Leonard Shelby - Saviour or Serial Killer?
During my Sake night, all of the rushes of Memento came roaring back in a surly haze. The first time I ever saw Memento was at the Canada Square at 4:05pm, on July 15th, 2001. I believe it was a Sunday, and was the last day that Canada Square operated under Cineplex Odeon. After that, it turned into an offshoot of the Famous Players' Silvercity, which was down the street. I hadn't seen the commercial for Memento, but I had seen the ad in the paper. The poster of Memento gave me one of those eerie connections. When I saw it in the paper, I got this overwhelming feeling that I had to see this movie. It happens occasionally, and for some reason, every time I get "poster goose bumps," I end up with a memorable movie experience. Memento, Donnie Darko, The Butterfly Effect; all gave me goose bumps just from looking at the poster.
During Canada Square's last stand against "The Beast," I found myself experiencing my first state of, "a tickled mind." Two nights ago, all of those feelings came rushing back. I've seen Memento at least 20 times. It's become one of the movies that I unknowingly quote from, yet during my WUI (Watching Under the Influence), the subtle sub-plots of Leonard Shelby were revisited. For those of you who haven't seen it, I'll only reveal enough info to ruin the movie for the rest of your life. Leonard kills Teddy! Or should I say, John G.
The basic outline of Memento is that, one man named Leonard Shelby, is on a quest for vengeance. Not in the Punisher sense, but more in a "to maintain his mentality" sort of way. I guess more of a, "maintain what's left of his mentality" way. For you see, Leonard Shelby has no short term memory.
One year before the events of Memento, Leonard's house was broken into. He awoke in his bed, to discover his wife was missing. As clarity set in, he soon realized what was going on. Muffled screams were coming from the bathroom, and it was obvious that there was more than one person in there. Leonard ran for his pistol and burst into the bathroom, to find his wife being raped by two masked men. Leonard shot one, but before he could fire again, the other burglar smashed his head into the bathroom mirror. He collapsed to the crowd, as blood began to pour out of his head. His wife, inches away from his face, slowly suffocated under a shower curtain.
We are taken through the movie, as Leonard searches for the burglar, which eluded the police. The police believed that there was only one criminal, and that there was enough evidence to support this theory. This elusive criminal, is the purpose of Leonard's quest. To seek vengeance on behalf of his dead wife. To cope with his condition, Leonard uses Polaroids, notes, and his tattoo-laden body as a way to record his progress. Across Leonard's chest is a tattoo reading, "John G. Raped And Murdered My Wife." Throughout the movie, Leonard floats through this small town in search of this John G. He kills a drug dealer named Jimmy Grantz, which was poorly portrayed as a grown-up freshman, and John Edward Gamble, also known as "Teddy" These two John G.'s, or James (According to Fact 1 on his left thigh), were thought to be the criminal, responsible for his wife's death.
Christopher Nolan, who co-wrote and directed, uses, what I could only call, "Reversovision" to tell his story. We are shown Leonard killing Teddy in reverse, and from there, the story alternates between a phone call, and the events leading up to Teddy's death. This is where some people begin to become confused, for the phone call sequences are shown in mostly chronological order, while the other shots are shown in reverse. Each scene ends where the prior one began. If you are able to keep a steady mind and can watch a movie without having key plotpoints spoon-fed to you (which I hate), then you'll eventually realize the nightmare of this movie. If you can't then it's your lucky day. Leonard already killed John G. The man he is searching for in the movie, is already dead. We learn that his wife survived the break-in, and that the infamous Sammy Jankis, was actually Leonard. He killed his wife, or his wife committed suicide through Leonard's actions. Take your pick. For those of you who have already seen Memento, and are questioning that theory........pipe down. I'm right. It's all in the flash of Lenny at the psych hospital.
Now that you have a brief overview of what happens, I can begin with the mind tickling stuff. As my subtitle reads, Leonard may in fact be a serial killer. I have a few hidden theories as to the true nature of Leonard. The first, which is not quite as mentally satisfying, is that Leonard is killing on behalf of someone else. Teddy, is not just an undercover cop, but an undercover agent of Good. Is it possible that this is in fact a movie with religious undertones, where Leonard is a tortured soul working on behalf of the Big Red Guy? No, not Ron Perlman, the other red guy. Perhaps, Lenny is possessed and Teddy is here to try and save the occasional, unfortunate soul? Possible, not likely, but a lot of fun to contemplate while watching the movie. On the other end of the Teddy/Lenny spectrum, you might find yourself wondering if Teddy is setting certain people up for Leonard to kill. Is Teddy the devil? Trying to kill the innocent through Leonard's innocent hands? Or is he just a dirty cop who's trying to get ahead by using a mentality disabled vigilante? All very unlikely scenarios that crept upon me as I tumbled through the movie.
"Have you seen my car? I can't remember where I parked."
My most favourite assumption of Memento, has absolutely nothing to do with religion. About every 10 minutes I return to the same haunting thought. What if this is the mentality of an everyday serial killer? Perhaps Dahmer went in search of a certain person, but could never remember who that person was. It's a disturbing way to watch the movie, especially if this thought springs upon you. Let's say Teddy helps Leonard get out the psych hospital, and aids him in his quest to find John G.. After John G. is killed, Leonard goes in search of John G. again, and ends up killing an innocent person, whom he believes to be that elusive criminal. He forgets again, and searches for another. Teddy is the voice of reason in this movie as he can help support any possible theory. He says that there are a lot of John G.'s and that Leonard will find another one, since Jimmy Grants wasn't the right one. This could also support the theory that Teddy is using Leonard as an "unconscious mercenary." Perhaps Teddy let Leonard wander to far, and he has to try and catch him before he murders another innocent bystander, but is unfortunately caught in his own game of cat and mouse, and is killed by Leonard. Then Leonard is left to roam the country, murdering an endless amount of John G.'s, or if his tattoo smudges, "John C."s. Will anyone ever catch him? Of course not. Teddy told us so. "Nobody would ever suspect (him). That's why (he's) so good at it," which once again could be used to prove that Leonard is Teddy's puppet.
Nolan takes the viewer down a serpentine road, leaving us to fill in the occasional pothole with whatever we want. Along with a truly innovative spin on basic storytelling, Memento is, by far, one of the most entertaining movies of the past decade. With solid performances from Joe Pantoliano as "Teddy", and Carrie Anne Moss as "Natalie," it's hard to be distracted from Guy Pearce's amazing talent in this movie. Yes, The Time Machine sucked, but Pearce is great as the clueless, yet charming Shelby. If you are a matrix fan like me, you can also have some fun throughout the movie, pretending that Shelby is "The One" on a quest, with help from Cypher and Trinity. Memento is a suspenseful film, laced with laughter and drama. If you have not seen this film yet, I strongly suggest that you get your hands on a copy. You won't be disappointed. Memento is an excellent memorable film. I can honestly say I will always:
"Remember Sammy Jankis."