'Vertigo' versus 'Memento': Page 6

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201:

Vertigo 1:13:39 vs.

Memento 50:35

We weren't allowed here.

Madeleine’s apparently remembering a childhood where she was forbidden to play in the stables – and Leonard’s breaking into the wrong hotel room.

202:

Vertigo 1:13:42 vs.

Memento 50:58

And the blonde would have to be penitent about their trespassing.

Hey, do you love that light from behind the blondes, with some greenery in it?

203:

Vertigo 1:13:50 vs.

Memento 51:39

Gray horse vs… whisky?

Well. They line up in chronological order but I got curious. The bottle looks like it’s intended to be J&B Rare with the green glass, cream colored label and large red letters – but it actually says L&D, and the logo is different. Instead of a coat of arms, it’s a person mounted on a horse.

But there is a type of alcohol that references a gray animal: Grey Goose Vodka. And when I consult the script online, what do I see?

204:

Vertigo 1:13:54 vs.

Memento 51:44

Going into the (bathroom) stall.

205:

Vertigo 1:14:36 vs.

Memento 52:58

Love versus death again.

Notice that both the kiss and the gunshot fail to actually connect with their target.

206:

Vertigo 1:14:53 vs.

Memento 53:16

Possessions, and safety versus danger.

207:

Vertigo 1:15:05 vs.

Memento 53:24

But the blonde makes a run for it.

There’s a throwaway scene that is the gray scale flashback; it has Leonard receiving a phone call from the mystery caller but nothing else is said. It’s really in here to maintain the logical internal cadence that an IMDB trivia user was helpful in sharing:

208:

Vertigo 1:15:18 vs.

Memento 55:49

What has happened versus what’s going to happen.

209:

Vertigo 1:15:22 vs.

Memento 55:52

It feels good; that’s all that matters.

210:

Vertigo 1:15:23 vs.

Memento 55:58

Let me go/read, please.

This too is, in its own way, a reversal: Madeleine is pleading to be physically released, and on the surface Leonard's wife is requesting space and tolerance for her habit of rereading this book. But in the greater setting of the movie, this is the moment that Leonard holds onto the hardest.

211:

Vertigo 1:15:41 vs.

Memento 56:20

I won’t lose you versus I can’t make myself forget you.

A gap here as Madeleine rushes into the church tower and commits suicide; the ashes of Leonard’s wife’s belongings stand in as symbolic of her death in Memento. I didn't realize until preparing this article for publication how significant this gap was for covering the midpoint of Memento; it's going to have incredible ramifications we'll discuss shortly!

212:

Vertigo 1:18:05 vs.

Memento 56:33

He walks away from what’s left behind.

Look at those light gray blocky shapes in both shots!

213:

Vertigo 1:18:58 vs.

Memento 57:08

He used to deal with the police a lot.

214:

Vertigo 1:19:26 vs.

Memento 57:11

His disability makes things more difficult.

215:

Vertigo 1:19:49 vs.

Memento 57:23

The police haven’t been helpful, and may even have performed a cover up.

There’s another gap as Vertigo continues with the very insulting tribunal, and eventually Scottie is left to his own devices once more. He visits Madeleine’s unornamented headstone.

216:

Vertigo 1:21:55 vs.

Memento 57:31

We find our hero alone on the right side of the bed, with his right hand on his chest and an empty pillow beside his.

217:

Vertigo 1:24:36 vs.

Memento 58:35

After waking up, the protagonist sees a dead woman.

Leonard walks to the bathroom; he sees a flash of his wife's face under the clear plastic shower liner as he goes to open the door.

218:

Vertigo 1:25:36 vs.

Memento 58:58

There’s a few more really trippy moments – but after that, the blonde is just trying to make you happy.

219:

Vertigo 1:25:52 vs.

Memento 59:03

Honestly, she’s just trying to follow directions.

Gotta love that these are such similar angles and even expressions.

220:

Vertigo 1:26:09 vs.

Memento 59:34

Maybe someone got their files mixed up.

221:

Vertigo 1:26:34 vs.

Memento 59:40

The man’s got a whole stash available of things he might like.

222:

Vertigo 1:26:37 vs.

Memento 59:45

Johnny, Johnny, John G.

These shots really rhyme visually for me.

At this point in Memento, Leonard has the discussion with the sex worker to set up the items around the room. It strikes me as being very reminiscent of the moments in Vertigo where Scotty tells shopkeepers and hair dressers exactly how he wants Judy to be made up, but is out of order chronologically to Vertigo. There's several reasons for this (and some I'll get to later in my summary), but for now I can say it's probably also to make sure that the later and more emotionally heavy moments aren’t cluttered up by femmes that aren’t important to the heart of the plot.

223:

Vertigo 1:27:55 vs.

Memento 1:02:50

Snap him out of it.

224:

Vertigo 1:28:05 vs.

Memento 1:03:10

She just wanted her old Scottie/Sammy back.

Nice matching shot here.

225:

Vertigo 1:28:06 vs.

Memento 1:03:20

A supposedly knowledgeable (but certainly well-dressed) man discusses the sick one’s condition.

I'm currently snickering about the way that the lamp behind Leonard mimics the shape of Midge's hairstyle.

226:

Vertigo 1:28:18 vs.

Memento 1:03:28

The woman knows she’s already lost.

227:

Vertigo 1:28:22 vs.

Memento 1:04:10

An uncomfortable complication.

228:

Vertigo 1:28:28 vs.

Memento 1:04:41

She smiles through her tears – but this won’t be a happy ending.

229:

Vertigo 1:28:31 vs.

Memento 1:04:45

That actually wasn’t a help at all.

230:

Vertigo 1:30:05 vs.

Memento 1:04:48

The answer wasn’t important.

231:

Vertigo 1:30:23 vs.

Memento 1:05:00

Walking away from/toward the very nice car.

There’s a gap in Vertigo as Scottie returns to all the old familiar places and keeps seeing women who look like Madeleine – and then begins to follow a woman who barely looks like her at all. He tracks her to her floor of the hotel then knocks on her room door.

232:

Vertigo 1:33:57 vs.

Memento 1:05:08

Who the fuck are you?

233:

Vertigo 1:34:12 vs.

Memento 1:05:19

You’ve got a lot of nerve, coming into my personal space without invitation.