How Memories Betray us | The Meaning and Philosophy of MEMENTO | EXPLAINED
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 24 พ.ย. 2024
- Written and directed by Christopher Nolan in his feature film directorial debut, Memento follows the life of Leonard Shelby, a man that suffers from anterograde amnesia and uses notes and tattoos to hunt for the man he thinks killed his wife, which is the last thing he remembers.
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If finding Dory was R-rated.
Underrated comment 😂
@@ThatGuySarabia it's literally the top comment. It can't be rated any higher than number one.
Lmao
Cute
I remember watching this the first time and sitting at the end creeped out that he’s still out there, just killing. I went from rooting and caring about him to being terrified at the idea of him
Hopefully he stopped killing John G's after that and started living with Natalie. Hopefully
@@Chris-kh2kn
You think living with Natalie is a good idea? She's such a con.
@@cicadaboi101 I just want him to settle down
@@Chris-kh2kn
Yeah he rly needs to.
I remember writing you about how terrifying it was that you focus on the character rather than noticing the inherent flaws of human existence
I always had this thought. If memories and our experiences are the definitions of who we are, the moment we lose that, either by an accident, or a disease, the person we were, is dead, and will never come back. Essentially a new person was just born and is living in your body, that's not you, that will make new memories and new experiences but will never be you again. For someone that can't retain memories, and can't recall anything from their lives, they are basically a 'living dead'. A body that works but has no one inside.
Yeah that why dementia is scary and I don't want have it at all it's too painful to think about.
thats a nice philosophy 101 interpretation there, but just because you forget who you are doesn't mean you are dead, just that who you were is dead, the child I once was is dead and gone, but I'm here, does that make me a corpse?
not trying to be hostile, just poking holes for the sake of it, critical analysis helps build your ability to construct solid narratives.
long story short, you could've probably worded it better.
5/10
@@wayment1940 I believe you didn't read what I said correctly. Changing from experience is not the same as changing because you literally forgot who you were. We are not the same person we were when we were children, but that's because we grew up, we learned new things, changed tastes, we now have responsibilities and all that. Someone that completely lost their memories and learning everything new from scratch is basically a new person living in your body without the same experiences you had while growing up, so the person you were is dead and gone, that's what I said.
The part I meant, with "living dead" is someone in a similar situation as the guy in the movie. He doesn't know who he is, he doesn't remember anything about his life before and makes up something new every day to go on, which means, a "living dead" someone without identity but still living. Honestly, I think if there was someone like that in real life, I think he wouldn't be able to do half the things he did in the movie, because it would be a situation of full-time care with that person, to begin with, but that's irrelevant here.
@@vinny_n_p 13:20
Only from the perspective of others is that person "dead". To the one experiencing it, you are always you.
I also noticed that Leonard's handwriting always changed to the latest one he had looked at if he had assumed it was written by himself.
One of the best Neo Noir Psychological Thrillers ever made.
The best in my opinion
What are some other examples? I need more of this
@@littleman749 Dark City, Mulholland Drive, Jennifer 8, Dolores Claiborne, 12 Monkeys, Lost Highway, Bound, Prisoners and you'd probably like 70s/80s/90s Cronenberg films as well! and anything by David Lynch..lemme know if u watch any of these.
It's movies like this, which, low key got me into philosophy and the intricacies of the mind.
Leonard: "Memories are unreliable. They can change the shape of a room or the colour of a car"
Also Leonard: " My wife wasn't diabetic. You think I don't remember my wife? "
There is a memory that I really remember the whole incident, but I can only guess what color my clothes were when it happened. on the other hand, when I say that I remember my mother having diabetes, there is no doubt that it is the truth, i don't think that kind of memory can be altered unless you have a retrograde amnesia.
@@boombacca8274 boom: My father was diabetic, too.
But this is not just one episode. Day after day, you were aware that your mother was diabetic, and thought about it. So you would not have to forget just one incident to remember that. You would have to forget that whole period of your life.
