You haven't seen anything until you've seen......
Title: Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)
Director: Michel Gondry
Writing Credits: Charlie Kaufmann
Cast: Jim Carrey, Kate Winslet
A note: Very heavy on spoilers, so Kaushik be warned.
How happy is the blameless Vestal's lot!
The world forgetting, by the world forgot
Eternal sunshine of the spotless mind!
Each pray'r accepted, and each wish resign'd.
"Eloisa to Abelard" by Alexander Pope
Blessed are the forgetful, for they get the better even of their blunders.
"Beyond Good and Evil" by Nietzsche
Whats better than a movie having a great script, great acting and great direction? A movie which quotes Nietzsche and having a undercurrent philosophy, which is not evident until the very end. That is what Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind is all about. Are we all on a train track, set on an unalterable and inevitable course? Are the forgetful blessed, as Nietzsche says, for they get the better even of their blunders? Can memories be truly erased or is it just suppressed?
"The thing about Clementine is she does not give you any of the mundane stuff" quoted roughly from this movie. This movie does not give you any of the mundane stuff. If you are the kind of person who needs to have a rough idea of a plot, direction of the story or the depth of the characters 15 minutes into the movie, then this probably is not the movie for you. For those who like to keep guessing till the very end, who like to be as much a part of the movie as watching it and like to be surprised by the path the movie takes, then you better get hold of this movie.
The beauty of the story is that it can be interpreted in different levels. It can be viewed as a dark romantic comedy, partly science fiction and partly philosophical. Jim Carrey, Joel, portrays a socially inept, journal dabbling, introverted, single male. Kate Winslet, Clementine, talks to the dozen, is impulsive, works at Barnes & Nobles and has this thing about hair colors. Joel and Clementine, are on the opposite end of the pole, but they connect instantly. Joel, loves people, but where he never approaches anyone, Clementine completes the equation there.
But, like all relationships, theirs sours after sometime. Each nursing grouses against the other. Clementine takes the first step predictably on impulse and decides to have her memory about Joel completely erased. Joel, learns of this through mutual friends and decides to get the same thing done. Enter Tom Wilkinson as Dr.Mierzwiak and his assistants Kirsten Dunst as Mary, Elijah Wood as Patrick and Mark Ruffalo as Stan. Their contribution to the movie goes beyond being just props for the memory erasing experiment. How ethical is memory erasing? Kaufman blends the answers to this question using these characters like a perfectly placed punctuation in the screenplay without shifting the focus from Joel and Clementine.
As a part of the memory mapping process when Joel retraces his memories, the screenplay is interspersed with memories showing Joel and Clementine basking in the joy of love and life. So, when Joel undergoes the memory erasing process, he realises that he loves Clementine too much to have her removed based just on reprisal. Unable to physically stop the process, he resorts to squirreling away memories of Clementine among other memories of humiliation, cowardice and childhood, regions where the memory erasing software does not look for memories of Clementine.
Much of the movie takes place inside Joel's head, quite like Kaufman's other movie Being John Malkovich. The movie also jumps frequently in timeline and shifts seamlessly from memories to the present. This can be quite confusing and jarring to many, but stick with it and give the movie multiple viewings. Superfluous, this screenplay is definitely not, every scene, every character and every thing is there for a reason. Credit to the writer and director for masterfully controlling the direction and pace of the movie and for not losing the thread. Equally brilliant are Jim Carrey, who shows that he can do more than Ventura-ish movies and to Kate Winslet, who has to be one of the most under-rated actors in recent times.
This movie is not your run of the mill Hollywood romantic farce, it is abstract, witty, intelligent and an emotional roller coaster. When you are in a relationship, you never think of things that you dont like about your partner but when you get bored or feel trapped, you will. After that, will you still feel the need to get back together? This is how real it gets in the movie, you get to be a part of the movie. You cheer for the characters, you plead for them to get back another time, you feel frustrated and disappointed for them. Very few movies can do all these things in less than 2 hours. Period.
*bows down to all those involved with the making of this movie and a silent thank you*
Director: Michel Gondry
Writing Credits: Charlie Kaufmann
Cast: Jim Carrey, Kate Winslet
A note: Very heavy on spoilers, so Kaushik be warned.
How happy is the blameless Vestal's lot!
The world forgetting, by the world forgot
Eternal sunshine of the spotless mind!
Each pray'r accepted, and each wish resign'd.
"Eloisa to Abelard" by Alexander Pope
Blessed are the forgetful, for they get the better even of their blunders.
"Beyond Good and Evil" by Nietzsche
Whats better than a movie having a great script, great acting and great direction? A movie which quotes Nietzsche and having a undercurrent philosophy, which is not evident until the very end. That is what Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind is all about. Are we all on a train track, set on an unalterable and inevitable course? Are the forgetful blessed, as Nietzsche says, for they get the better even of their blunders? Can memories be truly erased or is it just suppressed?
