and that is another thing that's so genius about it, it took you awhile but it starts getting easier to follow once its repeated enough times, just like what Lenny was trying to do to learn by habit rather than actual memory's, such a clever film

They could have shown something like a clock that showed the date, to show you that the events were reversed.

I think they tried to tell you in the opening scene by actually playing it in reverse and also the Polaroid erasing a little everytime he shakes it instead of becoming clearer is like what's going on with Lenny when his memories start to fade

Also my personal favourite scene was when he's with Dodd and they're both running and his memory fades and he's thinking- Why am I running? I'm chasing this guy. ... No he's chasing me [emoji1787]

I think I didn't pick up on it right away because it is quite a common technique in films to begin with the ending, with the rest of the film being what leads up to it. The two examples that spring to mind are Gandhi and Stanley Kubrick's Lolita.

I think they did want you to be a bit confused though, like Lenny is. I didn't remember anything about it even though I did watch it years ago but I did read recently that it goes backwards which definitely helped me get into the rhythm of the film quicker. I wish I hadn't read that though so I could see how much difference it would have made to how I viewed it

...I don’t know if I need to watch again because I was focusing so much on associations I was making with Alzheimer’s and the similarities of how Leonard’s world would be in comparison...the main difference really, his being created by a trauma, rather than a disease...but I thought that the black and white scenes were in correct time going forward...so some told in reverse and some not...I do need to watch again and focus on those black and white scenes...maybe that’s how it was Leonard’s mind/memory as well..?....

The black and white scenes were in the right order, I don't think they were being told from Lenny's point of view

...yeah, Lenny’s point of view is obviously what gave us that insight into his world and the whole point of all of his actions...we felt the confusion that he lives since his head trauma..when he was trying to hang on to his his thoughts when Natalie left, we were willing him so much to find that pencil, so gripping....

I thought it was a thoroughly enjoyable film. I liked that it was split in two with the chronological black and white and nonlinear colour sequences - it's a brilliant concept, which I've only seen executed somewhat similarly in an episode of Inside No. 9 before watching Memento. It could be a complete mess if it's in the wrong director/producer's hands, which is why we don't see it too much in film because I presume it can be quite complicated to work through.

Guy Pearce is an excellent actor, and the main character was super-rootable, mainly due to his condition. I expected Natalie to have more relevance to the eventual plot twist, but from what I'm reading since watching...she kinda did? I dunno, I think I should probably re-watch it to fully understand the motivation of her character. Teddy was a great character, and it was fun to work out his intentions regarding his relationship and motives with Leonard. I kinda saw through the whole Sammy Jankis thing, only because I thought it was convenient for Leonard to know someone with the same condition with him. There had to be more to it.

All in all, it was an entertaining film to follow with a good cast. Its unique structure helps it stand out and was cleverly executed.

I particularly liked Leonard's conversation with Teddy about the reliability of facts versus memory, as I learnt quite a bit about that throughout university.

I think, as a society, we rely on memory a bit too much in terms of how we perceive reality. It's a fascinating subject.

...it is a fascinating subject, Braden...Lenny blocked the processing of tragic facts through his memory condition...I often think of how a story would continue after the cameras stop...:laugh:...and I wonder if there would be a time within the ‘circle’ he had created, when he would be able to fully face his ‘facts’ and be able to live a fully functioning life again, through properly processing it all...

So, when I finished watching it my understanding of it was that Sammy Jankis was a real person but that the story about his wife never happened to Sammy but to Lenny but I was reading other opinions on line and some people seem to think that Lenny and Sammy were the same person, I don't think that's right because how would he train himself to know his condition so well?

I feel like it was heavily insinuated that Lenny and Sammy were the same people, but you raise a good point. I'm not sure how he'd remember those details so well if he wasn't real.

I've also read a theory that Teddy was just lying and Lenny didn't kill his wife at all because Teddy is as unreliable a character as Lenny is(maybe even more so because Lennys memories before the accident should be reliable and he didn't remember his wife as the one with diabetes). Teddy has been lying to and manipulating Lenny all through the movie so why should we believe he's telling him the truth this time and not just blatantly lying to hurt Lenny like Natalie did to him. Yes there was the flash of Sammy in hospital that turned into Lenny but that could have been Lenny being really confused about what's real and what's not real hhhmmmm

I thought the film was straight forward but now I'm confused :laugh:

I thought the same until I started reading things online, lmao.

I swear there was a scene (when Dodd was tied up in the closet) where Teddy pretended to not know who Natalie was. He said something like ‘who’s Natalie, maybe I know her.’

one of the main things i loved about this film is that you go through it feeling sorry for the main character because of what he's been through and how people treat him, but what i took from this was that his notes/tattoos/ memories skewed all of his actions and that ultimately despite what everything was telling him he was dead set on avenging his wifes death over and over again even if it was the wrong person because he had nothing else to live for and felt massive guilt, so he's stuck in a horrific cycle.... but it's been a while so I will rewatch and revisit

....if Sammy Jankis wasn’t real, would that not mean that Lenny was actually creating new memories...I mean, he created that Sammy had killed his wife..(...who didn’t exist..)...after his accident to be able to project the events in his life onto Sammy...so was he describing his own condition as not being physical, as in linked to a head injury...but a mental one.../...it’s so confusing ...

I must re watch that scene, it does make him a very unreliable source of information though. Also, just to mention the scene at the end again where Sammy in the institute turns into Lenny, don't forget that there's also a scene where Lenny is lying in bed with his wife with a Tattoo saying I Did it in his reserved spot on his chest (and I think all his other tattoos are gone) and that can't be real so why is him in the institute turning from Sammy in to Lenny real?