By Diya Ahuja, 16 April, 2020
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind is a whirlwind of emotions, and it is the kind of romance that is just grounded enough, in reality, to inspire and incite, but whimsical enough to deserve its own special place in the genre’s history.
– Kristy Stouse
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind is a 2004, American sci-fi film written by Lois Duncan, Charlie Kaufman and directed by Michel Gondry. It follows an estranged couple who have erased each other from their memories. Pierre Bismuth created the story with Kaufman and Gondry. The ensemble cast includes Jim Carrey, Kate Winslet, Kirstin Dunst, Mark Ruffalo, Elijah Wood and Tom Wilkinson. The title of the film is a quotation from the 1717 poem Eloisa to Abelard by Alexander Pope.
Let’s cut to the chase. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind is tragic and whimsical at the same time.It revolves around vulnerability and existentialism which will hit you right where it is supposed to.
The movie focuses on two protagonists, Joel Barrish (Jim Carrey) and Clementine Kruczynski (Kate Winslet) who seem like usual couples but as we move forward, in the movie, it turns out to be the exact opposite of it. Clementine goes through a procedure of erasing Joel from her memory performed by an experimental hi-tech firm called Lacuna Inc. When Joel finds this out, he wants to go through the whole thing because he’s hurt. Further, the movie unfolds the elements of romance, psychological fantasy and science fiction. It drags the viewer to feel the same things as well.
The scenes are mostly dimly lit and hazy which makes it look more like a documentary. There are a lot of close up shots to show the intensity of the subject. The movie visually felt surreal just like the way dreams can be surreal. There was a scene with the bed on a beach, another one where the house collapsed on the beach and a lot more of them which depicted surrealism. It also had a lot of cool tones to set the vibe of going throw someone’s memories.
The best part about the movie is its ambiguity. It is a backward story of love decaying with time. The scenes aren’t chronological. It isn’t usual that happens in other romance movies. It has puzzling scenes and vagueness that will make you question the concept of this movie but it ties all its loosed ends as it approaches the end. Hold still and enjoy this roller coaster of emotions that this movie is about to bring you.
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