This document analyzes the differences between traditional and alternate narrative systems in film, focusing on the film "Memento". Traditional narratives follow conventions like chronological storytelling and clear character types, while "Memento" subverts these with a non-linear structure and ambiguous characters. It discusses how "Memento" challenges audience expectations of narrative through its portrayal of time and plot. While complex, its restricted narration and editing still allow audiences to identify with the protagonist and understand the narrative.

1. Research Investigation Sample C
A comparison of traditional and alternate narrative systems in film
As Thompson and Bordwell say, ‘Perhaps narrative is a fundamental way that humans
make sense of the world’1. This can be applied to a movie as audiences go to see a narrative
unfold and also according to them ‘We make sense of a narrative, then, by identifying its events
and linking them by cause and effect, time and space’. This essay will analyse the differences
between traditional and alternate narrative systems in film, with particular focus on ‘Memento’,
concentrating on these aspects of narrative.
Regarding the aspect of time in film, Nick Lacey says ‘In conventional narrative, stories
must always be chronologically constructed otherwise they would be judged to violate the rules
of our universe; they would destroy the rules of logical casuality which define narrative’2. In
‘Memento’, Christopher Nolan works on the assumption that the audience have expectations of
how a narrative works through temporal order and frequency, then he challenges these
expectations so much that perhaps this challenging becomes the main attraction for a niche
audience and exemplifies an alternate narrative system. The importance of time for narrative
can be emphasised by the view that ‘Time can be so central as to be almost incorporated as a
character itself, or it can be subverted, altering the story and its effect on the viewer’3 This can
be applied to ‘Memento’ as time is the most enigmatic ‘character’ in the movie, it alters our
perceptions of the story, characters and our point of identification. However, in order for the
movie not to be totally incomprehensible, there are scenes in the movie which are shot in black
and white and reflect a sense of parallelism. They alter the effect on the viewer by becoming a
gift to them, they are a flashsideways and therefore the nearest thing to present. They are
constant which makes it easier for the audience to understand the movie as a whole.
With regards to plot and story, Shlovsky distinguished them by using the terms fabula
and syuzhet4. The plot (syuzhet) is described by Thwaites et Al as ‘Like a signifier, it is what the
[audience] perceives’5 whereas he acknowledges the story as ‘Like a signified, story is what the
reader conceives or understands’6. Therefore, the difference between the two is that the plot is
what is explicitly presented to the audience through being ‘visibly and audibly presented in the
film before us’7 through diegetic material and non diegetic material which can be applied to the
music and Leonard’s voiceover in ‘Memento’. Whereas, the story is what the audience can
interpret from the movie and build perceptions about the characters and the narrative as a
whole. According to Lacey, ‘Hollywood executives often refer to this background information,
1
Page 89- Thompson and Bordwell (Narrative as a formal system)
2
Page 18 – Narrative and Genre by Nick Lacey
3
Page 60 – The Power of time – Media Magazine – Emma Louise Howard
4
Page 18 – Narrative and Genre by Nick Lacey
5
Page 18 – Narrative and Genre by Nick Lacey
6
Page 19 – Narrative and Genre by Nick Lacey
7
Page 92- Thompson and Bordwell (Narrative as a formal system)

2. Research Investigation Sample C
which explains characters’ motivation as the ‘back story’8. This can be applied to ‘Memento’ as
the audience identify with Leonard and understand his motives for revenge, even though the
murder of his wife or his attack is not explicitly presented in the plot. With further reference to
the plot of a narrative, Thompson and Bordwell say ‘We create the story in our minds on the
basis of cues in the plot’9. However, in ‘Memento’, the lack of chronology means cues in the plot
are not in the right order, which Nolan has done to reinforce the alternate structure and present
a challenge for the audience. As Thompson and Bordwell said when discussing temporal order
‘We are quite accustomed to presenting events out of story order. This does not confuse us
because we mentally rearrange the events into the order in which they would logically have to
occur’. This adds to the challenging appeal of the movie for an audience who perhaps do this
naturally whilst watching the movie.
With further regards to temporal order, Bordwell and Thompson said when talking
about Pulp Fiction that ‘By coming at the film’s conclusion, these portions receive an emphasis
they would not have if they remained in their chronological story order’ 10. This can also be
applied to ‘Memento’, as in the last scene, the audience are presented with an idea of Leonard’s
true motives which would have failed to force an identification between the protagonist and the
decoder if this was shown at the beginning of the movie. One way of looking at the conclusion is
the idea that it acts as a huge character twist as we discover that Teddy, who had been
portrayed throughout the movie as the villain, could actually be the hero. However,
One primary aspect of narrative in film is narrative structure. In a conventional movie
like ‘The Proposal’ It exemplifies Todorov’s theory of narrative structure, which states that a
film begins with an equilibrium, conquers a disruption, to create a new, different equilibrium at
the end of a movie11. In this movie, the equilibrium is that the two protagonists dislike each
other but face a disruption of having to pretend to be en engaged couple in order to prevent the
female protagonist, Margaret, from being deported and conquer this disruption by falling in love
and therefore creating a new equilibrium where they are together. ‘The proposal’ also fits the
narrative system of Annette Kuhn, who summarised the characteristics of a conventional
narrative as having ‘Linearity of cause and effect within an overall trajectory of enigma-
resolution, A high degree of narrative closure, A fictional world governed by spatial and
temporal verisimilitude, centrality of the narrative agency of psychologically-rounded
characters’ 12. However, as for ‘Memento’, this movie cannot be classified easily by theories of
narratives such as Todorov’s and Kuhn’s, there isn’t a fictional world governed by spatial and
8
Page 16 – Narrative and Genre by Nick Lacey
9
Page 93- Thompson and Bordwell (Narrative as a formal system)
10
Page 97- Thompson and Bordwell (Narrative as a formal system)
11
The Media Student’s Book – Page 45
12
Narrative and Genre – Page 121