Memories betray you, unless you have verifiable sources where the memories were recorded and other trustworthy people around you to reconcile the accounts.
Which Leonard didn't have, unfortunately..
Gobbles wells
Yeah, I don't know if the video mentions this, but one thing the film actually shows is the inherently corrupt nature of human beings.
memories are bastards.
@@brando3342 Yes, it really does showcase the dark side of human emotions. Even with the knowledge of finding out the real story behind Leonard and Sammy Jenkins, we find that the wife used Leonard as well, just like Teddy and whats her name(?), to escape the depressing reality that her husband was never going to get any better...
Your statement is flawed, as it relies on "other trustworthy people" which you should immediately recognize as something that just doesn't exist. There is no such thing as a trustworthy person. I am about as trustworthy as a person can get, as I have sworn against lies(note about this at the end). Naturally, my honestly leads to rocky(at best) relationships. If I was a liar, like the 53 people who gave you a thumbs up, I would have given you a thumbs up, but sadly I am not. I must, instead, inform you that your line there is stupid, and you along with it. See how relationships can be difficult? You no doubt dislike me now, because I told you the truth.
I know you are angered right now, but try still to think about how I feel in this moment. I am sitting here, telling you the truth, and you are angry at me for it. You messed up and you are angry at *_me_* for it. How do you think I feel about that?
Of course, in just moments you are going to forget all about this. Your brain is going to force you to forget, as a coping mechanism. Because it is likely you will have difficulty functioning in this world without your illusion of trust. You may even try to attack me first, but after I reply back, your brain will be forced to make you forget. This comment will be wiped from your memory by your very own brain, it will be replaced by something else, pretty much anything else. And you have no control over it.
Note: Earlier I called myself "about as trustworthy as a person can get", which is actually a truth, but also a deception. This title is also a deception because at the drop of a hat, in order to preserve my own self, I will betray another. I am not different than you, my brain will also defend itself, and it is entirely out of my control, as it is with you, as it is with every human. The only difference between you and me is the awareness. I am aware of this flaw in the human mind and actively attempt to thwart it.
Now you are also aware of one of the many flaws in the human mind. Now you have a choice to make. Do you also actively fight against it, or do you continue to let it rule you? Only time will tell. But I suspect you will let it rule you. As I said earlier, fighting against it leads to difficulties, you are likely unprepared to live with or deal with those difficulties.
This movie was incredible. I can't remember to forget you
I think one of the most interesting amnesia cases was a man who had both antrograde (like the in movie) AND retrograde ('normal") amnesia. His entire journal was just "I am aware" Its sad but really fascinating.
Clive Wearing
It is hard to imagine a worse hell. But there's still one step worse to go, imagine if he didn't know he had the condition? Every 15 minutes, a new person would be born and every 15 minutes that person would die. For the rest of his physical life.
its not like he would be aware of it anyways. It would be hell for the people arund him more than himself
You would also have to imagine a scenario where someone brings this up to him and he decides he wants his future self to know about the condition, thus putting him right back into how he is in the movie 😂
I saw this 20 years ago...I need to watch it again. I remember I liked it but my date didn’t lol
This film blew me away!! I accidentally came across it. I'm so glad I watched it. Guy Pearce is amazing in it
This was one of the most horrifying films to me, particularly when you look into Clive Wearing and know it's all real.
Oh hi gut
Minus the serial killing 😂
That's what that movie was about?! I watched that movie 5 times. I don't remember what it was about. But I know, that wasn't the conclusion I made.
😭😂😂😂😭
Just Remember Sammy jankis
Wait wha- ahhh
I see what you did they
Finished the movie for the 11th time last week. Such a great film
He was really putting TENET in his back pocket.
Thisss
This was better though.
I had no idea this was a Christopher Nolan film, and when i did watch a few minutes of it, many years ago, I was too wrapped up in whatever i was doing at the time. New incentive to watch the entire movie!
Fascinating and terrifying, this scenario. If you're aware, on some level, of what you had been and lost. I imagine it's torture.
