Page One: ‘Memento’ (2000)

Screenplay by Christopher Nolan, short story by Jonathan Nolan

The movie version of the opening scene:

Note how Nolan uses black and white (in the movie) and italics (in the script) to convey a parallel time-frame: past and present.

Page One is a daily Go Into The Story series featuring the first page of notable movie scripts from the classic era to contemporary times. Comparing them is an excellent way to study a variety of writing styles and see how professional writers start a story.

For more Page One posts, go here.

You may follow the daily conversation on Twitter as I cross-post there: @GoIntoTheStory.