Do you remember Sammy Jankins? film narration and spectator's memory
Stefano Ghislotti · Aisberg (University of Bergamo) · 2005
One of the best commentaries of the film _Memento_ (2002) by Chris Nolan is the following one posted by a viewer to a newsgroup: “I loved this movie because it made me feel as is I had a short-term memory deficit”. This happens because the basic functions of memory are hindered by an unusual movie construction. As the film moves backwards, the viewer is progressively obliged to put the film's scenes into the right order. But it is really difficult to recall the past data, related with future events, and put everything into a coherent sequence.This difficulty can be a good example, leading us to to consider the normal way the film triggers the spectator's comprehension and memory. A basic tenet of the cognitive perspective is that the viewer is active, and that he or she is able to perform a series of mental operations. In these operations memory plays a central role.The paper will be a first assessment based on some case studies, and will focus on the relationships existing between the film's composition and the viewer's memory.