Memento: Defining Simulacra

Memento (2000), directed by Christopher Nolan, is a psychological thriller about Leonard, a man with a short term memory loss who finds himself consumed by seeking revenge on the man who murdered his wife. This film is representative of various postmodern aspects, but highlights the concept of simulacra and simulation through the alternative narrative.

The colored scenes consist of broken up flashbacks, and as explained by Nolan himself in an interview, they are “intensely subjective—we are always inside Leonard’s head”. These can be defined as the simulacra, as the audience can only see Leonard’s perspective. On the contrary, the black and white scenes—pastiche of film-noir—are portrayed as more unattached. Nolan explains the shots are overall more distant, including a few overhead ones. These black and white scenes would come to represent what is seen as the objective reality.

As the film progresses, the colored scenes start becoming less subjective, forcing the audience to question their reliability on Leonard. One is observing the point of view of a man who has no recollection of the past, and solely relies on polaroid photos and notes to remember specific details of his current living situation. These documentations are what creates a timeline for Leonard to follow, as seen only during the colored scenes.

The small documentations that Leonard constantly checks are examples of simulacra—“copies” that depict things that have no “original”. From Leonard’s perspective, there is no true source of his facts, or his reality, therefore creating an imitation of the real world that is not accurate. This aspect serves as a critique of how the increasing reliance on models has made us lose contact with reality. According to theorist Jean Baudrillard “we have lost all ability to make sense of the distinction between nature and artifice”.

Sources:

18-Minute Analysis By Christopher Nolan On Story & Construction Of Memento: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tYScJZWhaHA

Postmodernist theories (Baudrillard): https://cla.purdue.edu/academic/english/theory/postmodernism/modules/

Postmodernism in films: https://www.filmtheory.org/postmodernism-in-films/