Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind is a 2004 film starring, amongst other big shots, Jim Carrey as Joel Barish and Kate Winslet as Clementine Kruczynski. An odd "opposites-attract" couple who awkwardly meet on a vacant train platform. The surreal and fascinating tale that weaves, confusing at first, becomes an enjoyable and charming breakdown of a relationship.
For what is now almost seven years I've hardly heard of this movie. After finally seeing the film I am both grateful and furious about this.
My anger stems from one simple and gnawing question, "Where the fuck has this movie been all this time, and why hasn't anyone told me about it." After doing some research I found that the movie apparently has an immense cult following. It also has so many accolades that it has it's own fairly sizable page dedicated to them on Wikipedia. Rotten Tomatoes has it certified fresh with a 93% approval rating. For God's sake, Roger Ebert said it was amazing! But why haven't I heard of it?
I think the answer to my question lies in the very reason why I am grateful that I hadn't heard of this movie until recently.
The movie is astoundingly cerebral, pun very much intended. How better to understand the mind of man than to literally take it apart, piece by piece. 2010's Inception does this astoundingly well. Showing the depths of human thought and emotion with literal scenes. I was very surprised to see that another film beat Inception to the punch. However, where Inception is the story of attempting to create an idea at the deepest levels, Eternal Sunshine is essentially the opposite story of the attempt to destroy an idea or memory.
Just as with Inception, I found myself having to stop and recall small but key ideas and points throughout Eternal Sunshine. Connecting all the hidden dots is simple, the only hard part is finding them to begin with. The key device in hiding these way-points just out of view is the nonlinear format. It confuses at times, but it's a satisfying confusion; a feeling so awesomely relieved and replaced by what I can only describe as utter joy as you slowly start to see the bigger picture.
My anger stems from one simple and gnawing question, "Where the fuck has this movie been all this time, and why hasn't anyone told me about it." After doing some research I found that the movie apparently has an immense cult following. It also has so many accolades that it has it's own fairly sizable page dedicated to them on Wikipedia. Rotten Tomatoes has it certified fresh with a 93% approval rating. For God's sake, Roger Ebert said it was amazing! But why haven't I heard of it?
I think the answer to my question lies in the very reason why I am grateful that I hadn't heard of this movie until recently.
The movie is astoundingly cerebral, pun very much intended. How better to understand the mind of man than to literally take it apart, piece by piece. 2010's Inception does this astoundingly well. Showing the depths of human thought and emotion with literal scenes. I was very surprised to see that another film beat Inception to the punch. However, where Inception is the story of attempting to create an idea at the deepest levels, Eternal Sunshine is essentially the opposite story of the attempt to destroy an idea or memory.
Just as with Inception, I found myself having to stop and recall small but key ideas and points throughout Eternal Sunshine. Connecting all the hidden dots is simple, the only hard part is finding them to begin with. The key device in hiding these way-points just out of view is the nonlinear format. It confuses at times, but it's a satisfying confusion; a feeling so awesomely relieved and replaced by what I can only describe as utter joy as you slowly start to see the bigger picture.
At the end of the movie, it simply begs you to spend the credits ordering another round to sit and watch one more time. It's definitely necessary to give this film multiple screenings, but not in a bad way. The labyrinth of the mind as written by Charlie Kaufman (Being John Malkovich) is a hard one to solve; watching the film a second, third, or fourth time will surely bring a whole new, but equally enjoyable, experience.
Had I seen this film in my preteen years, I would have likely been turned off by the confusing elements of the story. Eternal Sunshine demands attention and it requires the viewer to have a knack for picking up subtle themes and motifs. It keeps the truth at the very tip of your tongue, just enough to taste, but also just past your nose, just out of sight. That being said, there is an unavoidable and prominent key idea, love.
Although it's easy to be lost in the science fiction and fantasy, one theme is very clear; the idea that love cannot be erased. Eternal Sunshine leaves a smile on your face and perhaps a tear on your cheek; more importantly, it leaves the viewer thinking. The statement, "I don't know why, in my right mind, I love you; but I do" takes on new, literal meaning. It connects with the viewer with subtleties in a way that only a masterful film can. A viewer's confusion and awkward tension that is felt during the opening of the movie, initially a turn off, makes perfect sense by the end. The conveying mechanism of characters emotions to our emotions is practically perfected with Eternal Sunshine.
I'll be sitting down to watch Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind again very soon and I would recommend it to anyone at all.
I give it a 5 out of 5. Easily one of my favorite movies of all time.
Although it's easy to be lost in the science fiction and fantasy, one theme is very clear; the idea that love cannot be erased. Eternal Sunshine leaves a smile on your face and perhaps a tear on your cheek; more importantly, it leaves the viewer thinking. The statement, "I don't know why, in my right mind, I love you; but I do" takes on new, literal meaning. It connects with the viewer with subtleties in a way that only a masterful film can. A viewer's confusion and awkward tension that is felt during the opening of the movie, initially a turn off, makes perfect sense by the end. The conveying mechanism of characters emotions to our emotions is practically perfected with Eternal Sunshine.
I'll be sitting down to watch Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind again very soon and I would recommend it to anyone at all.
I give it a 5 out of 5. Easily one of my favorite movies of all time.
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