishes."[74]

Author Chuck Klosterman has written in-depth about Memento in his essay collection Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs: A Low Culture Manifesto, specifically on the diner scene with Leonard and Natalie.[75]

In an interview with Chuck Stephens for Filmmaker in 2001, Nolan also stated:

The most interesting part of that for me is that audiences seem very unwilling to believe the stuff that Teddy [Pantoliano] says at the end and yet why? I think it's because people have spent the entire film looking at Leonard's photograph of Teddy, with the caption: "Don't believe his lies." That image really stays in people's heads, and they still prefer to trust that image even after we make it very clear that Leonard's visual recollection is completely questionable. It was quite surprising, and it wasn't planned. What was always planned was that we don't ever step completely outside Leonard's head, and that we keep the audience in that interpretive mode of trying to analyze what they want to believe or not. For me, the crux of the movie is that the one guy who might actually be the authority on the truth of what happened is played by Joe Pantoliano ... who is so untrustworthy, especially given the baggage he carries in from his other movies: he's already seen by audiences as this character actor who's always unreliable. I find it very frightening, really, the level of uncertainty and malevolence Joe brings to the film.[76]

Best film list appearances

Awards and accolades

Because Jonathan Nolan's short story was not published before the film was released, it was nominated for Original Screenplay instead of Adapted Screenplay and both Christopher and Jonathan received a nomination.

AMBI Pictures announced in November 2015 that it plans to remake Memento, one of several film rights that AMBI acquired from its acquisition of Exclusive Media. Monika Bacardi, an executive for AMBI Pictures, stated that they plan to "stay true to Christopher Nolan's vision and deliver a memorable movie that is every bit as edgy, iconic and award-worthy as the original".[111] As of April 2018, the film was still in the works.[112]

• Reverse chronology
• "Memento Mori" (short story)
• Ghajini (2005), an Indian action film, a Tamil language uncredited loose remake of Memento by AR Murugadoss.[113]
• Ghajini (2008), an Indian Hindi film, remake of above 2005's film by same director.[113]
• Regarding Henry
• The Vow (2012 film)

