The first thing we have to establish is that the term memento that concerns us now is pure Latinism. With it, reference is made to a part of the mass that was introduced back in the 4th century and that began with that word that can be translated as "Remember" or "Remember."
According to the Royal Spanish Academy ( RAE ), the term refers to the segment of the canon of the mass where living believers and those who have already died are commemorated.
At the memento of the living , the celebrant asks for certain people through a special mention and for all those present at the ceremony. During the memorial of the dead , meanwhile, people pray for those who died, asking God for their souls.
The concept of memento also appears in the Latin phrase memento mori , taken by many as a philosophical premise or motto for life. The origin of the expression dates back to the time of the Roman Empire : back then, when a military leader led a parade to celebrate a war victory, a servant would remind him that he was a mere mortal.
Memento mori, in this context, is usually translated as "Remember that you will die" and is associated with the transience of life . The phrase aims to eliminate pride since it indicates that, beyond success, no human being avoids death.
There are those who maintain, however, that the literal translation of memento mori is "Remember to die." In this case, the saying would focus on learning to die in the sense of understanding that life is fleeting. Thus, when the last breath comes, the person must be free of ties and without any burden.
"Memento" , finally, is the title of a film directed by Christopher Nolan , whose script is based on a story by his brother Jonathan ( "Memento mori" ). The film , starring Guy Pearce , was released in 2000 .
This film tells the story of Leonard. This is a man who, due to a blow, suffers a cranial trauma that causes what is known as anterograde amnesia . What this means is that you do not have the capacity to store new memories in your mind, which means that you forget things shortly after they have happened. However, it does have sensory memory, which allows it, for example, to remember how to carry out day-to-day tasks.
In order to generate those memories, he will make the decision to make a photo album of his life, of the people he associates with, where he lives... And thanks to that, and the tattoos that he will have on his body, he will establish a plan. : find the whereabouts of the man who raped and murdered his wife and who is responsible for her head trauma.
Carrie-Anne Moss, Joe Pantoliano and Mark Boone Junior are other actors who appear in this film, which earned two Oscar nominations for best editing and best original screenplay, as well as another for the Golden Globes.