Feature movie of the week: Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

Otherwise he proceeds blindly, and after manifold wanderings must come back to the same ignorance from which he started.
- Immanuel Kant

The first time I watched Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind I was, well, confused. I wasn't exactly sure what was going on during the film and after it finished I was completely baffled at what I had just watched. But despite my confusion, there was something about it that I loved. So like any good film nerd, I dove right into extensive reading, multiple re-watchings and completing a school assignment on the film and I'm happy to say I finally got what it was all about, and boy was I glad.

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind was written by Charlie Kaufman (if you've seen any of his other films then you know what you're in for e.g. Being John Malkovich, Adaptation), directed by Michael Gondry and stars the always wonderful Kate Winslet and a surprisingly restrained Jim Carrey as the two leads. It follows an estranged couple, Clementine Kruczynski (Winslet) and Joel Barish (Carrey) who have each other erased from their memories with a new non-surgical technique called targeted memory erasure.

So how does this all play out exactly? Well, one chilly Valentine’s Day morning, Joel impulsively decides to skip work and take the train to the small town of Montauk in New York. He doesn’t know why he decided to go to Montauk on this particular day, but something told him that he should. On the train home from Montauk, Joel meets Clementine. The two have an instant connection but what they don’t realise is that this isn’t actually the first time that they have met each other at all. Unbeknownst to them, they have already been in a relationship with each other not too long before. The reason they don’t remember is because they have both had each other erased from their memories.

And it is through this process of purposely forgetting that they both discover the value in what they had to begin with.

Standout Performances

• Jim Carrey- I believe this is the best performance Jim Carrey has ever given. He's a funny guy and has played some hilarious characters, but the quiet, reserved way in which he plays Joel really stands out in his body of work. I guess I found it refreshing to watch someone who is usually so vivacious and often over the top be so subdued and minimalistic. Ultimately Joel is depressed and dissatisfied and it is often what Carrey isn't doing (e.g. the silence, his facial expressions) rather than what he is that makes Joel such a sympathetic and, quite frankly, saddening character to watch.

• Kate Winslet- Although not quite as contrary to her other roles as Joel is for Carrey, Clementine is one of Winslet's quirkiest characters. She could have easily been a manic pixie dream girl (which is not an archetype I dislike), but there are complexities and insecurities and just a general no-bull attitude to her that Winslet portrays with such a vulnerability and realism that save her from falling into this trap. Case in point:

CLEMENTINE

I'm not a concept. 

Too many guys think I'm a concept 

or I complete them or I'm going 

to make them alive, but I'm 

just a fucked up girl who is 

looking for my own peace of mind. 

Don't assign me yours.

• Kirsten Dunst- I have a real soft spot for Kirsten Dunst, she has been in quite a few of my favourite films and there is something very captivating about her even in minor roles such as this one. She plays Mary Svevo the receptionist at Lacuna Inc. (the memory erasure company) and she does a really good job in the subplot with the other employees as they are erasing Joel's memories. She especially shines towards the end of the film when she finds out that she had an affair with the head doctor of Lacuna and then had her memories of it erased.

Memorable Scenes

• When Clementine and Joel "meet" on the train at the beginning of the film. Clementine is like a tornado in comparison to Joel, she comes across as very outgoing, confident, charming and even a little crazy. A very clever cinematic technique is that whenever the two are speaking, music is playing in the background, but whenever there is silence, it pauses.
• When Clementine and Joel lie down on the frozen lake (the image on the poster) and there is all sorts of symbolism with "thin ice" and not falling through etc.
• When Joel goes to see Clementine at the book shop where she works and, because she has already erased him from her memory, she does not recognise him. Carrey is fantastic in this scene, he is utterly confused, disappointed and shattered.
• The final scene of the film that takes place in a hallway in Joel's apartment building and Joel and Clementine have the following conversation after which they both just start laughing in a wonderfully cathartic moment:

Joel

I can't see anything that I don't 

like about you. 

Clementine
But you will! But you will. 

You know, you will think of things. 

And I'll get bored with you and feel 

trapped because that's what happens 

with me.

Joel
Okay. 

Clementine

[pauses] Okay.

Music Moments

• Everybody's Gotta Learn Sometimes- Beck

 

• Losing your memory- Ryan Star

Although not technically a music moment, this song was written about Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (how awesome is that!?) so it gets an honourable mention.