Eternal Sunshine of a Spotless Mind (2004) Review and Analysis

Eternal Sunshine of a spotless mind (2004), Michel Gondry
4.5/5

From the great writer Charlie Kaufman (Adaptation & Being John Malkovich) and director Michel Gondry (The Science of Sleep) comes this amazing romantic drama that is both beautifully shot and the plot is just fascinating and mind bending. Charlie Kaufman generated this amazing script basically de-constructing a love story in an authentic and at times comedic way. At first I was hesitate with Jim Carey in this film when I first saw it, but he plays the polar opposite to the majority of his roles. His role in this film is in my opinion his best performance. He plays this quiet and restrained character alongside Kate Winslet who is amazing as this larger than life character. The colours and shots in this film are just gorgeous. Also the use of in camera affects and special effects create really interesting visuals that really facilitate the storytelling. This film is one of my all time favourites and gets better and better every time I watch it and it definitely needs multiple viewings.

***SPOILERS***

This film is told in fragments and for the most part is told in reverse starting with the breakup between Joel (Jim Carey) and Clementine (Kate Winslet). It's really unusual way to see a romantic drama unfold, with all the pain and awfulness to begin with. This film isn't science fiction despite the fact that it has an element of science fiction to it. Joel decides to erase his memory of Clementine after he learns she has erased him. It has many layers and while it does explore the dynamics of love and relationships it also focuses on the nature of memory. How it shapes you and the possibility of retaining emotional memory despite everything. 

What I really love in this film is Michel Gondry's use of in camera affects, for instance his use of secret doors to make Clementine disappear and appear in seemingly impossible places. It really follows Gondry's visual style using disjointed sound and video to make the memories more fragmented as they are being erased. He used a number of different techniques including erasing things blank, repetition of imagery and disappearance of objects and other visuals. 

The soundtrack and score are great and really match the mood of each scene. It's perfectly jarring at the as the beginning of the film goes from a happy chance meeting of two strangers and then suddenly the pain and depression of Joel after the break up. Alongside the main storyline the supporting characters run parallel while they do the memory erasing. Great support cast includes Kirsten Dunst, Elijah Wood and Mark Ruffalo. Their storyline helps ground the films sense of time as the majority of the film plays over one night. Packing Joel and Clementine's relationship of two years into one night of memory. 

The quality of the memories are dream like and become increasingly like a chase as Joel has the growing realisation of why he fell in love with Clementine as tries to stop the erasing by escaping with Clementine into other memories. It is interesting to see the two characters repeat events that were previously experienced before their relationship was erased. This gives a circuitous and repetitious sense to the film. Another thing that helps mark the timeline is the different colours of Clementine's hair which changes frequently but hints at the succession of time across the relationship. 

In the relationship aspect of the film it explores the notion of the honey moon period, the exiting first meeting and getting to know someone to becoming comfortable and then to spite, annoyance and distancing of the couple. In addition to this main storyline, is the strange triangle relationship between Kirsten Dunst, Mark Ruffalo and Tom Wilkinson characters. Mary (Dunst) and Stan (Ruffalo) are dating, but it is revealed that Mary has really been in love with Dr. Mierzwiak (Wilkinson) for a long time. These aspects of parallel relationships doomed to repeat themselves even without conscious memory of past events seem rather fatalistic. But the air of the film gives it a sense of hope and it's up to the audience whether the ending is of the future or the past depending on whether you look at it optimistically or pessimistically. Another important point is demonstrated by Mary's character is that although we can't change who we are and are doomed to repeat events, it is memory however painful that enables us to grow, change and move on. In the case of Joel and Clementine their re-discovery of each other is turned sour when they realise that they're already been together, that it fell apart and that they erased each other. However the ending is somewhat hopeful and truthful about the nature of relationships. This can be seen in the dialogue where Clementine says "And you'll get bored with me" and Joel replies "Ok" saying that they're going to try again anyway, even if everything doesn't work out. 

In terms of characters at first look Clementine appears to be a manic pixie dream girl. A term defined as a vivacious woman who sensitive men fall in love with and seek to fulfil them. Clementine seems to fit this definition, but it has been argued that she isn't because she exists separately and isn't just the source of Joel's fulfilment. This is demonstrated when Clementine states, both in the past and future timelines that "So 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 looking for my own piece of mind; don't assign me yours". Overall this is a fascinating viewing experience with many interesting and complex elements. The characters are complex and well portrayed especially considering most of the film the characters play a duel role as the character, but also Joel's mind or perception of them in his memory.