I. Memento is about our protagonist, Leonard, who suffers a short term loss memory after an attack on his wife. Throughout the film, Leonard is attempting to find the man responsible for his wife's rape and death, but runs through many trouble because of his condition.

ll. Classic Noir
-The film is told in reverse, but the black and white scenes are told in chronological order.  the black and white scenes are of classic noir. It's also set in some cheap motel.
-In these scenes,Leonard is on the phone with someone who is not mentioned telling his story. These scenes also take place as the narration throughout the whole film.
-Reminds me of Walter from Double Indemnity when he is foretelling the whole story of the recorder.
-Femme Fatale- Natalie manipulates his condition to do what she wants him to do.
- Sympathetic Criminal; In the movie, we are meant to like Leonard, but he has killed 2 men purposely and maybe even more. He sets himself up to kill innocent men so that he doesn't have to deal with his own reality.

lll. Neo-Noir-
-Most of the film is in color and is reversed. We have to watch each scene and connect it with the next. It's pretty new for noir.
-Although Natalie is a typical femme fatale, she was not a main character; just a side story. She appeared often but she wasn't a big part of the story. Usually in classic noir films, the femme fatales are one of the main characters.
- Everyone takes advantage of his short term memory loss, and oddly enough Leonard does also. He fools himself into believing Sammy Jankis was a client of his, but in reality he is Sammy.
- Leonard also tricks himself to constantly find his wife's attacker although he has already been found and killed. Can't face reality and move on because he's stuck in time. He sets himself up every time.

Source 1.
Context- According to Tim dirks, in the article Film Noir.
Quote from the source- "Very often, a film noir story was developed around a cynical, hard-hearted, disillusioned male character..."
Significance-  Leonard fits perfectly with these characters mentioned, he is at constant axiety throughout the film. He is a very disillusioned male character because of his memory loss, he is uncertain of more things.

Source 2
Context-According to an un-named source on the article Memento as Neo-Noir on Roadrunner.com.
Quote from the source- " Leonard is the Man who is frozen in time. He's forever stuck in the past. His present experience is forever disappearing."
Significance- Leonard can never move forward from the tragic incident because he is stuck in time. He can never heal because he can't feel time. This explains why Leonard ultimately choses to manipulate himself over and over, because his options of moving on are far of reach for him.

Cited Summaries.

Blsciblogs (Neo-noir elements of Memento)
- The blog starts off by addressing the film as neo-noir and not noir. By the format of the story and the "anxiety of cinema", which is a film to keep you at the edge of your seat. Also that a classic element of noir is to not know who to trust. Which character is lying or not. Usually the stories are narratives in one perspective. They could easily be lying. I basically found a blog that is having the same assignment on noir, it's not professional but it brings up good points.

Samplereality.com (Memento and Film Noir)
- The writer states that in noir films, the protagonist is flawed, and in this case Leonards flaw is his amnesia. Which makes him an unreliable source. He also points out that the chronological parts of the film in black and white are aspects of film noir and the lighting and the venetian patterns just like how the movie Double Indemity is when Walter is confessing on the dictaphone like Leonard on the phone. Also with Natalie being the typical Femme Fatale.

Roadrunner.com (Memento as Neo-Noir)
- I love this page. It's basically a small outline on the neo-noir. It's outlined by the type of story: detective. Also that Leonard is a sympathetic criminal because he did start off by killing innocent people just so he  can stay productive and not take fault for his wifes suicide/murder.

Filmsite.com
- It was hard finding a few legit articles for memento and film noir. This site just breaks down the exact definition of noir and its features. As i read i realized how on point memento was with classic noir. I feel like the film is leaning more towards classic noir than neo-noir. Especially when the site defines the male protagonist to be a "cynical, hard-hearted, disillusioned male character", it described Leonard perfectly.