Great Film: Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
"Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind" is a bizarre but wonderful movie, a very strange and remarkably tender experience.
"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." - Alexander Pope
Michel Gondry's "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind" is a bizarre
but wonderful movie, a very strange and remarkably tender experience,
which I suppose is only to be expected from screenwriter Charlie
Kaufman, the man behind "Being John Malkovich."
The film was produced by Focus Features ("Lost in Translation," "21
Grams"), a company which strives to offer original, quality films to
the true cinema lovers. If the company keeps producing films this good,
they may become hugely successful in the future, if not already.
The previews portrayed the movie as a bouncy, cheery comedy in the vein
of "Adaptation," the last film written for the big screen by Charlie
Kaufman, when it is really a tender movie about love and romance. This
is Jim Carrey's best performance to date, and may open the eyes of his
prejudiced haters who have only imagined him as Ace Ventura and a
certain cable guy for his entire career. No snippy quotes, outrageous
humor or bizarre antics in "Sunshine" -- Carrey plays a true,
realistic, three-dimensional character named Joel Barrish, who plans to
have memories of his girlfriend, Clementine (Kate Winslet), erased by a
new company called Lacuna, after he discovers that she herself has had
the procedure performed only a week before. Joel meets with the
company's founder, Dr. Howard Mierzwiak (Tom Wilkinson), and is
informed that the procedure -- although "technically" brain damage --
is on par with a heavy night of drinking. "Nothing you'll miss much,"
he is told, as he plunges into a bizarre world of long forgotten
memories.
The entire process of the operation is quite fascinating, really, if a
bit reminiscent of an idea founded by none other than one of Kaufman's
favorite writers, Philip K. Dick, who wrote the source short story for
the Ah-nuld movie "Total Recall." All items relating to the person you
want erased from your brain are assembled together, and the technicians
at Lacuna (Mark Ruffalo and Elijah Wood) then "map" an outline of your
memories, which are supposedly stemmed together. I have my doubts about
the seriousness and remote possibility of such a procedure being
performed, and the explanation is quite simply utter bull, but we don't
care because the entire erasing of Joel's memories serves as a backdrop
for a deeper meaning: If you could forget about past romances, would
you really want to? And if so, would you be willing to sacrifice all
the good ones, along with the bad ones?
The conclusion that "Sunshine" arrives at is, to be totally truthful,
as honest as can be. During the procedure, Joel's subconscious realizes
that it doesn't want to let go of its memories of Clementine, and so
begins a strange labyrinth of fragmented memories, constantly changing
surroundings, and mental materializations of Clementine. The movie is
like a very bizarre dream, when you're trying to interact with people,
but they're not responding, and you shout and try to get their
attention but they don't seem to notice. Joel's entire odyssey of the
interior of his mind makes "Being John Malkovich" look normal -- but as
I didn't like "Malkovich" very much, and thought its strangeness was
unjustified, it fits perfectly in "Sunshine" -- there are some great
special effects, such as when Joel is wandering through his own
memories, drifting in and out of sleep, hearing the voices of the
technicians erasing his memories and watching as objects and areas
around him vanish and deconstruct. It's so bizarre but yet also so
beautiful. Gondry was a former music video director (his complete works
are available on DVD) and he is the perfect candidate for this project,
having worked with Kaufman before on the 2001 flop "Human Nature." It
seems that he has finally found a unique directing style that ties in
perfectly with the underlying themes of the movie.
There is a very deep message in "Sunshine," and it is arguably
Kaufman's deepest film to date. Love and romance and memories of both
have rarely been examined as thought-provokingly and tenderly as they
are in this wonderful motion picture. The movie has a very profound
message that all viewers should pay attention to. There are many small
intricacies in the film, surely picked up on more thoroughly on repeat
viewings, and the entire construction of the movie is completely
enthralling and intelligent. I saw two people leave the rather empty
theater during the screening I attended. It tanked in the US and I
predict it will do the same in the UK, which is a shame, because this
is the smartest film of 2004 and has the most to say about our lives
than any other film this year. While everyone flocks to see the new
Denzel Washington action movie, "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind"
is forgotten, which is quite depressing -- people would rather spend
their money on forgettable entertainment than view something unique
that has something important at its core.
I think what the movie finally asks us after its long, emotional
journey, is would we want our own memories erased? And if so, what
would the consequences be? A lesser film might examine this idea poorly
-- "Sunshine" is not. It is perfect in almost every conceivable way,
and anyone who complains that it is not original must be joking -- in
my entire lifetime, this is one of the most unique film experiences I
have ever had.
"Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind" is a beautiful movie,
eloquently voiced by Gondry, firmly constructed and rooted in an eerie
nightmarish fantasy land where anything is possible. It's beautiful,
it's bizarre, it's exceptional, it's funny, it's lovely, it's touching,
it's witty, and it's one of the best movies I have ever seen.
Cast
- Stan played by Mark Ruffalo
- Joel Barish played by Jim Carrey
- Carrie played by Jane Adams
- Dr. Howard Mierzwiak played by Tom Wilkinson
- Mary played by Kirsten Dunst
- Clementine Kruczynski played by Kate Winslet
- Train Conductor played by Gerry Robert Byrne
