Memento Mori (short story)
Encyclopedia
"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.
, 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 tattoo
s 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.
. 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. 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.
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
.
Jonathan Nolan
Jonathan "Jonah" Nolan is a British-American author and screenwriter. His short story "Memento Mori" was used by his brother, director Christopher Nolan, as the basis for the screenplay for the critically acclaimed film Memento. He has also co-written the screenplays for The Prestige and The Dark...
and published in the March 2001 edition of Esquire
Esquire (magazine)
Esquire is a men's magazine, published in the U.S. by the Hearst Corporation. Founded in 1932, it flourished during the Great Depression under the guidance of founder and editor Arnold Gingrich.-History:...
magazine. It was the basis for the film feature film
Feature film
In the film industry, a feature film is a film production made for initial distribution in theaters and being the main attraction of the screening, rather than a short film screened before it; a full length movie...
Memento.
Plot
In the story, a man named Earl has anterograde amnesiaAnterograde amnesia
Anterograde amnesia is a loss of the ability to create new memories after the event that caused the amnesia, leading to a partial or complete inability to recall the recent past, while long-term memories from before the event remain intact. This is in contrast to retrograde amnesia, where memories...
, 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 tattoo
Tattoo
A tattoo is made by inserting indelible ink into the dermis layer of the skin to change the pigment. Tattoos on humans are a type of body modification, and tattoos on other animals are most commonly used for identification purposes...
s 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 UniversityGeorgetown University
Georgetown University is a private, Jesuit, research university whose main campus is in the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Founded in 1789, it is the oldest Catholic university in the United States...
. Nolan pitched the idea to his brother Christopher
Christopher Nolan
Christopher Jonathan James Nolan is a British-American film director, screenwriter and producer.He received serious notice after his second feature Memento , which he wrote and directed based on a story idea by his brother, Jonathan Nolan. Jonathan went to co-write later scripts with him,...
during a cross-country road trip from Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
to Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
. His brother responded to the idea, and encouraged him to write a first draft. After Jonathan returned to Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
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.
Christopher eventually made the feature film
Feature film
In the film industry, a feature film is a film production made for initial distribution in theaters and being the main attraction of the screening, rather than a short film screened before it; a full length movie...
Memento, starring Guy Pearce
Guy Pearce
Guy Edward Pearce is an English-born Australian actor and musician, known for his roles as Leonard Shelby in Christopher Nolan's Memento, Lieutenant Ed Exley in L.A...
, which was inspired from Jonathan's story, although radically different. Jonathan's short story was eventually published in Esquire
Esquire (magazine)
Esquire is a men's magazine, published in the U.S. by the Hearst Corporation. Founded in 1932, it flourished during the Great Depression under the guidance of founder and editor Arnold Gingrich.-History:...
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
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
.