1. ^ "Memento". British Board of Film Classification. Archived from the original on June 4, 2020. Retrieved June 10, 2013.
2. ^ "Memento (2000)". British Film Institute. Archived from the original on July 13, 2012. Retrieved June 14, 2014.
3. ^ a b c "Memento (2001)". Box Office Mojo. Archived from the original on August 9, 2022. Retrieved February 12, 2021.
4. ^ a b "Memento (2001) - Financial Information". The Numbers. Archived from the original on April 2, 2023.
5. ^ a b Mottram 2002, p. 177.
6. ^ "Memento (2000)". AllMovie. Archived from the original on January 22, 2022. Retrieved November 8, 2021.
7. ^ a b Klein, Andy (June 28, 2001). "Everything you wanted to know about "Memento"". Salon. Archived from the original on June 15, 2020. Retrieved September 4, 2012.
8. ^ a b "The 74th Academy Awards". oscars.org. Archived from the original on October 1, 2014. Retrieved May 5, 2023.
9. ^ Holm, D.K. "2-Disc LE DVD Review". DVD Journal. Archived from the original on October 26, 2021. Retrieved September 24, 2009.
10. ^ Papamichael, Stella. "3 Disk SE DVD Review". BBC. Archived from the original on May 13, 2022. Retrieved September 24, 2009.
11. ^ Ghislotti, Stefano (2003). "Backwards: Memory and Fabula Construction in "Memento" by Christopher Nolan". Film Anthology. Archived from the original on December 31, 2009. Retrieved September 24, 2009.
12. ^ Kaufman, Anthony (December 4, 2009). "Mindgames; Christopher Nolan Remembers "Memento"". IndieWire.com. Archived from the original on March 24, 2016. Retrieved August 20, 2010.
13. ^ "Meet the tough professor who inspired Jonathan Nolan and John Mulaney". Washington Post. Archived from the original on April 16, 2019. Retrieved April 16, 2019.
14. ^ Mottram 2002, p. 162.
15. ^ Mottram 2002, p. 166.
16. ^ Neff, Renfreu (July 20, 2015). "Remembering Where it All Began: Christopher Nolan on Memento". CreativeScreenwriting.com. Archived from the original on July 27, 2015. Retrieved July 27, 2015.
17. ^ ""Memento" Q&A with Chris Nolan and Guillermo del Toro | Nolan Fans Forums". www.nolanfans.com. Archived from the original on June 15, 2020. Retrieved March 16, 2019.
18. ^ Mottram 2002, pp. 183–95.
19. ^ a b Nolan, Jonathan (2001). "Memento Mori". Esquire. Archived from the original on September 22, 2010. Retrieved October 2, 2010.
20. ^ Mottram 2002, p. 176.
21. ^ Mottram 2002, p. 151-152.
22. ^ Mottram 2002, p. 106.
23. ^ "Christopher Nolan reveals the truth behind the Brad Pitt Memento rumours". January 19, 2014. Archived from the original on July 2, 2023. Retrieved October 2, 2023.
24. ^ Mottram 2002, pp. 107–108.
25. ^ "Fact-O-Meter: Did You Know? Before Guy Pearce, Christopher Nolan Had Alec Baldwin, Brad Pitt & Others in His Mind for Memento!". koimoi.com. August 4, 2020. Archived from the original on December 29, 2022. Retrieved December 29, 2022.
26. ^ Mottram 2002, p. 111.
27. ^ a b Mottram 2002, p. 112.
28. ^ "Interview with Joe Pantoliano (Part 2 of 2)". IGN. April 4, 2001. Archived from the original on May 13, 2022. Retrieved February 6, 2017.
29. ^ Mottram 2002, p. 114.
30. ^ "Memento and the Significance of Sammy Jankis". Den of Geek. March 16, 2021. Archived from the original on April 1, 2023. Retrieved April 1, 2023.
31. ^ Mottram 2002, p. 125.
32. ^ Mottram 2002, p. 127.
33. ^ a b Nolan, Christopher (2002). Memento DVD commentary (DVD). Columbia TriStar.
34. ^ a b Mottram 2002, p. 133.
35. ^ Mottram 2002, p. 134.
36. ^ Mottram 2002, pp. 154–155.
37. ^ Mottram 2002, pp. 156–157.
38. ^ Mottram 2002, p. 92, 96.
39. ^ Mottram 2002, p. 96.
40. ^ Julyan, David. "Comments on Memento". Davidjulyan.com. Archived from the original on July 17, 2007. Retrieved August 8, 2007.
41. ^ Mottram 2002, p. 99.
42. ^ "Track Listing for "Memento: Music For and Inspired by the Film"". CDuniverse.com. Archived from the original on October 20, 2012. Retrieved August 8, 2007.
43. ^ Mottram 2002, p. 62-64.
44. ^ Mottram 2002, p. 65.
45. ^ a b Fierman, Daniel (March 21, 2001). "Memory Swerves: EW reports on the story behind the indie thriller". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on February 22, 2014. Retrieved August 9, 2007.
46. ^ Mottram 2002, p. 52.
47. ^ Mottram 2002, p. 58.
48. ^ Mottram 2002, p. 67.
49. ^ "Official site". otnemem.com. Archived from the original on March 4, 2020. Retrieved August 9, 2007.
50. ^ a b Mottram 2002, p. 74.
51. ^ a b c d Bovberg, Jason (May 4, 2002). "Memento: Limited Edition". DVDtalk.com. Archived from the original on November 28, 2022. Retrieved March 6, 2022.
52. ^ Calonge, Juan (December 2, 2010). "The Last Unicorn, Memento 10th Anniversary Blu-ray Announced". Blu-ray.com. Archived from the original on May 13, 2022. Retrieved December 2, 2010.
