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Movie Review:
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Jim Carrey and Kate Winslet
ETERNAL SUNSHINE
Directed by: Michel Gondry
Screenplay: Charlie Kaufman
Cast: Jim Carrey, Kate Winslet, Kirsten Dunst, Mark Ruffalo, Elijah Wood, Tom Wilkinson
Distributor: Focus Features (US)
Runtime: 108 minutes
Like the poem in which this movie gained its title from, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind is too a work of art. Joel (played by Jim Carrey) and Clementine (played by Kate Winslet) begin as an interested couple, excited about pursuing a curious relationship.
The thing is, these two have dated before. They just don't remember.
Their first attempt at everlasting romance ends in bitterness and vindictive behaviour. Not surprising of Clementine, her immaturity leads her to have every single memory of Joel erased from her memory. Joel, upon learning this, falls into a vindictive and spiteful spiral of emotions that eventually persuade him to let it suck every memory of her from his mind.
The direction of this movie is interesting, as the story is told backward, Memento-style. We sit through each of his memories of her, watch his confusion and satisfaction as the negative memories are erased; and eventually his comedic reluctance, as he tries to prevent his positive memories of Clementine from being erased. It is this that causes Joel to slowly but eventually realize the true consequences of his impulsively spiteful decision. As we are taken from memory to memory, we are also shown the importance of the most fundamental axioms of successful relationships - by watching it fail through their absence - trust, communication, honesty, and respect.
We eventually see that by refusing to acknowledge and confront our negative and painful experiences, we rob from ourselves of any chance to learn from them. This point is brought forward in the movie through the character played by Kirsten Dunst, as she discovers that she not only works at the memory-erasing institution, but is also a client. She eventually finds out the hard way that the comfort gained from ignorance is only temporary, lessons not learned from past mistakes cause them to appear again, and the sunshine of the spotless mind is not eternal. This is the fallacy and irony of the title. The fate of ignorance is written in stone.
Will Joel and Clementine triumph over the promise of repeating their unfortunate history? What exactly happened with Kirsten Dunst's character?
You'll have to watch the movie to find out...with open eyes and mind, of course. ¤ Bee
ETERNAL SUNSHINE OF THE SPOTLESS MIND:
(out of 5)
[ See what she thought of his pick. Part II of the battle. ]