The Convenience of Memory Loss.

Rating: 9/10 (17 September 2001)

Typically I choose not to comment on the story and instead focus on the craft of a film. However, in Memeneto the essence, the distinctiveness, the brilliance, the virtue is in the story itself. This is the first film in quite some time that I can honestly say I enjoyed purely for the sake of the story- the film itself. The film has a real starkness to it making the noir comparison obvious, inevitable and quickly a cliche. The device used in this film is not as straightforward as most people have initially described and it is certainly not a gimmick. When I think of gimmicks I think of filmic devices, techniques, or methods that are employed only to befuddle the audience and to show off the filmmaker's ability. Therefore this film's device is not gimmicky, the story would be just as interesting without the device. Of course as some people have already observed this film is not only an implausible one, but an imperfect one, but surely we have made bigger concessions for films in the past. At the heart of the story is the main character Lenny and his inability to as he puts it to make any new memories. This problem though often comical proves to be simultaneously Lenny's tragedy (making Lenny a very ironic character). Along with the chaos of a daily life in which he can not remember anything longer than several minutes Lenny is determined to exact his revenge by bringing his wife's killer/rapist because as he puts his inability to remember the act is irrelevant because his wife deserves justice. Caught up in Lenny's world or perhaps Lenny in theirs are several different characters. The motel worker that feels sympathy for Lenny, but not enough to keep him from charging him for an extra room because as he puts it business is slow and Lenny won't remember anyway. The bartender (Natalie) who is caught up in a drug racket and is as quick to use Lenny and mock him as she is to help him. Their is a particularly frustrating scene which illustrates this, in which Lenny is trying to find a pen so he can remember what she has said. And of course Teddy who more than anyone pops in and out of Lenny's life. Unfortunately Teddy is as close to a friend as Lenny gets to have in this story. A truly interesting aspect of the story is the even more fragmented phone conversations Lenny has in which he reveals Sammy Jankus, a character who Lenny investigated who suffered from almost exactly the same condition Lenny does the only difference is he could not condition his instincts (according to himself Lenny can). As the story of Sammy unfolds we see a subplot that is as intriguing as anyone I can remember in recent film and as integral to understanding Lenny as Freud thinks our dreams are to understanding ourselves. Unlocking the mystery of Sammy and why it is so important for Lenny to remember him sheds light on the whole situation. In what is without a doubt the most important scene in understanding Sammy in the film and subsequently understanding Lenny we see that Sammy of course without being aware of it kills his wife as she reminds him at least three times over that she needs her insulin shot and as a result of the failed test she goes into a coma and dies. So in understanding this scene we fully realize Sammy's problem. Sammy who ends up in a mental institution and doesn't even realize that his wife is dead, loved his wife very much, but is incapable of saving her because of his mental infirmity. Lenny's problem is the same, but reversed. Lenny loved his wife very much, but was incapable of saving her and as a result he develops almost the exact same infirmity as Sammy. Whether Lenny's brain damage is a result of physical trauma (the blow to the head) or the psychological trauma of not being able to deal with the tragedy is arbitrary the condition remains the same. Still at this point we have yet to fully realize the significance of the connection between Sammy and Lenny. The connection is fully illuminated for us at the end if we are only paying close enough attention. When Lenny goes to meet John G. or rather Jimmy Grantz (who Teddy has set up for a fall) Lenny asks, "You Jimmy Grantz?" Jimmy dryly replies, "You expectin any other Jimmies out here memory man? (An obvious reference to Lenny's condition, but the only one in their conversation.) After Lenny has done away with Jimmy he begins to feel guilty and thinks that perhaps he has killed the wrong man. And here is the kicker he makes a statement that essentially says that he (Jimmy) knew about Sammy, how did he know about Sammy? He even brings it up to Teddy when he arrives on the scene, but the fact is Jimmy never said anything to Lenny about Sammy or Sammy's condition, the only reference he made was to Lenny's condition. Sammy regardless of whether he is real or not is Lenny's alter ego, a personality that he has constructed and conditioned himself to remember so that he can deal with the situation. The dream about Sammy's inability to save his wife when she puts him to the test is really a dream about Lenny's own guilt. As Teddy points out later it is quite irrelevant whether Lenny's wife was a diabetic or not although she may have been. The important points are (Most of which Teddy makes to Lenny) he doesn't know who he is only who he was, that Sammy in his condition will never be able to reconcile the guilt he feels over his wife's death, and that Lenny's memory while failing him in the short term has permanently failed him, in the long term it has shielded him- for what is there for Lenny to do once he has exacted revenge and brought this animal who killed his wife to justice? Tragically and perversely what Lenny has conditioned himself to is revenge. Revenge is what gives his life meaning, hope, purpose. The revenge is never as sweet as he imagines and Lenny goes on conditioning and even manipulating his own mind so that he may remember those things he wishes to and forget those which he does not want to remember. Never is this more obvious or conscious than at the end when Lenny's latent desire fully manifests itself. In this final scene not only has he become aware of what he has been doing, not only has he accepted it, but he in fact rather enjoys it. Why else would he choose to completely ignore it? A man that truly wants to solve his wife's murder- to bring her killer to justice doesn't choose to completely rule out the possibility that he may have already done so, and at least makes a note of it so he can seriously investigate. Lenny if he really wanted to bring the killer to justice and resolve the situation would have raised those questions in a way that made sense and sought to answer them. Lenny wants to be the searcher, the mourner, the vengeful husband he likes playing that role and telling those stories, it is only this that could fulfill him. Teddy says towards the end (at which point in filmic time he is still alive although in our memories if they have served us correctly tell us he is a dead man.) says, "Lenny you're not a killer that's why you're so good at it." Don't be fooled. Remember he wanted to forget. Does Lenny truly feel guilty later? Sure, but rather conveniently he can't remember why.