53. ^ a b "Memento Weekend Box Office". Box Office Mojo. Archived from the original on December 8, 2018. Retrieved December 18, 2006.
54. ^ "Memento (2000)". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango. Archived from the original on November 27, 2022. Retrieved April 9, 2021.
55. ^ "Memento Reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on December 28, 2017. Retrieved July 31, 2018.
56. ^ Berardinelli, James (December 31, 2001). "Berardinelli's Top Ten for 2001". ReelViews.net. Archived from the original on December 31, 2022. Retrieved December 16, 2006.
57. ^ Berardinelli, James. "Berardinelli's All-Time Top 100". ReelViews.net. Archived from the original on April 20, 2015. Retrieved December 16, 2006.
58. ^ a b Berardinelli, James. "Memento". ReelViews.net. Archived from the original on November 14, 2019. Retrieved December 16, 2006.
59. ^ Arnold, William (March 30, 2001). "Memento is new, original, possibly even great". Seattle Post-Intelligencer. Archived from the original on July 25, 2008. Retrieved December 16, 2006.
60. ^ Blackwelder, Rob. "Blanks for the Memories". SPLICEDwire.com. Archived from the original on December 11, 2017. Retrieved December 18, 2006.
61. ^ Baumgarten, Marjorie (March 30, 2001). "Memento". Austin Chronicle. Archived from the original on August 2, 2003. Retrieved December 18, 2006.
62. ^ Burns, Sean (March 28, 2001). "Ain't It the Truth?". Philadelphia Weekly. Archived from the original on November 5, 2004. Retrieved December 18, 2006.
63. ^ Ebert, Roger (April 13, 2001). "Memento". Chicago Sun-Times. Archived from the original on October 3, 2012. Retrieved December 18, 2006.
64. ^ Rosenbaum, Jonathan (March 19, 2004). "A Stylist Hits His Stride". Archived from the original on January 10, 2021. Retrieved October 8, 2013.
65. ^ Savage, Sophia (February 27, 2013). "WGA Lists Greatest Screenplays, From 'Casablanca' and 'Godfather' to 'Memento' and 'Notorious'". wga.org. Archived from the original on August 13, 2006. Retrieved February 28, 2013.
66. ^ a b "The 75 Best Edited Films". Editors Guild Magazine. 1 (3). May 2012. Archived from the original on March 17, 2015.
67. ^ "'Titanic,' 'The Goonies,' 'Field of Dreams,' 'Memento' Added to National Film Registry". Variety. December 13, 2017. Archived from the original on December 13, 2017. Retrieved December 13, 2017.
68. ^ Koch, Christof (2004). The Quest for Consciousness: A Neurobiological Approach. Roberts and Company Publishers. p. 196. ISBN 0-9747077-0-8.
69. ^ Sternberg, E.M (June 1, 2001). "Piecing Together a Puzzling World: Memento". Science. 292 (5522): 1661–1662. doi:10.1126/science.1062103. S2CID 191345264.
70. ^ Baxendale, Sallie (December 18, 2004). "Memories aren't made of this: amnesia at the movies". BMJ. 329 (7480): 1480–1483. doi:10.1136/bmj.329.7480.1480. PMC 535990. PMID 15604191.
71. ^ Tobias, Scott (November 8, 2012). "Memento's puzzle structure hides big twists and bigger profundities". The A.V. Club. Archived from the original on August 18, 2017. Retrieved December 9, 2016.
72. ^ Molloy, Claire (2010). American Indies: Memento. Edinburgh University Press. p. 98. ISBN 9780748637713.
73. ^ Mooney, James (September 15, 2011). "Memento: Memory and Identity". Filmosophy. Archived from the original on June 25, 2021. Retrieved December 9, 2016.
74. ^ Kubie, John (August 27, 2013). "Memento and Personal Identity". blog.brainfacts.org. Society for Neuroscience. Archived from the original on September 12, 2017. Retrieved June 15, 2015.
75. ^ Klosterman, Chuck (2003). Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs: A Low Culture Manifesto. Scribner. ISBN 9780743236003.
76. ^ Stephens, Chuck (Winter 2001). "Past Imperfect". Filmmaker. Archived from the original on October 26, 2021. Retrieved December 9, 2016.
77. ^ "2001 Award Winners". National Board of Review. Archived from the original on February 13, 2020. Retrieved May 5, 2023.
78. ^ a b "AFI AWARDS 2001: Movies of the Year". AFI.com. Archived from the original on December 1, 2017. Retrieved January 26, 2011.
79. ^ "1001 Series". 1001beforeyoudie.com. July 22, 2002. Archived from the original on November 19, 2010. Retrieved January 26, 2011.
80. ^ "15th Anniversary". IMDb. Archived from the original on February 20, 2010.
81. ^ "The 50 Greatest American Independent Movies". Empire. December 5, 2006. Archived from the original on March 6, 2016. Retrieved January 26, 2011.
82. ^ "101 screenplays". Writers Guild of America West. Archived from the original on August 13, 2006.
83. ^ "The New Classics: Movies". Entertainment Weekly. June 18, 2007. Archived from the original on October 3, 2013. Retrieved September 29, 2013.
