Question About the Movie Memento

[SlitheryDee]

Near the end when Teddy is giving his explanation, Leonard seems to have a revelatory moment where he sees the memories he had associated with Sammy now being played out with himself and his wife in the parts he originally thought Sammy and his should occupy. That was enough for me to think that he actually had killed his wife in exactly the way he remembered Sammy doing. In actuality, some other insurance adjuster denied his claim for compensation, but Leonard usurped that identity for himself in the memory. There was in fact no physical reason for Leonard to be incapable of making new memories which, along with the fact that he was retaining memories in some roundabout subconscious way, seems to indicate that the disease was psychosomatic after all. The clip of Sammy briefly changing into Leonard in the psychiatric ward (which I don't remember noticing in the movie) only seems to further support this conclusion. Leonard killed his wife by giving her too much insulin because he was sick and suppressed new memories as they were created. That does not mean that they were not created, but that he was unable to consciously recall them until they sifted to the surface, twisted in a way that could not make him realize that he was actually making new memories. I don't remember how much supporting evidence there was for the John G. incident, but I'm inclined to think that he fabricated it whole cloth as a mechanism for coping with the guilt he felt over killing his wife.

 

[Chiropteran]

Originally posted by: SSUSeaWolf
Lenny killed his wife. It shows him for a split second in the mental hospital sitting where Sammy was sitting just before someone walked in front of the camera. It's maybe 1/8 to 1/4th of a second long, so very easy to miss

I did see that, but wasn't there also a split second scene with him with a tattoo that said "I did it"? Since he obviously didn't have that tattoo in the rest of the movie I was assuming that those scenes were just fake memories or thoughts.

I just see this as a good place to apply Occam's razor. Can you make up a plausible story involving leonard actually killing his wife and the sammy jenkins story being fake? You could, but all things considered if there is a simpler explanation that fits all the facts than why would you assume a more complicated and unlikely explanation?

 

[Chiropteran]

Originally posted by: SlitheryDee
Near the end when Teddy is giving his explanation, Leonard seems to have a revelatory moment where he sees the memories he had associated with Sammy now being played out with himself and his wife in the parts he originally thought Sammy and his should occupy.

I saw those "flashbacks" as Leonard simply thinking about what Teddy was telling him, nothing more.

 

[NaOH]

Originally posted by: Chiropteran

Originally posted by: SSUSeaWolf
Lenny killed his wife. It shows him for a split second in the mental hospital sitting where Sammy was sitting just before someone walked in front of the camera. It's maybe 1/8 to 1/4th of a second long, so very easy to miss

I did see that, but wasn't there also a split second scene with him with a tattoo that said "I did it"? Since he obviously didn't have that tattoo in the rest of the movie I was assuming that those scenes were just fake memories or thoughts.

I just see this as a good place to apply Occam's razor. Can you make up a plausible story involving leonard actually killing his wife and the sammy jenkins story being fake? You could, but all things considered if there is a simpler explanation that fits all the facts than why would you assume a more complicated and unlikely explanation?

Applying Occam's Razor to art ruins the whole point.

 

[zerocool84]

I am going to watch this movie again just to see what else I can catch. Damn this good movie for making us think so much.

 

[mAdMaLuDaWg]

Originally posted by: SSUSeaWolf

Originally posted by: mAdMaLuDaWg

Originally posted by: SSUSeaWolf
Lenny killed his wife. It shows him for a split second in the mental hospital sitting where Sammy was sitting just before someone walked in front of the camera. It's maybe 1/8 to 1/4th of a second long, so very easy to miss

I remember watching this on the computer and had to pause the video just so I could catch it. Its impossible to catch without pausing, IMO. Just 1-2 frames.

Except that I clearly caught when watching on a 19 inch tv from 8 feet away the first time I saw it on VHS, knowing nothing of the movie ahead of time.

Wasn't there a scene in a bed where the person was changed as well.