Christopher Nolan’s Memento captivates audiences as a mind-bending psychological thriller project, based on the short story Memento Mori by his brother, Jonathan Nolan. Given that the movie garnered widespread acclaim, it would have been anything but that if the latter hadn’t presented his unique idea.
The acclaimed screenwriter recently sat in an interview to discuss his projects, where he threw light on his ideation process, revealing that he felt annoyed at one point.
Why Jonathan Nolan Felt Annoyed by Writing Concept for Memento?
Memento garnered international acclaim, solidifying Christopher Nolan‘s status in the filmmaking world. From its non-linear storytelling trajectory to complex themes, the movie has loads of elements for audiences to explore.
However, it all became a reality thanks to his younger brother, Jonathan Nolan’s concept, who got intrigued about screenwriting during his college years and ended up curating the base concept for what we know as the 2000 movie.
In a recent appearance on Happy Sad Podcast, the screenwriter revealed how his writing interest came around a time when Nolan was working on his full-length feature.
He shared,
“I got interested in Amnesia because it’s something always is not common condition… It is so Illuminating about the human mind and the fragility of the human mind. So, I had this idea for a story about a guy who couldn’t remember anything and took to tattooing the clues on his body.”
With the concept ready, he decided to write it down but the 47-year-old producer felt rather annoyed. He shared, “But right from the beginning, I remember feeling almost annoyed. I sat down and wrote it as I was very interested in it…”
He realized that his story would be more explanatory with visuals, rather than texts.
This is the wrong inspiration coming to the wrong brother. This is a visual story, and I’m going to write a cool story out of it. But it really is inherently visual. Like it’d be so much more efficient to just show this guy taking his shirt off and realizing, with kind of horror, that he’s turned himself into a canvas of evidence.”
With what he had in mind, he decided to pitch it to his brother, who at the time, was already active in filmmaking. He chose to share his concept story during a road trip.
Jonathan Nolan Pitched His Idea for Memento During a Road Trip
The producer later revealed that he picked the Oppenheimer filmmaker in Chicago with the duo driving in their father’s car. With their destination being LA, they had a long journey ahead when he decided to pitch his idea to Christopher Nolan, who was already sharing his filmmaking goals with the former at the time.
Not delving deep into the filmmaker’s projects, he shared in the same interview,
“I pitched in the story for Memento, and he got really quiet…Usually, the relationship was so one-sided that when you showed up with something and you realized, ‘Oh sh-t, this is kind of cool,’ they get a little quiet.”
He knew he won him over with the idea due to its unique story and visual elements.
“Uh, I knew with Chris, I had him with that one because the story was inherently visual, inherently cinematic.”
He went back to college and started taking screenwriting classes, while the Inception director began developing early sketches for the story. By the time he graduated, he had even completed the script. After they secured the finances, it eventually was brought on screen. Released in 2000, the movie grossed nearly $40 million via the Numbers, gaining cult following over the years.
Memento is available to watch on Peacock Premium.
