Scene Description Spotlight: “Memento”
Filmmakers Christopher and Jonathan Nolan, who co-wrote the screenplay for the fantastic movie Memento (2000) had a challenge: With a movie in which the narrative moves alternately in forward chronological and backward chronological order, how to craft scenes so that the moviegoer would understand immediately what time-frame each sequence was in. Here is the beginning of the screenplay. Can you see what stylistic choices they made to accomplish their goal?
FADE IN:
1 INT. DERELICT HOUSE — DAY [Colour Sequence] 1
A POLAROID PHOTOGRAPH, clasped between finger and thumb: a
crude, crime scene flash picture of a MAN’S BODY lying on a
decaying wooden floor, a BLOODY MESS where his head should
be.
The image in the photo starts to FADE as we SUPER TITLES. The
hand holding the photo suddenly FANS it in a rapid FLAPPING
motion, then holds it still. The image fades more, and again
the picture is FANNED.
As TITLES END the image fades to nothing. The hand holding
the photo FLAPS it again, then places it at the front of a
POLAROID CAMERA.
The camera SUCKS the blank picture up, then the FLASH BURSTS.
The Polaroid camera is lowered, revealing the sweaty, heavy-
breathing face of LEONARD (mid-30’s). There are droplets of
blood across his face. Leonard stares, satisfied, at
something on the ground in front of him. There is WET BLOOD
on his BLUE SHIRT and BEIGE SUIT. His hand opens and catches
a HANDGUN which leaps up into his grasp.
Still staring, he crouches down and pulls a BODY off the
floor by the wet hair of its BLOODY HEAD. He slowly inserts
the barrel of the gun into the bloody mess where the mouth
should be.
Leonard FLINCHES. A DEAFENING ROAR as wet red leaps off his
face and suit and head, with a SPASM, reassembles itself
into the face of TEDDY (40’s, moustache) and we-
CUT TO:
2 INT. MOTEL ROOM 21 — DAY ##BLACK AND WHITE SEQUENCE## 2
Close on Leonard’s eyes. He rolls them to one side, then
turns his head.
LEONARD (V.O.)
So where are you?
Leonard lifts his head. He is lying on a queen-sized bed.
LEONARD (cont’d)
You’re in some motel room.
CUT TO:
3 EXT. DERELICT BUILDING — DAY [Colour Sequence] 3
A late model Jaguar bumps across some railroad tracks and
approaches a large, clearly abandoned DERELICT BUILDING.
Leonard is driving. He wears a BEIGE SUIT and BLUE SHIRT (no
blood). Next to him is TEDDY. Leonard stops the car next to a
PICKUP TRUCK sitting Outside the derelict building. Leonard
kills the engine, staring at the pickup.
LEONARD
Looks like somebody’s home.
Teddy looks from Leonard to the pickup and back.
TEDDY
That thing’s been here for years.
Leonard gets out of the Jaguar and moves to the pickup. He
inspects it with a methodical, practiced eye. Teddy follows.
LEONARD
I think you’re wrong. These tracks aren’t *
more than a few days old.
Leonard opens the door of the pickup and searches the
interior. On the dirty vinyl of the passenger seat he finds *
six BULLETS. Leonard picks two of them up and studies them. *
He drops them onto the dashboard then SHUTS the door. *
LEONARD (cont’d)
Let’s take a look inside.
Leonard walks towards the house, patting his jacket pockets.
Teddy leans on the pickup, uneasy, watching Leonard.
4 INT. DERELICT BUILDING — DAY [Colour Sequence] 4
Leonard stands in the dimly-lit, decaying former hallway. He
pulls a stack of POLAROID PHOTOGRAPHS out of his pocket and
leafs through them as Teddy starts walking towards him.
Leonard finds a photo showing Teddy with a shit-eating grin
standing in front of the pickup truck. On the broad white
strip beneath the photo is handwritten:
“TEDDY GAMMELL TEL. 555 0134”
Leonard flips the photo over. On the white strip on the back,
in the same small handwriting.
