'Vertigo' versus 'Memento': Page 1

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1:

Vertigo 1:24 vs.

Memento :44

Title screens surrounded by opening credits.

Bonus: red versus blue, and both titles in all caps.

2:

Vertigo 3:30 vs.

Memento 2:00

We arrive in media res, and the first shot after the credits is one of a man’s left hand holding onto something.

3:

Vertigo 4:42 vs.

Memento 2:32

A man dies in a sudden and shocking manner.

Loving that artsy ray of light acfross the concrete in Memento; feels like a visual echo of the line of white buildings across the middle of the screen in Vertigo.

4:

Vertigo 5:39 vs.

Memento 3:15

And just what do you know about my condition?

5:

Vertigo 5:43 vs.

Memento 3:35

You really shouldn’t tease about something like that.

In Vertigo, Scotty’s suggesting that Midge is unchaste/unvirginal – a jest that might have severe consequences in 1958. In Memento, Teddy’s literally toying with Leonard’s debilitating condition... or so we think on a first watch.

6:

Vertigo 6:12 vs.

Memento 4:06

I keep returning to the scene of the first man’s death – mentally versus physically.

Bonus: the return is intrinsically related to each man’s mental handicap.

7:

Vertigo 6:31 vs.

Memento 5:19

What a moment in time, to come to this deadly conclusion!

Bonus: both men looking down, with a similar line to their shoulders; Scottie's just to the right of screen center and Leonard is just to the left.

8:

Vertigo 6:38 vs.

Memento 6:01

I know who I am (or who I’m not).

Bonus: both men are from San Francisco, and both men have a sort of weapon in their hands in this shot -- whether or not we can see it.

9:

Vertigo 7:08 vs.

Memento 6:11

Go in a different direction, to forget – or to remember.

And that man's getting pretty active and aggressive with the thing he's got in his hand.

10:

Vertigo 7:14 vs.

Memento 6:23

Okay, that one hurt... and we the audience aren’t yet sure the target deserved it.

Scottie insults Midge (however affectionately he might mean it) by referring to her as motherly – and Leonard shoots Teddy in the head. Bonus: “no”.

11:

Vertigo 7:33 vs.

Memento 6:38

You know about these things.

Love that similar line created by the main character looking toward something over his right shoulder.

12:

Vertigo 7:49 vs.

Memento 6:48

This unknown stranger tried to fix an issue, with a different/no system. (Spoiler: this is actually not a great fix.)

13:

Vertigo 8:04 vs.

Memento 6:58

A do-it-yourself type of thing.

14:

Vertigo 8:08 vs.

Memento 7:05

Our first instance of love in Vertigo becoming violence/death in Memento.

And it's certainly silly, but I feel like "love life" and "KILL LIES" are equivalent in opposite directions. Bonus: the red couch versus the blue quilt.

15:

Vertigo 8:22 vs.

Memento 8:03

I’m asking you a question about something I really should already know.

Bonus: A man in a suit jacket with his shoulders up higher due to being seated/bending down, versus someone who appears to be wearing a pastel yellow shirt with a collar.

16:

Vertigo 8:40 vs.

Memento 8:23

We’re gonna provide the name for the central driving issue of this film – and a dump of a lot of supporting detail/exposition.

17:

Vertigo 9:38 vs.

Memento 10:15

Yeah, I’ve got a smart system that can manage my condition, and I can make it work. (Spoiler: it’s not that simple.)

In both cases the protag spends a lot of time demonstrating his potential system – and in Vertigo we get to see immediately how easily it fails.

18:

Vertigo 11:22 vs.

Memento 11:32

Passing the balding older man on the way in/out.

What a nifty little nod this one is to Hitchcock’s cameo! I love that the directions are mirrored.

19:

Vertigo 11:33 vs.

Memento 11:51

How did you get here/how do I get there?

Bonus: The answer specifies East.

20:

Vertigo 12:22 vs.

Memento 12:27

That’s a LOT of pictures up on the wall, and the main character moves over to interact with them.

Bonus: A listing of four items. In Vertigo: “Color, excitement, power. Freedom.” In Memento: “Discount Inn. Natalie. My car. Teddy.”

21:

Vertigo 12:34 vs.

Memento 12:47

Shouldn't you be sitting down?

This one’s so fun – the question in one media prompts the action of the other. Nice reversed directions also.

22:

Vertigo 13:47 vs.

Memento 12:57

This person isn’t who they are presenting themselves as being.

There’s a fun additional moment for me, in that Gavin’s saying that his wife is possessed by a ghost... but also Gavin is misrepresenting himself to Scottie as a concerned husband in a loving marriage.

Bonus: two syllable G names, Gavin versus Gammell.

23:

Vertigo 14:13 vs.

Memento 13:29

Because I’m trying to call you on your bullshit, you will now cause a precipitous exit/arrival.

Scotty rightfully can tell he’s dismissed and stands up to leave; Teddy hurries to say he’s coming over.

24:

Vertigo 14:53 vs.

Memento 14:02

She’s gone.

25:

Vertigo 15:05 vs.

Memento 14:12

Memory is treachery.

26:

Vertigo 15:23 vs.

Memento 14:33

Piecing together a description of someone I don’t know.

27:

Vertigo 16:21 vs.

Memento 15:48

I want to know more before committing them to that kind of ‘care’.

It’s only after Leonard and we the audience can read his backward tattoo saying “John G. raped and murdered my wife” that Leonard adds the “Kill him” directive to the back of Teddy’s picture for his future self.

28:

Vertigo 16:33 vs.

Memento 16:28

A friend, someone I can trust.

In the present, Gavin says Scottie is that trusted person whose experiences he can rely on – and Leonard relies on his memories of Sammy’s story to inform his new daily life.

Bonus: Two syllable S names, Scottie versus Sammy.

29:

Vertigo 16:38 vs.

Memento 16:56

Got (no) reason to go to all this effort.

30:

Vertigo 16:45 vs.

Memento 17:16

Come see the woman at the place we’ll be dining.

Direction-giver to the left, picture(s) to the right.

31:

Vertigo 18:10 vs.

Memento 17:37

A significant moment where the blonde unknowingly walks past the brunet lying in wait for them in the restaurant (but we find out later that the blonde really should know who they are and why they're present).

A long fun gap occurs in here for Vertigo while Scottie stalks Madeleine: watching her buy flowers, visit a grave at the Mission Dolores, then go stare at the painting in the museum. Important to note that “Madeleine” and “Natalie” are rhyming 3 syllable names, and both are wearing gray garments for the duration.

32:

Vertigo 27:18 vs.

Memento 17:41

"Will you tell me something about the lady sitting in there?" the man asks.

33:

Vertigo 27:24 vs.

Memento 17:48

We know that person by a different name.

34:

Vertigo 27:28 vs.

Memento 18:04

Is that what your little note says?

Specifically information conveyed in print/on paper.

Another round of light stalking as Scottie follows Madeleine to the McKittrick Hotel and watches her be seated in the window of the front room, then goes inside to speak to the proprietress.

35:

Vertigo 29:57 vs.

Memento 18:06

According to a scrap of paper...

Scottie pulls out his old badge to get the clerk to share information about the room’s occupant, and Leonard otherwise does live his life guided by self-created badges of identification.