Before he resurrected Batman and made us forever uncertain if we were actually dreaming, Christopher Nolan made Memento. A twisting tale of revenge told in reverse, the film was the first suggestion to many that Nolan was something really special (it was only his second feature film). Widely regarded as one of the director's best films (and also of the 21st Century as a whole), Memento has betrayed its indie origins and become a widely regarded masterpiece. It was incredibly strong at box office thanks to glowing word-of-mouth, but it's on DVD where the film really exploded, becoming a must see for a whole generation of movie goers. But what's actually going on? Memento is intricately presented in a manner that require multiple rewatches to just pin down what's going on, while Nolan himself has thrown irritatingly conflicting viewpoints out there that make unravelling the story incredibly tricky. Well today we're going to try and shed some light on that, explaining what exactly happened in Memento. For more Nolan ending exploration, check out our looks at the finales of The Prestige and Inception.
What's Up With The Narrative Structure?
Before we start we really have to ask ourselves what exactly Memento's ending is. Far from employing the conventional narrative, Nolan's film takes advantage of its amnesiac protagonist and presents events in a totally unique way. Most of the film's action is portrayed in reverse, with vignettes each a few minutes long slowly giving us a little more of the story. These are interspersed with black and white scenes that provide narrative exposition and serve as a window into Leonard's psyche. Yeah, you can see why this is a pretty hard film to crack. To this end there's actually two endings to the film; the narrative ending (the actual end of the film - Leonard decides to kill Teddy), and the chronological ending (the opening where Teddy is finally killed). Most of this article is focusing on untangling the reveals present in the former, although we will also theorise the repercussions of the latter. It's worth noting that the Special Edition DVD comes with a hidden easter egg that allows you to watch the film in chronological order. That may seem an easy way to unravel the mysteries, but in actuality it only poses the questions in a different order.