Memento Analysis

1. Memento

2. Opening sequence
The first image we see in the title openings of memento is an close up
image of a persons hand with an polaroid and the image is of a
bloodied bathroom. This gives us an idea that someone has been killed
and the killer has taken the photo or someone such as the police.
Through the opening title sequence the person is trying to shake the
polaroid and as he is shaking it the image is fading away, this shows us
that this person has taken the polaroid recently.
The next image we see is a low angle, close up shot of a male with a
gun and it is going back in time and shows us the male loading the gun
and shooting somebody, this leads us to believe that the man with the
gun and shooting the male, is the male who has the picture in his hand.

3. The Plot
• Leonard Shelby has short term memory loss resulting from an injury he
sustained which was associated with the murder of his wife. He remembers
his life before the incident. He remembers things such as being an
insurance claims investigator. He has learned to cope with his memory loss
through dealing with a man named Sammy Jankis, a person he investigated
professionally who also had short term memory issues. Leonard prefers to
talk to people face-to-face rather than on the telephone or via the internet,
this is because he has to be able to try to discover their true intention, so he
can take Polaroid's and write short notes, the most important of those which
he tattoos on his body so that they become permanent. Leonard's wanted to
find out who murdered his wife and then take there life, he believes that he
knows the name of the man as he goes by the name ‘John G’ which is the
name he has tattooed on his body. Throughout the day Leonard is helped
by two independent people, including a man named Teddy and a woman
named Natalie. However, each time he meets them, he has no idea who
they are, why they are helping him and if indeed they are working toward
the same goal as him.

4. Characters
Sammy Jankis
Mrs Jankis

5. Shots and Sequences