84. ^ "The 500 Greatest Movies of All Time". Empireonline.com. December 5, 2006. Archived from the original on March 22, 2012. Retrieved January 26, 2011.
85. ^ "The best films of the '00s". The A.V. Club. December 3, 2009. Archived from the original on May 27, 2013. Retrieved January 26, 2011.
86. ^ "50 Best Movies of Total Film Magazine's Lifetime". Total Film. October 26, 2012. Archived from the original on October 28, 2012. Retrieved May 5, 2023.
87. ^ "Hollywood's 100 Favorite Films". The Hollywood Reporter. June 25, 2014. Archived from the original on May 5, 2023. Retrieved May 5, 2023.
88. ^ "The 301 Greatest Movies Of All Time". Empireonline.com. Archived from the original on July 12, 2014. Retrieved May 29, 2014.
89. ^ "The 21st Century's 100 greatest films". BBC. August 23, 2016. Archived from the original on January 31, 2017. Retrieved August 23, 2016.
90. ^ "2001 Sundance Film Festival". sundance.org. Archived from the original on September 18, 2020. Retrieved May 5, 2023.
91. ^ "2001 - Winners Of The 14th Annual Chicago Film Critics Awards". chicagofilmcritics.org. January 2013. Archived from the original on April 10, 2021. Retrieved May 5, 2023.
92. ^ "54th Annual DGA Awards". DGA.org. Archived from the original on August 2, 2020. Retrieved May 5, 2023.
93. ^ Ryan, Joal (March 23, 2002). ""Memento" Has the Spirit". E! News. Archived from the original on September 21, 2022. Retrieved May 5, 2023.
94. ^ ""Amores Perros" remporte le prix de l'UCC". La Libre Belgique (in French). January 6, 2002. Archived from the original on January 10, 2021. Retrieved October 26, 2012.
95. ^ "2001 Winners & Nominations". bifa.film. October 24, 2001. Archived from the original on January 29, 2023. Retrieved May 5, 2023.
96. ^ "BSFC Winners 2001". BostonFilmCritics.org. July 27, 2018. Archived from the original on December 9, 2018. Retrieved May 5, 2023.
97. ^ "2001 Bram Stoker Award Nominees & Winners". Bram Stoker Awards. Archived from the original on August 9, 2022. Retrieved December 13, 2021.
98. ^ "The 7th Critics Choice Movie Awards". bfca.org. Archived from the original on January 7, 2013. Retrieved May 5, 2023.
99. ^ "The 2001 Saturn Awards". MovieWeb. June 13, 2002. Archived from the original on January 6, 2021. Retrieved May 5, 2023.
100. ^ "2001 Artios Award Winners". Casting Society. Archived from the original on April 8, 2023. Retrieved May 5, 2023.
101. ^ Wise, Damon (October 15, 2000). "It's unforgettable". The Guardian. Archived from the original on May 5, 2023. Retrieved May 5, 2023.
102. ^ "All Winners". Edgar Awards. Archived from the original on May 5, 2023. Retrieved May 5, 2023.
103. ^ "2001 FFCC Award Winners". Florida Film Critics Circle. Archived from the original on August 24, 2021. Retrieved May 5, 2023.
104. ^ "GTA3 Nominees (2002)". goldentrailer.com. Archived from the original on November 28, 2017. Retrieved May 5, 2023.
105. ^ "Memento". AFI Catalog of Feature Films. Archived from the original on March 29, 2023. Retrieved May 5, 2023.
106. ^ "27th Annual Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards". lafca.net. Archived from the original on March 3, 2012. Retrieved May 5, 2023.
107. ^ Mancini, Rob (June 3, 2002). "'Lord Of The Rings,' Nicole Kidman On Top At MTV Movie Awards". MTV. Archived from the original on January 16, 2023. Retrieved May 5, 2023.
108. ^ "2001 Awards". ofcs.org. January 3, 2012. Archived from the original on August 21, 2019. Retrieved May 5, 2023.
109. ^ Kelly, Brendan (December 19, 2001). "'Memento' remembered by Toronto crix". Variety. Archived from the original on January 9, 2023. Retrieved May 5, 2023.
110. ^ "2nd Annual Award Winners". Vancouver Film Critics. January 31, 2002. Archived from the original on January 9, 2023. Retrieved May 5, 2023.
111. ^ Kit, Borys (November 16, 2015). "Christopher Nolan's 'Memento' to Get Remake". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on November 8, 2020. Retrieved November 16, 2015.
112. ^ "That remake of Christopher Nolan's 'Memento' is still happening, but its producer insists 'it is not really a remake' just 'something similar'". Metro US. April 20, 2018. Archived from the original on November 28, 2020. Retrieved August 30, 2020.
113. ^ a b "When Christopher Nolan got upset with Ghajini filmmaker AR Murugadoss: 'Heard one of my films has been copied…'". The Indian Express. September 25, 2022. Archived from the original on August 20, 2023. Retrieved August 20, 2023.

• Mottram, James (2002). The Making of Memento. New York: Faber. ISBN 0-571-21488-6.

• Official website
• Memento at IMDb
• Memento at the TCM Movie Database
• Memento at AllMovie
• Plot Holes: Memento, on how certain discrepancies might be plot holes or of more significance, at Slate
• Memento and anterograde amnesia