Ever feel like something is missing or feeling a bit out of it? Then you will relate to this current rental. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind is not just another one of those romantic comedies or time-shifting movies like Memento or Sliding Doors; instead, it had its own flair of romance and suspense. This recent movie was directed by Michel Gondry and written by the famous Charlie Kaufman.
Right from the start, the storyline centered on Jim Carrey’s character Joel, who wakes up not feeling altogether himself. He realizes it happens to be Valentine’s Day 2004. Outlandish Joel decides to skip work and hop onto a train to the beach. On the train ride back, Joel meets Clementine, Kate Winslet’s character, and is intrigued by her spunk and amazing energy. With Joel being shy and very unemotional, the usual opposite attracts quality draws them together.
The story continues by going backward in time to a younger Joel talking about how Clementine will not even see him because the two of them just had a huge fight. The tale further unfolds as the viewers learn that Clementine and Joel were indeed in a previous relationship that went sour. We now follow Joel as he finds out that Clementine had erased him from her memory. Frustrated and angry, Joel feels that the only way the pain and emptiness will go away is by erasing her from his memory.
Then the process of erasing starts. Yet during this process, while Joel starts reliving his memories, he realizes he wants to keep the memories of Clementine. Under the pain and hard events they shared, he recognized there was a deep love between the two of them and fights through the rest of the movie to keep Clementine in his memories.
The overall cinematography was incredible. Even with the opening scene of Joel waking up, the way the camera captured both his awkward expressions and actions,and the stark features of this character was successful. Gondry did an amazing job placing objects and actors to create an eye-pleasing visual effect. Also many of the parts had little or no music, producing this raw feeling of real life. My personal favorite was when each memory starts to get erased. The way this was portrayed was that each dream was erased little by little with objects disappearing until there was a complete darkness.
This movie shows Jim Carrey like most people have not seen him before. Carrey’s character revealed his wide range of acting skills through this film. In the same way, Winslet moved away from her British roles to play an unpredictable, hair-dying 30-year-old punk. The two actors really made the movie.
I personally wish more would have been included on why their initial relationship failed. They brought it up, but at the same time, it was not as developed as it could have been. I wish we would have also seen the process of how Clementine decided to erase her own memory. The complete picture would have been developed with these two extra aspects.
Ultimately, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind called me to start living my life. Clementine had such energy, which I feel as college students, we have,` and should utilize to become awakened and happy individuals.
Some movies make you to think about and appreciate the life you have, while others can motivate you with their potential of something greater. This movie does both. In the same way, it asks: What if there were a machine that could easily erase your memories? Would you use it?
The conclusion that is drawn in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind is that we should keep our memories. We go through both wonderful and awful events that shape us, and erasing them inevitably erases parts of us. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind is definitely a movie one should watch and appreciate. It entails drama, comedy, and romance all in one package.