Torture. But not of your body...
......of your soul.
One of the most well thought out and executed scripts ever. How is this not an all-time classic of the mainstream film industry yet? One of a kind from top to bottom.
I honestly think most people are still trying to figure it out!
Sometimes, I tend to forget things like the instance that I was searching for a screwdriver only to realize a few seconds later that I was holding the one I was searching for.
🤨😂
It gets worse the older you get.
Once I forgot my glasses were on my head
I just loved how *FCE* used the *Rick James* skit to give us an example of this condition.
It's a simple explanation that hits its mark, yet without making things to serious... *Bravo sir!*
One of my all-time favorite movies.
Could you cover Apocalypto by Mel Gibson?
It's on the to-do list! Can't wait to cover it :)
Wonderful film
I didn't know if it had been done before but, at the time, this was the first movie that i watched where the story is told backwards and i was so amazed by such a concept that i knew i had to follow the career of its writer and director, both of which turned out to be Nolan and what a career did he make for himself since this debut!
I like this essay video. I appreciate the hard work you put in this. Amnesia is really a horror genre, as vague as Lovecraft's horror. I'm not sure why it always gets stuck in action flicks.
My suggestion is Faces in the Crowd. The way the condition is experienced by the audience is so subtle, that I only noticed it halfway through. It just got undercut by the male lead. That was the stupid mistake in the movie. It also made it more of a thriller/horror film.
I love this movie. Did a film analysis in my final year of school. It's truly awesome. He had been manipulated by everyone around him. The film's structure is very important; you can even watch it in the correct order online. However I like the original structure. We undergo what the main character is experiencing => complete disarray.
14:28 - It wasn't suicide-by-proxy; she was convinced that his condition wasn't real or tried to fix him by making him snap out of it since the stakes of not remembering would be too high. (I've been meaning to re-watch it for a while; next time I do, I'll keep an eye out for a suicide connection… 🤔)
Thank you for covering this one. Had been waiting to see a good pick apart of the memento for a long time 🙌
I didn't know how badly I wanted this episode until you posted it!
Thank you sir!!
I’ve been waiting for someone to do something on memento.
Very true I'm very dumb to forgot and make up some random shit for
My memories
Great breakdown as usual 👌. Staying with all things Guy Pierce I really hope Ravenous 1999 makes it on to your ever increasing to do list sometime!
Okay, so I had not heard of this movie before. But it's a western horror starring Guy Pearce, Robert Carlyle and Jeremy Davies. You have just made my day! Most definitely adding it to the list now, thanks :)
Lost does a similar thing with the whole 'assumed protagonists morality center" thingy by having you see Jack as this good guy and great leader when he's violent at drop of a hat willing to torture and Soo forth while painting Sawyer as a scoundrel when he is actually patient willing to compromise and trade and eventually saves people along with leading them successfully
This movie was absolutely amazing and fun and thrilling
Excellent analysis. Fascinating. Thanks. This movie is a master piece.
I knew a guy who, before this movie came out, talked about a friend of his with this condition. He was a Vietnam bet and a weed dealer. But he could not remember anything past a certain point. He attributed it to the guy's former glue-sniffing habit. But sniffing glue does not cause that condition. I suspect that he actually got a head injury in Vietnam.
Anyway, he could visit this guy (and buy weed from him) because he knew the guy before he stopped forming new memories. But he could not bring anybody else. The guy would leave the room, and when he came back, would think that anybody there whom he did not remember from before that time was a stronger, and thus an intruder, and attack him.
It was the ultimate existential. Horror. He could never remember yesterday, but he could never forget Vietnam, or the war that he was in there.
One of my favorite movies;I need to watch it again
Niad- I love this channel. Been here for a long time now. Man, you’re so smart and awesome.
My head suddenly hurts while watching this lmao
Good video as always!!
I had to watch this movie for a Humanities class.
Watched this movie in philosophy
I think I was supposed to watch this in my films class one semester, but the snow got in the way.
You gotta be my favorite content creator when it comes to explaining movies!
