Here's a scenario that might work:
After the attack, Leonard loses his ability to form new memories.
His wife doesn't die, but he himself does end up in a mental institution (for a reason yet to be worked out). He escapes from the institution, either by himself or, more likely, with the help of the detective who handled his wife's case (Teddy/John G.), who has realized what a great weapon he can be, if he can be convinced that his wife died and he needs to seek revenge. He gives Leonard the police file with the crucial pages missing, sets him up at the motel and puts him to work hunting down and killing various bad guys, and taking pictures of him triumphant, just in case he needs proof later to turn him off. Teddy keeps sending him back to the hotel because his wife is alive at home the whole time. The film plays out the way that it does, with Teddy (John G.) finally falling prey to his own Frankenstein monster in the end, at which point Leonard takes the photo to remind himself that he has done it, goes to the tattoo parlor and has "I did it" tattooed on his chest, and (somehow) wanders home to be with his wife, who has been alive the whole time.
-- James V. Cordova
James: A number of people have suggested the interesting possibility that Catherine Shelby is still alive. But the Web site is unambiguous that she has indeed died. Much of the rest of your scenario, however, coincides closely with what the Web site tells us. Check it out.
Thanks so much for the insight you offered into "Memento." By far it's my favorite movie of the year. I'm a relative babe in the woods, having seen the movie only once. I'm anxiously awaiting its release on DVD for further viewing, though. My question for you is, How can I get ahold of the short story upon which the movie is based? Is it available on the Web? Any help is greatly appreciated.
-- Jill Haynie
Jill: Thanks. The short story -- which is very different in its details -- can be found here.
I read your story on "Memento" (along with others and discussions running in newsgroups), but I still couldn't find an answer to my question. I don't know if you noticed or not, but at the Web site, if you click on "questions" in the subheading, a new page appears with the question "who did I kill?" and, underneath, there is a blank where you can type. It looks like the truth Nolan is talking about is to be entered there by the viewer. I tried several possibilities, but none of them worked. If you haven't noticed that before, you might give it a try.
-- R. Orkun Acikgoz
Orkun: At the Web site, in the spot you're referring to, I've tried entering a bunch of different names, including "My wife." All of the names simply send the word "Question" back to its original spot -- except one. If you type "Teddy" and then click on the lower-left corner of the paper (or wherever the cursor becomes clickable), you get a montage of frames from the opening credit sequence showing Teddy's murder in reverse; then you're sent back to the main page.
I just read your article about "Memento." It's excellent! Great job.
I was a little surprised, though, that after so many viewings, you missed (or didn't find significant enough to mention) the change in Teddy's license plate. It's an important clue to the unreliability of Leonard's memory.
In scene "22/A" (great notation you've invented!), as Leonard is copying down Teddy's license plate, he reads: SG 137 IU.
(I think -- I've only seen it twice, and my memory is imperfect -- ha-ha.) But he writes the "I" without its serifs, and when he gets it tattooed on himself soon thereafter, the "I" has become a "1." In the rest of the movie, Teddy's license plate reads "SG 1371U"!
What does that mean? I think it can only be a warning to the viewer that everything in the film -- including the evidence of our "own eyes" -- is filtered through the perception of a narrator of questionable mental reliability. That's not Teddy's license plate we see; it's Leonard's perception of it.
What do you make of it?
-- Bob Glickstein
Bob: I didn't notice that one myself, but a number of people I spoke to before I wrote the piece brought it up. On both the license plate and Teddy's registration, it says "SG13 7IU." Leonard indeed writes the "1" and the "I" identically, which can be confirmed at the Web site. In shots of his tattoo, the "1" is clearly a "1", but it's a little tough to tell -- at least in my VHS copy -- whether the "I" was tattooed as an "I" or a "1." With luck the DVD will clarify this. I didn't bring it up because it's my understanding that nonpersonalized California license plates have certain standard letter/number patterns, though I'm not sure if Teddy's plate fits one of them. (My last three cars were all one digit, three letters, three digits.) Also, I have been told that if the DMV doesn't come up with an exact match, the computer tries interchanging 1's and I's and other look-alikes.
Dude -- you are nuts.
Bravo.
-- Mojo Nixon
What a waste of my goddamned time! The headline to Andy Klein's piece promises to deliver the goods, but the piece itself delivers only questions, and questions that are not questions at all but the writer's own personal confusions. There is a truth at the heart of "Memento," one that does not require four separate viewings, copious notes or special scene numbering. It requires only one viewing, and a brain unravaged by mad cow or some other clearly debilitating illness. Klein quotes directly the relevant line, in which Leonard quips that memories cannot be trusted. Does this not scream out, "Do not trust the flashbacks"? Klein asserts that manipulated flashbacks would be unfair, but the line he quotes is exactly and precisely what makes it fair. Why would Nolan include a line about the fallacies of memory if he was not saying something about his own work, if he was not warning the viewer? Klein can run around in circles in his own freaking time. There's no need to drag me along for unpleasant accompaniment.
-- Michael Batz
Next page: I'm sick of the "Memento" bandwagon!