Memento

Heres a short summary clip of the thriller 'Memento' by Christopher Nolan. I have included my detailed analysis of the film, and the ideas and concepts that inspired me.

How does Christopher Nolan use film language to establish narrative genre, and audience engagement in the opening scenes of ‘Memento’ (2000)?

For part of my coursework research I analysed the opening of the thriller ‘Memento’ (2000) by Christopher Nolan, focusing primarily on the Generic Conventions of thriller in addition to technical features such as camerawork, editing, mise-en-scene and sound. There are many Generic conventions we expect to see in thriller, and many of these are present in Memento. It takes concepts such as the principle of concealment to the extreme point, where things are no longer in chronological order, and even the main character is unaware of his position. The main part of the film also uses the classic ideas of voyeurism, a chase sequence, foreshadowing and many classic film noir characteristics such as the black and white, femme fatale, unknown policeman, shadowy seedy sets, and a rugged main character with nothing to lose.The opening scene of ‘Memento’ relies heavily on camerawork and framing to create an effective and dramatic introduction to the film, in a fashion converse to our concept of a traditional thriller opening. Instead of starting in a calm environment with wide shots to display setting and establish characters we are introduced to memento at its climax; witnessing the shooting of a man, and the shadows of his killer. A theme in memento is to keep the audience ignorant of goings on within the film, and this is achieved by tight framing and extreme close ups, preventing us from seeing the set or gaining a full view of the killer and victim, and teasing the audience by panning and tilting throughout the set, yet still using tight framing so as not to reveal the characters or setting. This incorporates the audience from the very beginning; creating enigma codes to be considered and keeping them curious about the plot to come. However, the audience are presented with the key aspects of the film, just in an unconventional way. The scene opens with a creative extreme close up shot of the Polaroid picture Lenny takes of Teddy’s body; an unclear introduction to the setting; tilted at an angle and too small for the audience to make sense of but clearly showing blood, and an unknown dead body, raising the enigma codes. We follow the picture up to the camera, and this gives us an unclear shadowy view of Lenny, the killer’s face, and we follow with a high angle shot looking up at him, and a low angle of the victim, Teddy. There are many extreme close ups of various objects that are used to help convey the idea of time receding, and a Dutch tilt is used to convey that something is wrong when the blood running up the wall, yet still using tight framing to keep the audience in the dark as to where the event has taken place. In the next shot we see Lenny in a cheap motel room, describing his confusion. We see him at a high angle, showing his vulnerability in not knowing where he is, and giving the idea of voyeurism, it seems as if we shouldn’t be there- almost as if it’s a CCTV camera shot. There are close ups on objects on the room, as Lenny takes in his surroundings, and conveying his confusion to the audience. Sound is effective in this scene, using silence and enhanced diegetic noise to help the audience to integrate into the action onscreen. There is a low, orchestral piece in minor key that bridges the credits to the narrative, creating a smooth transition. The background music is replaced with a low drone which brings forth the diegetic sound to the audience’s attention, which engages them more into the scene. The shaking of the picture engages the attention of the audience and makes the action more powerful, taking on more meaning, and makes it more obvious what the picture is, and that it has been taken recently. The click of the camera starts the dramatic sound sequence as it rewinds to Teddy’s dying moment, and the shock of the gunshot and cry adds to the tension and shock of the moment as well as contrasting the unsettling stark silence of the motel room in the next scene. In the motel room there is a voice over from Lenny, explaining his dilemma at waking in an alien room. This voice over is accompanied with a low, heartbeat sound, which conveys Lenny’s distress to the audience. Lenny’s voice is calm, analytic and level headed, which contrasts his accelerated heart beat, and this betrays that he is used to the situation, that he often finds himself analysing unfamiliar circumstances, which makes sense due to his condition and past profession.There is an interesting use of editing in Memento, both in the opening scenes and the rest of the film. Unlike most thrillers, there are a range of editing techniques used, such as dissolves and reveals, which help the audience relate to Lenny’s confusion as they find themselves in the same state of ignorance as himself. Nolan’s choice to edit the film using a non-chronological order worked perfectly with the plot, and kept the audience guessing until the very end scenes, where the shocking revelation was made. The use of reverse motion in the opening scenes kept the audience grasped the audience’s attention well and was a good introduction to Lenny’s condition, and the length of the shot mirrored the time span that Lenny’s memory would last for. The title cards also worked well with the film; blue and clinical like Lenny’s thoughts, and a reflective and calm colour, which made a good contrast to the blood and gore of the first scene.The colours used in the opening scenes worked well, the haunting greys and blues and the dilapidated building a good backdrop to the blood and gore that had taken place. The light coloured linen suit also gave Lenny an important air, as if he were a detective or someone of importance, and the light colour implies his innocence, which is contrasted by his general appearance, with unkempt hair, tattoos, an unshaven and cut face, giving a mixed impression as to his position and innocence. Make up and prosthetics is used a lot in the first scene also, to create the cuts and blood on both of the men, and this creates an atmosphere heavy with tension and violence, the calm after the storm, it lets us know of the events that went on beforehand. The next scene however has a huge contrast in mood, removing all of Lenny’s previous power by showing him in his underwear in a vulnerable state, and the calm clinical state of the room makes him seem confined and unsure of himself, devoid of personal possessions, which supports her mental state. Overall Memento uses many techniques very effectively to enable audience integration and narrative genre, and adds many of his own takes on conventional aspects.