"Memento" Presentation Outline

I. Memento is a film about brain damaged insurance investigator who has made his life’s purpose to find the killer behind his wife’s death, though it is tougher than what most individuals go through since his condition with short term memory interrupts his search.

II. Characteristics and Conventions of the Film that Link it to Classic Film Noir

1. Protagonist is Detective Figure
a. Like many classical noir films the protagonist acts as a detective figure on the quest to find his wife’s murderer.
b. Leonard discovers clues, follows leads, and investigates every piece of information he comes across to come to the conclusion to this mystery.
c. All of this makes him have the appearance of the hero of the film but certain aspects tend to sway you to think that he is not all what he appears to be, which shows a bit of a dark side to him.

2. Femme Fatale
a. Natalie’s manipulation of Leonard’s condition.
i. She takes advantage of Leonard’s short memory loss by planning a whole scenario in order for her to influence him to kill a man that is troubling her.
3. Filming Style
a. The black and white scenes are the most obvious aspects of the film that relate to classic noir.
b. Low angle shots used gives the character a more ominous look. These scenes helped the viewer understand his condition but still left vagueness in the film since you were not sure exactly what was happening since the film jumped around a lot.
III. Elements of the Film that Deviate from Classic Film Noir and Link it to Neo Noir
1. Filming Style
a. Story is told backwards, scene by scene, and it is so uniquely and well put together because it keeps the audience thoroughly engaged and constantly questioning what happened.
2. Question of Identity
a. Even though the story is voice-over narrated by the actual protagonist Leonard, it is difficult to assure that everything said in his head is true because of his debilitating condition of short-term memory loss, causing him to be incredibly unreliable.
b. In many cases he would find himself in a scenario and not remember why he was there or what was happening.
i. For example, there is a scene where he finds himself running and asks himself “What am I doing? I’m chasing this guy … No, he’s chasing me.” This question of identity is an element not found in most classic noirs which leads us into the neo-noir category.

IV. Quotes from Outside Sources
Source One:
Context:
When it comes to the term noir, it is hard to decipher whether it is a genre, style or historic cycle. In an article about Andrew Dicko’s book, Street With No Name, writer Ronald Wilson.
Quote from source:
explains how Dicko considers noir as an on-going genre because of its European roots and influences and how it is somewhat updated every year.
Significance:
Classic noir is usually known for its dark shadows, black and white pictures, moral corruption and uncertainty; all elements which relates to the film Memento.
Source Two:
Context:
According to Eric Szyszka in his article “Brain Damage: Neo-noir in the Nineties (Part II)”…
Quote from Source:
“Memento yet has a much deeper and more complex anxiety than neo-noirs of the early 90's or any other time could have maintained.”
Significance:
Even though Memento at first may appear to have more classic noir elements, with the crime, shadows, narration, and complexity, it was made in the year 2000, in which then the world has far more imagination to push the envelope in the classical noir genre and transform it into this stunning, innovative, almost intimidating, new classification.

11: That's not noir.

I chose a film that one would question about it being noir. Why? Simply because it does not take place in a city like Los Angeles or New York, nor does it have gangs, and a femme fatale. But it's not like every story that is noir have these exact qualities. Film noir/Neo-noir has many different elements to it and this movie sure enough has them.

So what film did I choose?

The movie is called "Moon" and it was directed by Duncan Jones. It's more of a science-fiction movie but in my opinion, it definitely has film noir qualities.

It takes place on the moon, and it is about an astronaut named Sam, who has to stay on the moon for 3 years, with no company but a robot named Gerty. [I bet you're already questioning why I chose this.. but let me keep explaining.]
For all these years he is serving away from home, he has no live communication, forcing him to talk to himself once in a while. Sooner or later, he starts to see things and display moral corruption once he discovers someone who looks exactly like him and has the same name.
Soon the two work together to figure out if they are clones or not.

Throughout the movie, there is a dark sense, twists, lying, flashbacks, desperation, etc. It is definitely a must see.





Ansen, David, and Tara Weingarten. "The neo-noir '90s." Newsweek 130.17 (1997): 68. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Web. 23 Apr. 2011.