3. Research Investigation Sample C
temporal verisimilitude as the basic idea of time is challenged with the flashbacks and flash
forwards never depicting the present. However, the narrative does have aspects of linearity. The
audience know the resolution they are looking for and the narrative is mostly linear, albeit in
the wrong way compared to conventional narratives. Also, there is cause and effect in the
movie; however the audience learn the effect of Leonard’s actions before the cause of him
committing them. For example, it could be argued that the conclusion of the movie uses an
unconventional narrative structure to set up a conventional narrative closure; there is a
resolution to the dominant enigma code of the movie which is why Teddy was killed at the
beginning of the movie. According to Warren Buckland, ‘Films do not need to represent the
cause-and-effect logic of a film in chronological order’13, which means that even if the idea of
basic cause-and-effect logic is challenged in narrative, the audience can still understand the
narrative.
The most interesting characteristic of Kuhn’s theory when it comes to ‘Memento’ is the
idea of ‘centrality of the narrative agency of psychologically-rounded characters’. Although
Leonard has brain damage and is not psychologically well, identification is created between the
encoder and decoder for this likeable character, he appears to be humorous and simply
searching for justice for his dead wife who he loved. This identification between encoder and
decoder is emphasised by the fact narrative devices are used in the film such as flashbacks and
flash forwards to create a complicated narrative structure which reflects the uncertainty of the
protagonist’s psychological state. Also, as Lacey says ‘Characters can only perceive diegetic
material whereas the audience, obviously, can perceive everything a text has to offer, including
non diegetic material.14 Regarding the non diegetic material in ‘Memento’, Leonard’s voiceover
builds a connection between the protagonist; Leonard and the audience which is intensified by
the sense of Leonard’s isolation as no one can hear it but the audience can. The identification is
also reinforced by the editing as Leonard is in almost every shot and extreme close up and close
up shots of him are used for the entirety of the movie. Another aspect of the narrative which
forces a point of identification is the restricted narration. When discussing restricted narration
in ‘Taxi Driver’, Buckland says ‘The flow of narrative information is filtered through a single
character’,15 this can be applied to Memento, the audience completely connect with him and his
side of the story because we only discover new clues when he does so we go on the journey with
him. Additionally, in the final scene, the audience discover that Leonard kills Teddy because he
has only created the puzzle in his mind of his wife’s killer to satisfy his needs for a challenge in
life. The restricted narration prevents the identification made between Leonard and the
13
Teach yourself Film Studies (Warren Buckland) – Page 49
14
Narrative and Genre – Page 19
15
Teach yourself Film Studies (Warren Buckland) – Page 37

4. Research Investigation Sample C
audience from being completely shattered, we still sympathise with Leonard, even if we don’t
completely emphasise with him like we did at the start of the movie.
However, perhaps the character types in the film switch for the audience in this final
scene. Regarding Propp’s theory of character types16, Leonard, the protagonist is depicted as the
obvious hero throughout the movie, whereas Teddy, the man who Leonard killed at the
beginning, believing he is his wife’s killer is conveyed as the villain. Also, it can be questioned
whether the character Natalie is the princess, helper or villain. However, clear character types
are not established in the movie, so it depends on how the audience have interpreted the plot to
decide which character fits each type e.g. Teddy could be the helper and Leonard could be the
villain. It also indicates that Nolan works on the assumption that the audience knows character
types, then breaks them which adds to the appeal of a challenging narrative for audiences and
contrasts the compliance to character types from the perspective of a conventional narrative.
For example, in a movie such as Avatar, there is a clear hero, princess and helper which is not
the case for Memento.
In conclusion, there are many aspects of narrative which can determine a clear contrast
between traditional and alternate narratives. Although conventional narratives are simpler to
interpret and understand, alternate narratives can work on the assumption of the audience
knowing the aspects of traditional narrative to create a challenging appeal for an audience. This
is reinforced by the successful audience response for films with alternate narrative systems
such as ‘Inception’ and ‘Memento’.
16
Narrative and Genre by Nick Lacey