"The thing about Clementine is she does not give you any of the mundane stuff" quoted roughly from this movie. This movie does not give you any of the mundane stuff. If you are the kind of person who needs to have a rough idea of a plot, direction of the story or the depth of the characters 15 minutes into the movie, then this probably is not the movie for you. For those who like to keep guessing till the very end, who like to be as much a part of the movie as watching it and like to be surprised by the path the movie takes, then you better get hold of this movie.
The beauty of the story is that it can be interpreted in different levels. It can be viewed as a dark romantic comedy, partly science fiction and partly philosophical. Jim Carrey, Joel, portrays a socially inept, journal dabbling, introverted, single male. Kate Winslet, Clementine, talks to the dozen, is impulsive, works at Barnes & Nobles and has this thing about hair colors. Joel and Clementine, are on the opposite end of the pole, but they connect instantly. Joel, loves people, but where he never approaches anyone, Clementine completes the equation there.
But, like all relationships, theirs sours after sometime. Each nursing grouses against the other. Clementine takes the first step predictably on impulse and decides to have her memory about Joel completely erased. Joel, learns of this through mutual friends and decides to get the same thing done. Enter Tom Wilkinson as Dr.Mierzwiak and his assistants Kirsten Dunst as Mary, Elijah Wood as Patrick and Mark Ruffalo as Stan. Their contribution to the movie goes beyond being just props for the memory erasing experiment. How ethical is memory erasing? Kaufman blends the answers to this question using these characters like a perfectly placed punctuation in the screenplay without shifting the focus from Joel and Clementine.
As a part of the memory mapping process when Joel retraces his memories, the screenplay is interspersed with memories showing Joel and Clementine basking in the joy of love and life. So, when Joel undergoes the memory erasing process, he realises that he loves Clementine too much to have her removed based just on reprisal. Unable to physically stop the process, he resorts to squirreling away memories of Clementine among other memories of humiliation, cowardice and childhood, regions where the memory erasing software does not look for memories of Clementine.
Much of the movie takes place inside Joel's head, quite like Kaufman's other movie Being John Malkovich. The movie also jumps frequently in timeline and shifts seamlessly from memories to the present. This can be quite confusing and jarring to many, but stick with it and give the movie multiple viewings. Superfluous, this screenplay is definitely not, every scene, every character and every thing is there for a reason. Credit to the writer and director for masterfully controlling the direction and pace of the movie and for not losing the thread. Equally brilliant are Jim Carrey, who shows that he can do more than Ventura-ish movies and to Kate Winslet, who has to be one of the most under-rated actors in recent times.
This movie is not your run of the mill Hollywood romantic farce, it is abstract, witty, intelligent and an emotional roller coaster. When you are in a relationship, you never think of things that you dont like about your partner but when you get bored or feel trapped, you will. After that, will you still feel the need to get back together? This is how real it gets in the movie, you get to be a part of the movie. You cheer for the characters, you plead for them to get back another time, you feel frustrated and disappointed for them. Very few movies can do all these things in less than 2 hours. Period.
*bows down to all those involved with the making of this movie and a silent thank you*
posted by sensiblystoned at
4:22 PM
9 Comments:
Have watched ESBM like zillion times....also tried to color my hair like Clementine's....but it was a disaster
By
Shoe, at 6:46 AM
I havent got round to watching it the second time, Im sure Ill be doing it soon. Did you try Blue Ruin or tangerine?
By
sensiblystoned, at 9:15 AM
did u mean "Bitters and Blue Ruin"? If yes, No I have not....If Not, No I have not....
By
Shoe, at 2:31 PM
Oh the bright orange color to match his orange sweatshirt was called bitters? Joel calls it Tangerine right? I must see it once more :)
By
sensiblystoned, at 2:35 PM
I havn't watched this one yet, will watch it soon now.. I have couple of other movies to finish before I go to this one. I watched 'Lord of War' recently, and I like the way it has been directed. Andrew Niccol has done a fantastic job of keeping the movie light and at the same time, showing the seriousness.
By
venus, at 3:32 PM
Ive read some pretty good reviews about Lord of War but I shant be seeing it until it comes out on dvd plus I have a long backlog of movies I want to see :(
Do watch ESotSM soon, trust me its worth the time.
By
sensiblystoned, at 4:47 PM
I surely will watch it..
By
venus, at 4:42 PM
I wholeheartedly agree with you about this movie. It was like the first taste of a meal cooked by a master chef after years of nothing but Kraft Macaroni n' Cheeze every day. I almost want to watch it in slow motion to savor it more, the way that I chew slower when I'm eating fine cuisine. It's a movie to be savored, not least because it will end at some point.
I could not believe that was Jim Carey when the movie ended. Hed never done anything close to that before and hasn't since.
By
Our Hero,, at 5:34 AM
An apt analogy, it was one the best movies i saw in recent times. In fact it was ESotSM that pushed me to starting this movie blog. I felt I had to share the joy of watching such great movies with other people. Thanks for stopping by.
By
sensiblystoned, at 3:22 PM
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