Frey, Mattias. "No(ir) Place to Go: Spatial Anxiety and Sartorial Intertextuality in Die Unberührbare." Cinema Journal 45.4 (2006): 64-80. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Web. 23 Apr. 2011.

Hartley, Foster. "The Philosophy of Neo-Noir." Film Criticism 34.1 (2009): 83-86. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Web. 23 Apr. 2011.

Mccarthy, Erin. "Duncan Jones." Popular Mechanics 186.7 (2009): 19. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Web. 23 Apr. 2011.

Zizek, Slavoj. "History Against Historicism." European Journal of English Studies 4.2 (2000): 101-110. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Web. 23 Apr. 2011.

9. All I hear is Ringing [bells and phones]

In the story “The Kidnapper Bell,” Jim Pascoe does a great job describing the protagonist’s environment and clearly creates a distinct sense of place that distinguishes it from others.
The bar, for example, was specifically in Chinatown, with a wobbly square table and filled with a variety of people. He also gives a good description when it comes to the L.A. River, and how tiny whirlpools eddying in the stream differ from any other place.
Every detail he gave with the story put a clear picture in my mind, from the bar, to the drive towards the river, to the fence around the river, to the apartment, to the six cats, to the tunnels full of graffiti, to the glass, up to his own apartment.
I really tried to picture everything he saw. “There’s something familiar about the shape of these drain covers, the way the upper hinges taper off to points on either side of the large circle.” (Hamilton, Pascoe, 219) I still question what was so familiar about it? I think I may have to reread this story to understand it more because even though a lot of it was detailed, at the same time, it was so vague.

In the story “City of Commerce,” Neal Pollack also does a good job in displaying the environment. I don’t know if it was only because I’m a little familiar with the 110 and the I-5 but I felt I understood where he was going. The way he described this casino also allowed me to see it different than other casinos, since the protagonist describes it as “ugly, almost as thought the casino were deliberately trying to throw us off our game.” (Hamilton, Pollack, 231)
I was a bit confused with the location of the hotel and the casino, or at least the distance of it. Or wait ---- was the casino ALSO a hotel and the Russian man was staying there? Because I was a bit surprised when I found out that his car was at the same place.

BTW. This is off topic but was it only me, or were any of you surprised that the protagonist from “The Kidnapper Bell” had a wife!? I automatically assumed he was single, so this totally shocked me.
I was also shocked that the protagonist from “City of Commerce” just gave up completely and drove away to nothing. Not exactly a satisfying ending..

Always having trouble finding out how many words you've written?

Hopefully this helps!(;

8. Was it Richard? or Anthony?

The Method by James Fitch and Morocco Junction by Patt Morrison were were a bit different than I had expected it to be. Especially because of the obvious fact that both were narrated from a woman's perspective unlike the usual male we've been exposed to.
But if I were to recommend someone to read one of these two stories, I'd definitely go with The Method.
Why? Because from beginning to end, the narrator and protagonist, Holly captured and kept our attention by explaining how she's different from the norm. She had me wonder about this mysterious man that walked into Orzo, the way she wondered about him. I was literally writing notes in my book and highlighting/underlining certain words or phrases because I had a feeling it all meant something. This is all unlike Morocco Junction. Sure, it was a bit interesting on how she got her information inspired by her father and her intro really had me because I could really relate when it came to noticing how the streets were a lot creamier than the usual asphalt. But it didn't seem to have the same click that The Method had.
I was a bit taken on how Holly was the one being hypnotized by Richard, or Anthony [whatever his real name is] rather than it being the other way around, but I loved the way she dealt with it in the end.
I was worried about reading another disappointing end, but it was no where near. I kind of wish the story had gone a bit longer though. But regardless, it was definitely a great read and I recommend it.

