The Favourites
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind may be one of the most difficult films to discuss in terms of raw emotion. The film is completely and unabashedly loving and dreadful in the same breath as we travel through the mind of Joel (Jim Carrey) as he erases the memories of Clementine (Kate Winslet), after the end of their long-term relationship. The film begins at the end of their relationships when wounds have festered and words do more damage than good. As the soft science fiction machine of the film erases these memories, we trace the relationship in reverse, and we see the love these characters are capable of holding for each other. As these memories likewise get erased, the film becomes a thriller, a race against the clock, as Joel desperately tries to hold onto a single moment of the love he so desperately adored.
The combination of director Michel Gondry and screenwriter Charlie Kaufman is one of the most fruitful pairings of the 21st century. Both are acerbic in their tastes, with an innate ability to conceptualize stories in layered, philosophical ways. Kaufman’s other stellar work from around the same time as Eternal Sunshine includes the endlessly original Being John Malkovich and the ultimate exploration of the meta-narrative adaptation. Gondry’s work from this time includes the criminally underseen The Science of Sleep and the light and imaginative Be Kind Rewind. By combining the cerebral and haughty ideas of Kaufman and the daring visual storytelling of Gondry, Eternal Sunshine creates a unique experience that is visceral in both the emotions and the images. The canvas in which they paint is all the richer because these two artists worked in tandem, their styles so in sync.
The film is sickly stylish, as we spend the majority of the film in the slowly disappearing mind of Joel. Walls disappear, faces melt away, time ceases to exist as we (and Joel) simply appear from one moment to another. Memories are never linear plains but a jumbled mess of touch and smell, grace and disgrace, all of our moments of shame and excellence blended into a semblance of us. As Joel realizes his mistake, as he sees the beauty that existed in moments of blossoming love, he races against his own mind to save his own mind, a Mobius strip, a dog chasing his own tail, destined to lose it all, no matter how deep into his own memories he attempts to hide Clementine. It took losing her to realize what he had.
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