Memento question

[Cinemaman]

I was re-watching one of my favorite movie, Memento and I couldn't understand one thing.

My question is:

Spoiler

If Leonard was stimulant (as we can understand, Sammy is parthy Lenny), then why had he needed to do all this stuff with loosing memory and killing his wife???(Or he didn't have her)

 

[Toe Tags]

Spoiler

Here's how everything went down: the rape happened, yes. This is when Leonard became an amnesiac. His wife was under the suspiscion that he was faking it all because he didn't know how to cope with the rape. At the same time, she's a diabetic. The same thing that occurs in the Sammy story is what truly happened Leonard. There are mentions throughout the film about how amnesiacs devise stories made of thier own memories to fill the spaces that forgotten memories hold. The story that someone else killed Leonard's wife the night of the rape is the story he devised for that instance. He devised the story of Sammy for the similar instance of being able to explain to those whom he meets of his condition ("Have I told you about Sammy Jankis?" "Every g-ddamn time Lenny").

I'm assuming you've only watched the film once as mulitple re-watchings are very rewarding to the entire mystery. I hope the above helps explain it in a little more clarity.

 

[CConn]

So wait...what really happened to his wife?

And yeah, I've only seen it once.

 

[Cinemaman]

Spoiler

Here's how everything went down: the rape happened, yes. This is when Leonard became an amnesiac. His wife was under the suspiscion that he was faking it all because he didn't know how to cope with the rape. At the same time, she's a diabetic. The same thing that occurs in the Sammy story is what truly happened Leonard. There are mentions throughout the film about how amnesiacs devise stories made of thier own memories to fill the spaces that forgotten memories hold. The story that someone else killed Leonard's wife the night of the rape is the story he devised for that instance. He devised the story of Sammy for the similar instance of being able to explain to those whom he meets of his condition ("Have I told you about Sammy Jankis?" "Every g-ddamn time Lenny").

I'm assuming you've only watched the film once as mulitple re-watchings are very rewarding to the entire mystery. I hope the above helps explain it in a little more clarity.

Yeah, thanx, now I can realize why she thought that he had been faking (that was my question; about other aspects, I know enough)

BTW, I saw it 5-6 times, but it was my only question without answer.

 

[Cinemaman]

So wait...what really happened to his wife?

And yeah, I've only seen it once.

Spoiler

Two junkies break into Lenny's house at night and try to rape/kill the wife. Lenny kills one (with the white mask, and NO hat), but the other person with black hat on, shoves Lenny into the mirror and causes the brain damage. The wife lives. Lenny and his wife begin dealing with his condition. His wife became desperate of Lenny’s condition. By giving Lenny a final test, she let Lenny kill herself by overdose insulin. Lenny made himself to believe that his wife was raped and KILLED on that day.

 

[ultimatefan]

This is what I love about Nolan, his movies are always intricate, they´re always worth repeat viewing to catch up on things you might have missed in the first time.

 

[Chris Wallace]

I love the question raised by Quentin Tarantino; how can he remember that he HAS this condition?

 

[ultimatefan]

I love the question raised by Quentin Tarantino; how can he remember that he HAS this condition?

Remember, he can retain a memory if he repeats the information many times, it was probably told him a number of times that he had the condition. That or he wrote it down somewhere.

 

[JTStarkiller]

Isn't this all assuming Teddy is telling the truth at the end? There's really no reason to believe a word he says. Not saying he is lying, but it could go either way.

 

[Lex Luthor]

SBP's answer:

To start off, Lenny is partly Sammy. Sammy did infact exist.
Sammy was indeed a faker. Lenny's wife did infact survive the attack (according to official site). Although Lenny's injury leaves him suffering from a condition called anterograde amnesia, which means that he can't create new long-term memories. Lenny's wife had diabetes. Lenny lived with his wife for about 9 months after the attack. His wife became desperate of Lenny's condition. By giving Lenny a final test, she allowed Lenny kill her by overdose insulin. After that, Lenny was admitted to a mental hospital and escaped. But while In the hospital, he developed some ability to make new memories through "conditioning" (The most famous one is that he can remember his own condition. Taking another step by assuming that he conditioned himself Sammy's story, this would make the whole plot much more plausible).

But although Lenny would not remember killing his wife by insulin, since it happened after the attack, Lenny simply "conditioned" himself to remember the story in a new way (the Sammy story).

Now as far as Lenny lying alongside his wife, with the triumphant tattoo of "I've done it" on the breast near the end of the movie ... lets please remember the facts.

His wife has died.

So my answer is that the scene is merely a fantasy of Lenny's.

