- Memento Mori (short story)
-
For other uses, see Memento mori (disambiguation).
"Memento Mori" is a short story written by Jonathan Nolan and published in the March 2001 edition of Esquire magazine. It was the basis for the film feature film Memento.
Contents
Plot
In the story, a man named Earl has anterograde amnesia, a condition in which his brain cannot make new memories. Because of his inability to remember things for more than a few minutes, he uses notes and tattoos to keep track of information. Earl received his condition after he and his wife were attacked by an unknown assailant. His wife was killed and Earl suffered severe head injuries, resulting in his amnesia. The story jumps between two time-frames. The first is Earl confined to a mental institution told via notes to himself. The second is after his escape told as a third-person narrative. Earl eventually succeeds in murdering the man, but is unable to remember his success.
Background
Nolan got the idea for the story from his general psychology class at Georgetown University.[1] Nolan pitched the idea to his brother Christopher during a cross-country road trip from Chicago to Los Angeles. His brother responded to the idea, and encouraged him to write a first draft.[2] After Jonathan returned to Washington, D.C. to finish college, he sent his brother a draft two months later, and Christopher set to work on a screenplay, while Jonathan began finishing the short story.[2]
Christopher eventually made the feature film Memento, starring Guy Pearce, which was inspired from Jonathan's story, although radically different. Jonathan's short story was eventually published in Esquire magazine, although it can also be found in James Mottram's making-of book about the film, The Making of Memento, and as a hidden special feature on the film's special edition DVD.[3]
References
- ^ Anelli, Melissa (2001-03-16). "GU Alum Becomes the 'Memento'-Man". The Hoya. Archived from the original on 2007-09-26. http://web.archive.org/web/20070926225002/http://www.thehoya.com/guide/031601/guide1.htm. Retrieved 2007-08-05.
- ^ a b Mottram, James. The Making of Memento. New York: Faber, 2002.
- ^ "Memento DVD Details". DVD Talk. http://www.dvdtalk.com/mementoleguide.html. Retrieved 2011-10-02.
External links
Stories Memento Mori (2001)Film screenplays The Prestige (2006) • The Dark Knight (2008) • The Dark Knight Rises (2012)TV series Person of Interest (2011–present)Categories:- Crime short stories
- Works originally published in Esquire (magazine)
- Memory disorders
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
