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Re: Memento

On Wed, 19 Sep 2001, Don Smith wrote:
> My theory on Sammy is that Teddy was telling the truth.  There was a
> real Sammy, but he was faking it.  However, that introduced Leonard to
> the brain disorder, which enabled him through repetition to imprint his
> own story onto Sammy's, which enabled him to remember that he has the
> condition (real people who get this condition can't remember that they
> have it).

Yes, for this reason alone, I tend to believe Sammy was real.  But right
now, I couldn't say whether I think Sammy was "faking it" or whether it
was Lenny who killed his wife, etc. -- I've only seen the film once, and
I've been part of so many debates about this film since then that my
memory of the film itself may not be all that accurate.  :)

> It was Leonard who killed his wife, and it was Leonard who was in the
> mental hospital (this is mentioned on the web site otnemem.com) . . .

The main character's escape from the mental hospital is also part of the
original short story, IIRC.

http://www.esquire.com/features/articles/2001/001323_mfr_memento_1.html

> I don't think the story conceit really works, on a physical level, but
> as a fantasy, as a fugue about the nature of memory and identity, I
> think it's amazing.

Definitely.

> I haven't tried to watch it backwards (i.e. forwards) yet.  That was one
> of the main things I was looking forward to about getting the DVD, but
> the disc only seems to have 19 chapters, and I don't think that's enough
> to cover each scene with a chapter.  So I don't think it can simply be
> reprogrammed to play in chronological order.  I think that's a bizarre
> oversight on the part of the DVD production staff.

The Canadian edition of the DVD has over 40 chapters, precisely for this
reason.  However, it has absolutely zero extras.  Not even a trailer.

--- Peter T. Chattaway --------------------------- peter at chattaway_com ---
 "I detected one misprint, but to torture you I will not tell you where."
      Winston Churchill to T.E. Lawrence, re Seven Pillars of Wisdom

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