Films That Really Matter To Us: Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

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If you haven't seen Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, I'm not sure how much you'll understand from this post. It's definitely one of those films that you need to watch at least twice to understand it properly, and if I try and explain the film's plot, it will probably put you off, just watch it and make up your own mind!

What really makes this film amazing is that although it's not a conventional love story - the break up happens at the beginning and the Joel almost realises that he's in love with Clementine after the moment has passed, it's still ridiculously sweet. I also find the film heart-breakingly sad, because just as he realises he loves Clementine, he wipes the memory of her. I think because the ending is very ambiguous - the image of them running along the beach on a loop could be interpreted as a happy ending or is it just pointing out that their relationship is doomed to failure each time?

Kate Winslet: she's crazier than you.

Kate Winslet plays Clementine, and obviously, she's fantastic and was Oscar nominated blah blah blah, but I think the actor who makes the film is Jim Carrey, who plays Joel. I genuinely dislike most of his films because I don't funny his zany idea of comedy remotely funny, but in Eternal Sunshine, he doesn't pull one crazy face, or shout or scream or act stupid and he's actually really good. Kate Winslet takes on the extroverted character, and Carrey plays a pretty ordinary, quiet guy, overwhelmed by everything about her, which really makes a change! I think because Joel's such a likeable yet understated character, you forget it's Jim Carrey and that really isn't a bad thing.

Leaving aside my blatant dismay that Jim Carrey wasn’t nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor, the story, is just ridiculously bitter-sweet. Because it starts with the break up and works its way backwards through the relationship, by the end of the film, you can't believe that Joel and Clementine ever broke up to begin with, which just makes the final memory scene in the house even more heartbreaking. When you are watching the scenes in Joel’s mind, you are very aware that they are memories that are being erased, and this just makes it so much more tragic.

Not too wacky...

The other thing I like about this film is that it's presented in a believable way - it's not totally crazy and 'out there' considering it's about a company, Lacuna Inc, which can erase specific things and people from your mind. Eternal Sunshine even deals with the ethical issues that having such technology would pose - Kirsten Dunst's character, Mary, ends up sending all the files back to the clients after she is told the memory of her affair with Lacuna's boss has been erased. Obviously the memories are presented in quite a wacky fashion - almost dream-like, particularly the part when Joel realises he doesn't want to erase Clementine any more and decides to 'hide' her (unsuccessfully) in other memories of his.


I've only even seen one other Michel Gondry film - Be Kind Rewind, and I didn't really rate it. I don't know what other people think - should I try watching a few others, or is ESOTSM a bit of a one hit wonder?

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