Why?

Because it's not a flashback. In the film, we already see that he doesnt have the tattoo, so he couldnt have had it in the past.
It's a fantasy. Which would make sense in the context. At this point in the film, Lenny has just set in motion a plan to avenge his wife. And in short, he's visualizing his own sense of satisfaction and peace.

Or something like that.

 

[JTStarkiller]

That's a great answer SBP. One that I believed for the longest time. But again, to restate my previous post, this is all based on the fact that Teddy is telling the truth.

There's no real reason to believe anything he has to say (perhaps some of it is true, and some isn't). So that makes it iffy. Nolan also says some interesting things in the commentary that present some doubt to this theory: mainly the fact that Leonard's scar gets worse as the film progresses. If that's true, there's no way he's had the condition a year. Why would a scar heal in a matter of days a year after his attack?

 

[Toe Tags]

So here's another question to ponder while I go over everyone else's replies on the topic: if Teddy wasn't telling the truth, are we to believe that he's made up other stories before in front of Lenny? He "tells" Lenny and the audience that he had been used before to get a hold of other people Teddy considers bad with the initials J.G. - using Leonard as the pawn - but has Teddy ever told the same story to Leonard twice? Was he telling him the right story this time around? Will he ever tell him the correct story?

Again, someone mentioned earlier about how much Nolan likes to play with his audience, keep them on the edge of their seats, keep them guessing - even when the film is over. It's a treat to watch any of his films (especially Memento and Following) repeatedly; you always catch other small details that play into the entire mystery of the film (also noticable in Batman Begins and Insomnia -

Spoiler

It honestly took me two or three viewings of the film before I finally realized that Dormer having Killed Hap was the cause of his stress and lack of sleep

) and I hope The Prestige has numerous surprises for detail-loving cinema fans.

 

[Cinemaman]

I think 65% of what Teddy said is the truth, but he also can lie.

Besides, as I think, Lenny is some kind of serial killer (if Teddy says truth), becauyse everytime he kills people, because of thinking that they are John G.

It is more like illusion mind games.

 

[Chris Wallace]

And it's pretty clear that he will NEVER tell Lenny anything different.

 

[Cinemaman]

And it's pretty clear that he will NEVER tell Lenny anything different.

Because he died.

 

[Chris Wallace]

Yeah-that's what I meant.

 

[Cinemaman]

Yeah-that's what I meant.

I also would say that Lenny has alter ago or his mind has control on him.

Why I think he can have alter-ago?

Well, because of that scene, in which Teddy tells Lenny truth. Then, we see Lenny changing dress and having a new car.
He also writes "His lying" on Teddy's pic, because he didn't want to know that he killed his wife. So in this scene, we see another person, not that "Lenny" that we knew.

Why I think his mind can have control on him?

Because it is like mind's games. Mind clears his memory and makes him think like he is looking fo a killer of his wife, even if it isn't so.

Memento is one of movioes, which can be dscussed several times, but still, it will stay as very mysterious movie.

You can find answers only in your mind, not in this movie. Memento just gives you some hints on real answers.

 

[maxwell's demon]

I was re-watching one of my favorite movie...

I'm assuming you've only watched the film once ...

PS- i was wondering- has anyone ever re-edited the whole film back to front? like on youtube or somewhere?

 

[JTStarkiller]

PS- i was wondering- has anyone ever re-edited the whole film back to front? like on youtube or somewhere?

If you've got the 2 disc version, you can watch it that way. Don't know if it's possible on the single disc.

 

[maxwell's demon]

have you watched it that way? if so, what was it like?

 

[Chris Wallace]

If you've got the 2 disc version, you can watch it that way. Don't know if it's possible on the single disc.

I'd heard that. I think it would lose some of its impact.

 

[maxwell's demon]

well yeah...

 

[ChrisBaleBatman]

But, I think after already watching it in it's original form, watching it the opposite way is fine. Hell, it could make more sense of things.

 

[JTStarkiller]

I haven't yet, and I'm not sure I ever will. I mean, after watching it 4-5 times the regular way, watching it forwards isn't really going to help/matter, and it will definitely lose some of its charm.

So, bottom line, I just think it's kinda pointless.

 

[ultimatefan]

I don´t think I´ll ever see it that way, cuz to get the fuill enjoyment of the movie, you have to experience it the way Lenny does, his sense of disorientation and loss of regular references. Some say it´s a plot-driven and not character-driven movie, but the plot IS the character, the fragmented and purposefully confusing nature of the plot reflects the confusion in Lenny´s mind.