Differences

Earl is the only character developed in the story. The film adds a number of
other characters Teddy, Natalie, Burt.
"Memento Mori" begins in a mental institution. eonard !a"es up in a motel room
Earl had a tattoo of a man face on his chest. eonard didn#t have a tattoo of a man#s face
on his chest.
Earl smo"es, eonard doesn#t.
Earl sells his !atch and gets himself a !atch, enny never sells his.
$imilarities
Both have a tattoo stating !ho raped and murdered his !ife
Both !ives !ere raped and murdered
Both use %&' shifts
Both suffer from ()$
Both use notes to "eep trac" of things
*ilm Noir
CHARACTERS:
enny + (ynical male anti,hero
Natalie + $eductive femme fatale
Teddy + -n general. people are not !ho they seem
NARRATIVE:
enny + %rotagonist !ith amnesia
,*ilm noir staples invo"ed by the film include the use of voice,over and revealing flashbac"s
,$ociety of corruption, as nearly every other character is involved in drug deals or other /seedy0
endeavors in some !ay
Compare/contrast the ways in which Christopher Nolan (Memento) an !onathan Nolan
("Memento Mori#) attempt to ma$e the a%ience e&perience the same psycholo'ical
minset as their main characters ((enny an Earl respecti)ely)* an isc%ss which yo%
thin$ is more e++ecti)e at oin' so,
As -e+ore* please %se speci+ic e&amples +rom -oth +ilm an story,
Though the /Memento Mori0 is not perfect in every aspect, its greatest 1uality must be its
profound themes, !hich is not the film adaptation2s strongest point. 3o!ever, Memento depicts a
far more interesting character. -n addition, !hile most of the short story revolves around the main
character reading his o!n notes in a hospital room, the film adaptation is told in a gripping
fashion that captivates the audience for the duration of the film, challenging them to piece the
pu44le together.
The short story focuses on ho! !e are all different people at different moments. 56uote
78 9ithout memory, and so !ithout a sense of time, Earl#s identity is even more fragmented than
a normal person#s. Earl must struggle to control the "idiots" he becomes bet!een successive
moments of insight through the use of notes and letters to himself.
-n Memento, on the other hand, eonard#s personality and proactive pursuit of his goal is
relatively consistent. 3e is still affected by emotion: in particular, during periods of stress, he is
less able to retain focus on the tas" at hand and remember !hat he is doing. But, unli"e Earl, he
tends to shift 1uic"ly and easily bet!een the roles of "note,ta"er" and "note,follo!er".
%rimarily, Memento raises 1uestions concerning the accuracy of memory. ;s eonard
tells Teddy over lunch, memory is unreliable. Memory can change small details: eye,!itness
testimony is not trust!orthy. -nstead, eonard claims, he follo!s factsphotographs and
established details that he has !ritten do!n. ;s the story unfolds, ho!ever, !e learn that many of
eonard#s recorded "facts" have been manipulated by both himself and others. ;nd, at the end of
the film, Teddy raises the 1uestion of !hether eonard has been deceiving himself.
To a lesser e<tent, the film does also remind us of the importance of time on our
identities. eonard is constantly haunted by the immediacy of his !ife#s death because he
remembers her dying but cannot e<perience the time it ta"es to heal from the grief of her passing.
Teddy reminds him a couple times that he does not "no! !ho his ishe "no!s !ho he !as, but
not !ho he has become. 9ithout memory, eonard#s actions have no conse1uence for him. Even
though he has performed at least t!o murders before "illing Teddy, he is unable to feel any moral
impact from his deed.
The film is also referencing certain conventions of film, particularly those of film noir. -n
the interest of heightening its theme of the memory#s unreliability and its affect on identity, the
film has constructed a very tangled !eb of ambiguity and alternative interpretations. -n this !ay,
the film emerges as a !or" !ith its o!n flavor and a greater depth than the story