Love this channel you should start explaining series too like Raised by wolfs i think you’d enjoy the concept
Teddy' s claim that Leonard made up the story of Sammy Jenkins is very plausible. Leonard's wife survived the attack but struggled to stay with Leonard because of his irreversible short term memory loss. Leonard made up the story of Sammy Jenkins to cope with this fact and his wife leaving him. We all thought Leonard was the good guy and were rooting for his cause, that he was right to go out for revenge, but as the film progressed Leonard's credibility diminishes and Teddy, Jimmy and Natalie's stories were substantiated. Leonard unnecessarily killed two people he thought were "John G", stole the jaguar, money and clothes of the guy he just killed, Natalie was right to manipulate Leonard putting him in danger, essentially Leonard turned from protagonist to antagonist in this film.
AND Leonard MAYBE killed unintentionally his wife, since we assume that Sammy's story is Lenny's story 😞 In this scenario, we can assume that the first assault in his bathroom led to his condition, which leads him to accidentally kill his wife, which leads Leonard to seek revenge against the robbers, turning him in a serial killer, but the transformation is caused by himself.
No, Natalie was bad. Being bad to bad people doesn't make you good
This movie is awesome. Glad to see you make a video on this, especially on a movie so complicated as this one lol.
This movie now feels like a precursor to Tenet, like its the same idea, story telling from back to forwards in chuncks
Hello there, great film choice there! Thanks for the content)
Nice 10/10 Thank you, you gave me enough to understand this movie. I was almost certain that the culprit was the one who was killed in the beginning.
dude should have kept a daily journal.
One of the most interesting psychological thriller I have ever seen.
Idk because the flash back at the end with tats, it’s says on his chest “I’ve done it” on his heart. Which is where he’s pointing in the picture of him killing the first John G. So that “memory” of his past is showing how truly unreliable his actual memory is even when he remembers stuff from the past.
I'm so glad I finally got to watch this video.
Finally watched this video and wanted to comment about how good it is.
Heck of a video. Just wanted to take a quick second to post this comment about how much I enjoyed it
Great movie excellent overview. It's tie to reality is nothing close. Fun times to go through. Great when it's mostly passed.
Can you do an explanation of Memento next
I see what you did there! Lol also what did you do with the money after you jumped out of the plane?
@@filmcomicsexplained All I can say is... someone named JOHN G. helped himself to what I had left of it, I’m still currently looking for him.
@@filmcomicsexplained in all seriousness, great video, definitely brought a few points to my attention that I didn’t notice before, I want to rewatch for sure. You earned a new sub!!
Amazing movie and one of your best posts. Very nice work
Thanks for another invigorating and Vivid Video 🤗
Just writing an philosophical essay about Memento. Thanks 👍
Christopher Nolan is a very clever guy, does anyone honestly think that it's a coincidence that the John/Jimmy G was merely a coincidental reference to the mariner Jimmy G?
Have you ever seen the film “Ghosts of War” on Netflix? Highly recommended
Good analysis of a classic. 👏
Can you review the movie, Bliss. I have no idea what to make of it, but it does leave a lingering intrigue. It would be great to hear your take on it and how you break it down 😊
such a great movie. thanks for covering it
I finally saw this movie even though I knew of it long before seeing it. However, I do not share the consensus that Leonard is a serial killer (obviously he has murdered unknown number of times). The reason for my opinion is as follows. He is a human being cognizant of his condition and makes it known to everyone. In the 3rd act before committing "Fact 6" to his skin. He said "I'd rather be confused for a dead man than a killer", something to that effect. Essentially, he is a convenient and perfect "patsy" for anyone (including Leonard himself) with malicious intent. At his core, he is still a wounded soul looking for a purpose. His handicap allows him to have a terrible purpose without being a horrible person. His first and final act in the film. He murders a corrupt cop that used him as a patsy. To my mind, it was a just act. He murdered the murderer and he was the instrument.
