Rent Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind on Amazon Video (paid link)
Written by: Charlie Kaufman & Michel Gondry & Pierre Bismuth (story), Charlie Kaufman (screenplay)
Directed by: Michel Gondry
Starring: Jim Carrey, Kate Winslet, Tom Wilkinson, Elijah Wood, Mark Ruffalo, David Cross, Kirsten Dunst
Rated: R
Watch the trailer
Plot
When their relationship turns sour, a couple undergoes a medical procedure to have each other erased from their memories forever.
Verdict
It's such a creative and thought provoking concept. What if you could erase a memory you don't like? What if you change your mind? It's a love story that defies all standard conventions, and the imagery has since become classic. It's not just a great idea, but it's been developed into an engrossing story that's visually unique as it explores perception and reality and what's in between. We all know love and pain, and this explores that concept deeper than any other film. What starts out as depressing, surprisingly ends with a ray of hope.
Watch It.
Review
I've seen this before, but I noticed a number of telling scenes that you don't realize are clues during the first watch. There are a number of "aha moments" later where you put the pieces together. That's what is so smart about this movie, it not only manages to split the story apart, it creates moments of discovery for the audience where plot elements converge.
Joel (Jim Carrey) is having a bad day. He's feeling down and his car was sideswiped so he decides to skip work and go to the beach at Montauk. The weather is poor and he has no reason to go, other than an innate urge. He meets Clem (Kate Winslet) on the train back from Montauk. They have an awkward interaction. She's a free spirit and he's reserved. This is the start of the movie, but after you've seen the movie, there is so much hidden in these scenes.
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| Kate Winslet, Jim Carrey play Clem, Joel |
The premise of the movie is that Joel and Clem were in a relationship that ended poorly. Opposites attract, but they couldn't stay together, growing bitter. Clem finds a company that can erase memories, deciding to erase Joel from her mind. Joel retaliates when he finds out what she did and decides to do the same. It's perfect, he can erase all of these painful recollections. A lot of what we see in this movie are Joel's memories being erased. We see his most recent memories and how rocky the relationships is, but as we get to older memories, we see a much happier couple. It's a creative concept that's well developed.
Joel's memories are being erased, but he's conscious enough to realize he doesn't actually want Clem erased from his mind. While the latest memories were full of strife, the earlier memories were happy. That's how perception comes into play. The most recent memories are how he viewed the relationship. He wanted to erase those bad memories, but during this procedure he realizes there was good and he wants to keep that. Unfortunately, he's lucid enough to realize he wants to keep the memories, but not conscious enough to stop the procedure. Joel fights to retain a relationship he initially wanted to erase.
That's how relationships often go. They start wonderfully and then people become complacent followed by bitterness and annoyance. By the end, all you remember is the bad. The crazy thing is that Joel is running through these memories not with Clem, but a fictionalized version of her, this ideal version. It's not really her, it's who he wants her to be. This movie started out so dreary, but it gets progressively happier as Joel goes further into his past memories.
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| Kate Winslet, Jim Carrey play Clem, Joel |
There's a parallel between Joel and Clem and Joe's doctor Howard (Tom Wilkinson) and his secretary Mary (Kirsten Dunst). Both are relationships with a past and an implication that we are all destined to repeat our mistakes. There's also Patrick (Elijah Wood) and his plights. Just because he can say the right things, doesn't mean there's a connection.
Despite erasing each other from their minds, Joel and Clem meet again and have an innate connection. We know that Joel managed to hide a clue in his consciousness to seek Montauk. Did Claire fight to preserve Joel as her memories were being erased? Is that why she too ended up at Montauk? They both discover that they erased each other and their reasons why. Their bitter confessions acknowledge how their relationship deteriorated, but the hope and the potential of a new to them relationship outweighs the pitfalls that have already happened. That, and they know what could happen. Is knowing their relationship could fail the the idea they need to prevent that outcome?
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