Memento Film Opening Analysis

The very first part of the opening, is accompanied by non-digetic music played by string based instruments, using long winded notes which create tension to the audience. Use of this in-depth music instantly introduces the genre of the film to us as an audience.

After around 20 seconds of the credits being on screen, we see what looks like a man's hand, holding a polaroid photo which shows a corner of a room with the walls covered in blood and a man lying on the floor, also covered in blood. Every 5 seconds the photo is shaken by the hand, and when it comes back into the screen the photo slowly fades and becomes blurrier. This has connotations of the fact he is trying to get rid of the memory which he has just created by his own actions, and as he has to shake the photo around 5 times it shows just how difficult it is proving to be to get the memory out of his head.

The camera then tracks the photograph going back into the camera, which shows the reversing of time. This type of behaviour instantly has the audience in a confused state of mind, as in reality things don't happen in reverse. Therefore this shows just how unstable his current state of mind is.

This reverse action continues into the next shot, where we see blood moving up a wall, a gun flying back into his hand, and the bullet flying back to the gun. The man who was evidently dead on the floor comes back to life, however this shot ends where the man was holding the gun up to the other mans head. This suggests that he cannot go past that memory, it is the only one that he remembers and it wont get out of his head.

The next shot shows a close up of 'Lenny's' eyes, and this shot is in black and white. This links to psychological thriller imagery.
It soon becomes clear to the audience that this is a flash back, Lenny has no scratches on his face, and black and white colored clips have connotations of going back in time (old style films). After the shot of his eyes, we then see a panning shot around the room, which establishes the location he is in.

Throughout the opening a voice over is used as a stream of consciousness to give you an insight into the psyche of the protagonist. Whilst this voice over is being played, we are shown Lenny sitting on a bed through a birds eye view shot, this really shows us his vulnerability and loneliness.