Memento - The Little Things

This was my umpteenth viewing of Memento, so I have a pretty good understanding of what exactly happened. I'm still not perfect, but with a movie like this, it is very hard to be. These are just some little things, clues, I guess, that a virgin viewer may not have caught but a frequent viewer like me could see.

In the scene where Burt shows Leonard his room and explains how he rented him a second one, Leonard calls him, Burt. This may not seem strange, but Burt's name is never spoken in that scene. The easy assumption would be to say this was a blooper. I think, however, that this was a subtle clue that leads to the ultimate realization that Leonard's condition is psychological and not physical. This conclusion is backed up by the ending where we learn about how Lenny has probably purposely forgotten things about his past to create this mystery for himself.

This one was pretty obvious: In a brief scene showing Sammy Jankis in an institution, for about one frame he changes to Leonard. I think everybody saw this though. Wasn't exactly hidden well.

In the very beginning of the scene where Lenny beats up Natalie, she walks into her house and starts collecting the pens from around the room. I didn't catch this my first time watching it, and didn't realize what she was doing until after the scene ended.

Teddy frequently shows interest in getting Lenny's car away from him. In the very beginning he tries to trick Lenny into taking a different car but then Lenny shows him the picture of the Jag and says "In a playful mood are we?". Later when they are escorting Dodd out of the hotel Teddy keeps saying they should steal his car to teach him a lesson. Lenny asks Teddy what is wrong with his car and he replies "nothing, wanna trade?". There may be a few more I'm forgetting.

This is my favorite part, but not really a clue or anything, just something that may have been glanced over. At the end of the film, when Lenny imagines himself lying in bed with his wife, she is seen rubbing the part of his chest that was bare throughout the film. In the scene with Natalie he says "Maybe it's for when I kill him". In the flashback with his wife, the spot is not bare. It reads "I've Done It".

Something that I always wondered about was the final scene of the film (which is where the black and white and color scenes combine). That scene lasts about 15 minutes, and Leonard is able to remember everything that happens during it. From the moment he kills Jimmy to when he pulls up in front of the tattoo parlor is a very long time, maybe too long for somebody with Anterograde Amnesia. This could be another clue to the fact that his condition is psychological and that since this situation was rather important and he wanted to be able to get back at Teddy, he was in fact able to keep it in mind longer than usual until he was able to move on. Or I could be looking too much into it. I'd like to hear some feedback about this one.

This movie is awesome. It gets me in the gut every single time I watch it. It's just so damn good. You know how much I like this movie? My brother owned a copy of this film already, but when Circuit City was going out of business, I went out and picked up the 2-Disc Collectors Edition for myself, even though my brother said I could have just had his. I didn't want his. I wanted my own so I can keep it and have it and appreciate it forever.