“DON’T LISTEN TO HIS LIES”
“HE IS THE ONE”
“KILL HIM”
LEONARD (V.0.) *
I’ve finally found him. How long have I *
been looking? *
Leonard stuffs the Polaroids back into his pocket, reaches
around to the back of his waistband and draws a HANDGUN,
keeping it out of Teddy’s line of sight. Teddy enters, wary.
TEDDY
Find anything? Didn’t think so, let’s go,
yeah?
Leonard neither replies nor turns around. Teddy, worried,
affects a casual air, shrugging dismissively,
TEDDY (cont’d)
Fuck this.
Teddy turns and heads for the door. Leonard LEAPS on him,
pistol-whipping him furiously as he shouts:
LEONARD
YOU PAY FOR WHAT YOU DID! YOU BEG
FORGIVENESS, THEN YOU PAY!
Teddy is down. Leonard DRAGS him back, deeper into the dark
house. Leonard is in a frenzy. He dumps Teddy at the end of
the hall and stands over him. Teddy SPITS BLOOD.
TEDDY
You don’t have a clue, you freak.
Leonard crouches down and grabs Teddy by the lapels.
LEONARD
Beg my forgiveness! Beg my wife’s
forgiveness before I blow your brains
out!
TEDDY
Leonard, you don’t have a clue what’s
going on. You don’t even know my name.
LEONARD
(triumphant smile)
Teddy!
TEDDY
You read it off your fucking photo. You
don’t know me, you don’t even know who
you are.
LEONARD
I’m Leonard Shelby, I’m from San
Francisco and I’m –
TEDDY
(bloody grin)
That’s who you were, you don’t know who
you are.
LEONARD
Shut your mouth!
TEDDY
Lemme take you down in the basement and
show you what you’ve become.
Teddy gestures towards the basement door, in pain, but
enjoying Leonard’s growing anxiety.
TEDDY (cont’d)
(intimate)
C’mon, Lenny — we’ll take a look down
there together. Then you’ll know. You’ll
know what you really are.
Leonard glances fearfully at the door, then looks at Teddy.
He THRUSTS the barrel of his gun into Teddy’s mouth and WE
ARE AT THE SHOT FROM THE END OF THE OPENING SEQUENCE. Teddy
panics, shaking his head, trying to talk around the metal,
but GAGS just as Leonard pulls the trigger. A SHOT rings out
as we –
CUT TO:
5 INT. MOTEL ROOM 21 — DAY ##BLACK AND WHITE SEQUENCE## 5
Leonard lies on the queen-sized bed. He lifts his head.
LEONARD (V.O.)
So you’re in some motel room…
He gets up, surveys the room as if for the first time. He
wears BOXERS and a PLAID WORK SHIRT.
LEONARD (cont’d)
… you don’t know how long you’ve been
there, or how you got there…
There is a room key on the dresser. The plastic tag
identifies it as the key to ROOM 21. Leonard opens drawers in
the room.
LEONARD (cont’d)
Just some anonymous motel room. Won’t
tell you anything. Nothing in the
drawers, but you look anyway.
He reaches for the bedside table drawer.
LEONARD (cont’d)
Nothing except the Gideon Bible.
He opens the drawer to find a Gideon Bible.
CUT TO:
For the movie, they use black-and-white footage to signify sequences that run in forward chronological order, and color footage for sequences that run in reverse chronological order, both color schemes specified in the script. But that’s for the movie. What about for the cast and crew reading the script? How to tip them off?
What the Nolans did was use regular typeface for the reverse chronological sequences and italics to signify forward chronological sequences.
[In fact, in the copy of the script I have, they also bolded the forward sequences to further make clear the respective time frames.]
That is a simple tip you can use for ‘special’ scenes or sequences. For example, you can italicize flashbacks to underscore their significance to a reader. Same thing with dream or fantasy sequences.
One word of warning re script versions of Memento. There are html versions which you can get here that do not feature the italics, which would make the read much more confusing.
[Originally posted June 10, 2010]