Whether or not Leonard was actually Sammy Jenkins and killed his own wife is one of the aspects of the movie that is still under debate. For instance, the idea as displayed in the film that he could be Sammy is dependent on the idea that there is a loophole in his condition. He clearly remembers that his wife was NOT diabetic before his incident, and the flashbacks he has of him shooting her up with the insulin would not have been accesible to his memory if she were to have become so after the incident, since he was not able to create ANY long term memories after that.
It is feasible, that having this story about Sammy Jenkins (an actual 3rd party character) related to him many times before, John G. uses this to convince Leonard that he really is nuts and that his wife is dead. Perhaps the motive is to keep him working for him to continue extorting criminals? Perhaps his wife was still alive (after all, she supposedly lived through the original incident, he just can't remember) and to keep Leonard from realizing that would keep him in the service of John G. This is my theory and would also explain the flash in the movie where you see Leaonard in bed with his wife with the final tatoo. (this scene could not have been a flashback, it could only have been a dream or a flash forward)
The other flashes where Sammy is replaced by Leonard himself for an instant and where Leonard has the needle with his wife, are instances of him doubting his self and his condition, which can be related to the whole argument about the disease being mental vs. physical in the Sammy Jenkins case. Very subliminal.
As for the chronology of the film, the first sequence is actually backwards, then from then on all of the colored sequences play forward in reverse order, and they are intertwined with the B&W sequences that flow in forward order. The black and white sequence actually takes place BEFORE the colored ones do chronologically, and if you watch closely in the final scene you will see it fade from black and white to color, with the poloroid photo. (Thanks to the above link for pointing this out)
Exceptionally well done movie, and I've only watched it twice so far. I would very much like to get the DVD for Christmas, this kind of thinking man's entertainment is rare these days.
🙂