It would be cool if you could do a How to Survive Sweet Home video, love your content and keep it up man
Memento is my favorite Nolan film so far
I still can't understand why he killed Teddy, and why didn't teddy immediately told him about jimmy in the basement so as to avoid getting shot
That wouldn't work. Leonard was smart, he write "don't belive in his lies" because he knew that the only think he trust is photos
I had a few instances that made my memory not the best so essentially my mind floats on time, I just stay ready & there I am
Ayeee What away to start the morning 😁
My favorite movie of all time. It's utter cinematic perfection!
Just watched "The Endless" with my gf and our minds are still trying to unravel the story and logic in that movie. Would be a great one for you to cover in the future. I'd love to see your perspective on it
I suffer from so many psychological disorders that I have lost count...
I sometimes ponder this very same question... who am I really? I don't remember most of my life... I sometimes feel like I want to die for this lie to be over...
Thank you for the Rick James bit
This is seemingly vague of the book “The Answer to the Riddle is Me”
Really awesome video!! Can you do a video on the philosophy of Bladerunner2049? recently i gave that movie another chance, since over the years movies have gotten closer to my soul in terms of what the movies are trying to say. There are many videos on this movie explaining what the meaning of it is and there are many different meanings to different people, i'd love to know what you find!!! Cheers!!
Well done, mate. Cheers...☀
very interesting video Niyat
I know this is going to sound weird, but this video helped me. I never understood why when I told one of my abusers instances of when they were particularly awful, they’d just be like “oh don’t be dramatic. That’s not how it happened.” And this video answered why they don’t see what they did as “that bad.” That by acknowledging how truly awful they had been, it would shake their own idea of themselves and they probably couldn’t handle it. Does it make it okay? No. But it explains a lot.
Also I love this video bc I realized we are all unreliable ass narrators of our own lives.
Awesome vid my dude!
4:59 memento was his second movie he made, the first being following
Leonard becomes a serial killer with the perfect alibi: he has Anterograde Amnesia. He cannot remember all the crimes he committed. I believe he’ll continue to operate in that town or another but will eventually get caught. Teddy was covering his tracks but since Lenny killed him, the police will eventually catch up to him. There’s no way he could continue to operate like he’s been doing long term without someone helping him. Most likely he’ll end up back in a state hospital or institution.
Nice. Well done.
Truly good video
Having aphantasia has been like this for me. Not to this extreme, but still frustrating. I can't see in my minds eye. I very much live in the moment. I have almost no memories of growing up and very little from even the last 10 years. I've taken to journaling just to remember what I've done during the day.
"DON'T ANSWER THE PHONE" DESTROYED me when i watched it
Love your videos ! 🔝❤
One of my favorites
Two thumbs up on this vid.
can you take a look at the 5th wave (2016) please?
I just watched this yesterday, it was a good movie
Yes
Is this a crossover episode with Chappelle show? Damn that Rick James part was the bomb!
Please do a video on Inception
I hadn't seen this movie before starting your video, pausing it, and going to see it. It was incredible, very well made, thank you!
Your analysis was excellent and I enjoyed following up the film with it, thank you again ^^
BEST MOVIE EVER!
Too many people looked at that picture and had to be reminded of Nickelback.
I think it's really sad, that Teddy was trying to help him. Yea, he was using him, but he also care
He was flawed but not evil. Such a tragic ending to his character :(
It's kinda funny that i can tell to people "yea, he kill Teddy. That's not spoiler, it's beggining of the movie!"
Reminds me of my friend Pedro
Do you plan to make a video about the movie Archive?
I Wanted to know your thoughts about the movie.
Damn...now I'm sitting here wondering if this flick had any inspiration on Gaspar Noë with his mad film 'Irreversable'(2002)
YOU NEED TO DO A VIDEO ON THE SCIFI MOVIE PHANTOMS FROM 1998
Loved the video but yea I'm still confused haha apart from the identity crisis thing
Sir good morning I'm a maven fan of your channel i was wondering if you can make a review about V for Vendetta because I think the movie is relevant to what is happening right now