Review of Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004) by Zak K — 27 Jun 2015

*GREAT MOVIE*.

"How happy is the blameless vestalâ??s lot.

The world forgetting, by the world forgot.

Eternal sunshine of the spotless mind.

Each prayâ??r accepted, and each wish resigned.".

The opening credits for "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind" don't occur for about fifteen minutes. The first fifteen minutes shows the start (or it appears to) of a quirky relationship between Joel (Jim Carrey) and Clementine (Kate Winslet). For someone who hasn't read anything about the film, or hasn't heard too much of what it's about, you expect this to be the start of their relationship. If you have not seen the film, stop now, and either see it and return, or see it and don't return. If you're here at all you've shown interest in one way or another, I hope.

Most people should be able to relate to "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind" in one way or another. It is about the love and stress in an average relationship, including the thought of having children, the frustration of each other's company at times, and the cute inside jokes that couples often share. Kate Winslet and Jim Carrey do a wonderful job at convincing us they are for real. They're great at convincing us of their love, and they're great at convincing us of their growing aggravation of each other.

So yes, on one level, the film is about the best and worst of being in a relationship with someone you can't stand to love. However, "Eternal Sunshine" is also a mind-bending science fiction film. This is not for shock value nor is it for a reason unrelated to the general themes and ideas expressed. It's done for a perfectly plausible reason, it allows a deeper understanding of the characters, and a wonderful look into what love is.

After the opening credits, and the quirky meeting of Joel and Clementine, the film seems (pay attention to the choice of words, 'seem') to have progressed some time. Joel is crying over Clementine, and he explains to his neighbors that she appears to no longer recognize who he is. Soon after, he finds out she really doesn't remember who he is - her memory has been altered to completely forget who Joel is. New, state of the art technology has allowed this to happen.

This is not something that seems at all out of place in the film, and it seems to be easily accepted by audiences. It feels as natural as any normal, everyday technology would, due to the thought behind the explanation of it, and the realistic aspects of the workplace that this mind-erasing place is. Joel, upon learning of Clementine's decision to erase him from her memory, decides to do the same. From this point until the very end, most of the film takes place in Joel's mind, as the erasers go memory to memory, getting rid of all thoughts of Clementine.

This allows the audience to trace the relationship back to the beginning. Where did they go wrong? What has caused the trouble? Joel ends up falling for Clem all over again, and doesn't want the process to continue. It's a really thought-provoking idea topped with wonderful acting, beautiful chemistry between our two main characters, and great thoughts about love and human emotion. The film is also very clever and funny, at times that are necessary, and touchingly sad and romantic.

After the process, despite their best efforts to salvage the memories (the lovely memories), Joel and Clem are both out of each other's lives. Well, so we have thought. The beginning of the film, the spontaneous meeting on the train, is actually taking place after the mind-erasing process for both Joel and Clem. This is a beautiful realization for the audience, because we now know the power of their love (cheesy, but true) and the nature of humans regarding love for each other. Love always wins.

After a night on the frozen lake, Clem asks Joel to spend the night at his place, as shown in the beginning and again at the end. She discovers the tapes recorded before the operation (or process, or whatever you'd like to call it), and they both listen as they describe the things they hated about each other, the things they grew to hate over the course of two years. They listen, they wonder about their current state, and how they decide they cannot see anything they don't like about the other.

"But you will.".

....

"Okay.".

"Okay.".

This scene is absolutely perfect for the conclusion: it shows they have decided to put up with each other's issues, and have proceeded to be in love for as long as reality will let them be in love. It's a wonderful ending to an even more wonderful movie.