Memento Film Analysis

In the year 2000, the philosophical movie genre was once again revolutionized when the psychological thriller, Memento, was released. Directed by Christopher Nolan and portrayed by Guy Pearce, Carrie-Anne Moss, and Joe Pantoliano, Memento became an instant classic, as Christopher Nolan again blew audiences away as Memento 's plot was portrayed chronologically backward, with flashbacks leading to the movie 's climax. It was praised by many neuroscientists for it is nearly a perfect representation of how memory works when limited by a mental deficiency. Memento dove into the different philosophical topics of memory, mind, and personal identity. Memento follows the life of ex-insurance investigator, Leonard Shelby, who is hunting

The officer also suggested to Leonard that it was not Sammy who caused the death of his wife by overdose, but rather it was, in fact, Leonard who did. Leonard does not take kindly to this and distorts all his notes to not trust the officer whose name is John Edward "Teddy" Gammell, and makes him the target of his quest for vengeance, eventually leading to the death of officer Gammell. The first philosophical topic to be discussed in Memento is the topic of memory. Memory is one of this movie 's main emphases and it can be seen throughout the movie as Leonard constantly brings up his memory deficiency. There are several times throughout the film where he is also referred to as the "memory man," thus reaffirming the importance of memory to the movie. The significance of memory is first seen in the opening sequence of the film. As opposed to what many people would expect, the movie opens in a reverse chronological sequence of a hand developing a polaroid, but instead of the photo becoming clearer, it fades away and the picture is lost. This scene is an allusion to the

As Christians, personal identity is not found in what one believes about himself or what others say about him. Our identity is found Christ alone, who has called us beautiful and His own. Through His redemptive power, all Christians are made pure and righteous. This does not mean that Christians are perfect human beings, but it does mean that Christians have the means to live better lives then before one received Christ as Savior. The Bible says that old things have passed away, and all things are made new through Christ Jesus and it goes on to say that we are a new creation. So with all this in mind, personal identity is established through and only through God our Father, who gives us a new identity in Him. Like The Matrix, Memento showed how much philosophy permeates Hollywood. Christopher Nolan has a tendency of testing his audiences with philosophical thoughts that many others would not dare put into their films, simply because of the magnitude and complexity of the philosophies presented. He based much of his movie on the works of David Hume and presented a psychological thriller that still brings thrills after fifteen years. By compiling the philosophies of memory, mind, and personal identity,