7. Thug life?

Was it just me, or did "Dangerous Days" make you start talking all gangstah? Okay, maybe that was a bit irrelevant, but just saying.
When it comes to geography, sure, both of these stories took in the L.A. area, and they most definitely gave that L.A. feel, but you could really sense difference in the way each other decribed the scenario.
In Dangerous Days, the scenario changed often, and I had more of a day light kind of feel for quite a bit of the story. When it came to dark, it was all about them being indoors or climbing up a flight of stairs. But even Esmeralda's murder was in the morning.
Silicon alley was a gray market that flourished in the backstreets of Hong Kong's hi-tech district. This story felt more dark because of the way the streets were described and how alleys were placed in. It also had murders, and a gang life, but unlike "Dangerous Days" the characters weren't as successfully wealthy from their deeds.

4. Keyes, the con man?

I'm sorry , but the novel's conclusion did not satisfy me at all. Maybe because I misread a few lines at first, that had me jumping into crazy conclusions [until I reread it and understood] & that might have increased my expectations, but still, it was no where near what I had expected....and that is not a good thing. What sucks even more, is how I was really enjoying this story; it kept getting more interesting as I continued and I was really looking forward to the end and couldn't stop wondering what was going to happen. But to see both of them unharmed, untouched, with no punishment at all .. Now that had me speechless.
I had a different ending in mind. There was a section that I had misread on page 113 because of the non-labelled dialog. "'Your man Keyes--he's quite a matchmaker.'" At first, I thought this was said by Walter implying that Keyes was Phyllis' man. It had me jump straight into thinking that Keyes was her real partner and that he came up with the whole plan of the murder, the shooting, and conning Walter into it. It made so much sense to me because how the hell did he figure out the murder so well and so quickly, it's like he had done it before! I thought that everything was an act, especially the story he told Walter about Sachetti. Maybe that's what he meant when he had that funny look on his face and said "You've got no reason to thank me."
But no, that wasn't how it ended and it was no where near. I thought it was nice enough for Keyes to let Walter go but to have Phyllis there with him?
If she's really that dangerous, why not put an end to her?

But, that's just my opinion.

3: The Devil-ish Angel

Out of the three types of noir women, Phyllis Nirdlinger fits well under the description of a femme fatale. From the very beginning her looks are brought up and automatically leaves an effect on the protagonist, Walter. Even without doing much, she pretty much had him under her control; he wanted to leave, he knew he should have left but his feelings for her kept him from ignoring her and by the second and third visits they had a full connection and partnership to murder her own husband.
At first it sets the impression that the protagonist had come up with the idea of murder, but within the passage, his talk with Phyllis’ step daughter Lola, implied that this plan for murder was definitely her idea, even the fact that Phyllis mentions the idea that she just loves death, proves it.
According to John Blaser in his article “No Place for a Woman,” a femme fatale refuses to play the role of a devoted wife and loving mother that mainstream society prescribes for women. And instead, she finds marriage to be confining, loveless, sexless, and dull, and she uses all of her cunning and sexual attractiveness to gain her independence.
In a way, this is true for Phyllis but the way she talks to Walter has you question if she is really manipulating him or is actually in love with him.
You could never be too sure because she had probably murdered the first Mrs. Nirdlinger and ended up murdering her husband as well. She might be after the same thing with Walter.
But overall, Phyllis covers the description “frustrated and deviant, half predator, half prey, detached yet ensnared, she falls victims into her own traps”

1: Black&White > Color

In the article, "The Neo-Noir 90s", Ansen and Tara tell us how after World War II "the French critics coined the term, film noir, to describe the crime-infested, shadow-draped, black-and-white movies."

When I think film noir, I think dark, dangerous, and mysterious. I picture city nights with tall buildings and pure black shadows in alleys with cats in trashcans and thieves lurking around. 

Film noir ironically had its start during an age of peace and prosperity. Storytellers found a way to look around our overwhelmed nation and came up with a new world where “the lines between good and evil get crossed”; a world where you wouldn’t always be able to tell the difference between a super hero and a villain.  

Many noir “vision” inspirations were from novelists like Raymond Chandler, Dashiell Hammett and Cain and when it came to “visual style” most of it was imported from Europe by people who has experiences with different worlds to add history.

The classical period of film noir came to an end around the 50s and began to evolve into a more variations psychologically.