Similar Products- Protagonist Vs. Antagonist- Memento

Memento

Memento, written and directed by Christopher Nolan, is a good example of a thriller. It is driven by an insurance investigator turned detective as he battles with anterograde amnesia, similar, but not the same as amnesia, as he attempts to find the killer of his wife. With chase scenes, fight scenes, action driven dialogue and a daring narrative structure; scenes told in reverse chronological order to mirror the uncertainty and irregularity of his mental disorder, it retains many conventions of the thriller genre- more specifically, the psycho-thriller sub genre. However, the ‘protagonist’ and ‘antagonist’ figures in the movie are unclear and blurred throughout, and even more so when the ‘twist’ of the film is revealed at the end of the film/beginning of the story.

Definitions of Protagonist and Antagonist

Protagonist

"The main character in a drama or other literary work."

Antagonist

"One who opposes and contends against another; an adversary / The principal character in opposition to the protagonist or hero of a narrative or drama."

Source: http://www.thefreedictionary.com/

A protagonist is often described as a ‘hero’. Of course a protagonist can be a hero, but the two are not directly linked, as the term ‘hero’ refers to character and perception whereas ‘protagonist’ refers to narrative and the idea that character is a device for narrative movement, similar to Propp’s Seven Spheres of Action or Henry James’s famous words: “What is character but the determination of incident? What is incident but the illustration of character?” A protagonist is a narrative term meaning a character that moves-the-narrative-along, being the main character, so to speak.

In Memento Leonard is a perfect example of a protagonist and hero. He is young, good looking, active, physically able, clever, determined, and throughout the majority of the film he appears morally straight. He has a clear goal, and sticks to achieving his aim- thus moving the narrative along constantly. He is the focal character and the driving force behind the plot, as most of the things that happen, happen because of him and his actions.

Defining the antagonist is a bit more difficult. The villain is simple; the villain throughout is the uncertain ‘John G’, real name, perhaps (the reality is ambiguous) Teddy. He is set up as the villain from the very first scene, when Leonard and he argue and Leonard shoots him. We know the end, so there should be no mysteries- but in this lies the brilliance of the use of the non-linear narrative- at the end we find that he man he shoots at the beginning (or end) is probably innocent and so not the villain at all.

However, due to his innocence he can still be seen as an antagonist- because he knows the truth- that ‘John G’ is already dead, he tries to stop Leonard from fulfilling his aim of finding the killer- an aim that drives the narrative. The ambiguous nature of protagonists and antagonists allows us to take a separate view- it is the omniscience of Terry that allows him to be seen as a protagonist- his attempts to stop Leonard could be taken as an attempt to move the narrative off in a different direction, rather than stop it.

However, either way the real antagonist is Leonard’s mental illness, as it is attempting to stop him from achieving his aim. It is perhaps an unconventional view of antagonists, but it can be seen so.

Similar Products- Character Analysis, Anton Chigurh

Anton Chigurh, played by Javier Bardem in the film adaptation of Cormac McCarthy’s ‘No Country for Old Men’ is a psychopathic hit man who is trying to recover $2 million from a disastrous drug deal. He is the villainous protagonist of the film, who has a clear goal, and will do anything to achieve it. We know almost nothing about his past, which creates a closed off and mysterious character. However, like all good protagonists, he has a certain level of charisma and charm to allow the reader to like and follow the character, despite his clear lack of morals, ethics and conscience.

Throughout the film, he uses a coin-flip to determine whether to kill his victims, portraying his ruthlessness and villainy. This device throughout the film adds tension and suspense, especially if the character on whose life the coin rests is a likeable and apparently innocent character, as in the excerpt above with the life of the shop owner. In the scene above, he is seemingly calm, collected and in control. This is a much used character trait of on screen psychopaths, to appear indifferent to heinous acts such as murder, creating a chilling and tense atmosphere on screen. The closed off, menacing way Bardem plays Chigurh throughout is suspenseful, as it gives the audience no clue as to what he is going to do next. An example of this is in the shootout in the motel, where he kills an unarmed, surrendered man after he has apparently spared his life. The clip is below.

In this clip, as I mentioned before, we see Anton kill a defenceless man behind a curtain. However, despite the fact that he does kill the begging man, the closing of the curtain provides a point of interest. It could be argued that Anton is perhaps displaying a shred of humanity in not watching the man die. The curtain could be acting as a physical barrier to his conscience, helping him distance himself from the heartlessness of what he is doing.

The film follows Anton throughout the majority of its running time. We learn his mannerisms, the way he speaks to people, of his remorselessness and cruelty, but little about him as a person. This is probably done to present him as a cold, shut off individual who is incapable of normal human emotion, and therefore doesn’t warrant sympathy. It is typical of filmmakers to show perhaps the childhood, or to show villains as human beings to draw sympathy and even empathy from the audience. However, this is not done or attempted in ‘No Country for Old Men’- Anton does not deserve sympathy, he is a heartless killer. Of course, as a protagonist it is still possible for the audience to like Anton, for his calm demeanour, wit, manner and composure.