Daily Dialogue — October 3, 2011
INT. DISCOUNT INN OFFICE — DAY
Leonard enters , confident, smiling at the man behind the desk, BURT (fat, sweaty, 40′s). Burt smiles back.
BURT Hiya.
LEONARD I’m Mr. Shelby from 304.
BURT What can I do for you, Leonard?
LEONARD I’m sorry… um… ?
BURT Burt.
LEONARD Burt, I’m not sure, but I may have asked you to hold my calls -
BURT You don’t know?
LEONARD I think I may have. I’m not good on the phone.
BURT (nods) You said you like to look people in the eye when you talk to them. Don’t you remember?
LEONARD That’s the thing. I have this condition.
BURT Condition?
LEONARD I have no memory.
BURT Amnesia?
LEONARD No. It’s different. I have no short-term memory. I know who I am and all about myself, but since my injury I can’t make any new memories. Everything fades. If we talk for too long, I’ll forget how we started. I don’t know if we’ve ever met before, and the next time I see you I won’t remember this conversation. So if I seem strange or rude, that’s probably…
He notices that Burt is staring at him as if he were an exotic insect.
LEONARD (cont’d) I’ve told you this before, haven’t I?
BURT (nods) I don’t mean to mess with you. It’s just so weird. You don’t remember me at all, and we talked a bunch of times.
Leonard shrugs.
BURT (cont’d) What’s the last thing you remember?
Leonard looks through Burt, thinking.
LEONARD My wife.
BURT (fascinated) What’s it like?
LEONARD Like waking. Like you always just woke up.
BURT That must suck. All… backwards.
Leonard raises his eyebrows in enquiry.
BURT (cont’d) Well, like.. you gotta pretty good idea of what you’re gonna do next, but no idea what you just did. (chuckles) I’m the exact opposite.
LEONARD (focuses on Burt) How long have I been here? BURT Couple days.
LEONARD So you’re holding my calls?
BURT As requested.
Leonard reaches into his pocket and pulls out his Polaroids.
LEONARD Okay, but this guy’s an exception.
Leonard places the Polaroid of Teddy on the counter in front of Burt. Burt looks at it.
LEONARD (cont’d) Know this guy?
BURT Your friend, right?
LEONARD What makes you think he’s my friend?
BURT Seen you together, that’s all.
LEONARD He’s not my friend, Burt. But if he calls, or if he turns up here, then you give me a call in my room, okay?
— Leonard (Guy Pearce), Burt (Mark Boone Junior), Memento (2000), screenplay by Christopher Nolan, based on a short story by Jonathan Nolan
The Daily Dialogue theme for the week is great exposition, suggested by Teddy Pasternak. Memento suggested by Saint McSaint.
Trivia: The medical condition experienced by Leonard in this film is a real condition called Anterograde Amnesia — the inability to form new memories after damage to the hippocampus. During the 1950s, doctors treated some forms of epilepsy by removing parts of the temporal lobe, resulting in the same memory problems.
Dialogue On Dialogue: Why would you consider this great exposition?
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