“Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind” (2004)

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

Grade: A+

No film brings to life the inner workings of the mind so vividly, so relatable, than Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, a romantic stream-of-consciousness collaboration between Charlie Kaufman and Michel Gondry.

Directing:

Like Spike Jonze before him, French director Michel Gondry is uniquely attuned to writer Charlie Kaufman’s dreamlike Jungian (or Joycean) vision, able to coherently and realistically show the subconscious — all while keeping special effects to a minimum. Gondry makes the intangible and immaterial appear natural and organic: displaying what it looks like to be in one’s own memories, and what it feels like to have those memories erased.

Acting:

For a romantic drama to work, we need to believe that the two leads are, or were at some point, in love. Jim Carrey, against type as shy introvert Joel Barish, and Kate Winslet, as more-than-a-manic-pixie-dream-girl Clementine, are a terrific pair, fully expressing the deterioration of a once-loving relationship in reverse. It’s a career-best from both, but the secret ingredient that really makes the film special is the strong supporting cast (Ruffalo, Wood, Wilkinson, Dunst), everyone playing the lead role in their own story.

Writing:

Screenwriter Charlie Kaufman imparts profound psychological and philosophical wisdom about consciousness and the nature of love; tells a fragmented non-linear narrative with a wacky sci-fi premise as framing device; and somehow makes it all accessible, coherent and universal. Like Adaptation (2002) and Being John Malkovich (1999) before it, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind is a remarkable storytelling achievement.

Music:

Filled with beautiful, minimal, evocative shortform compositions, Jon Brion’s score is another reason why Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind is such a masterpiece. Take for instance the circular, sonorous piano chord progressions of “Row” and “Peer Pressure”: the perfect soundtrack to nostalgic core memories. Elsewhere, there is indie folk ambience and Beck’s striking cover of “Everybody’s Got to Learn Sometime,” giving the film its distinctly millennial time-and-place, distinctly interwoven into the storyline.

Ending (SPOILERS):

When Joel wakes up after having his memories of Clementine erased (the timeline can be confusing on first watch), the next-morning realization hits us like a crushing hangover. That’s why it’s so fulfilling to see he and Clementine find each other (the end is built into the beginning) and agree to give their relationship another go. A beautiful, hopeful ending: “Meet me in Montauk” implying that their love — or love in general — is strong enough to transcend time and space.

However, it’s also possible that the pair are doomed to repeat the same toxic mistakes in a neverending cycle. Perhaps Kaufman and Gondry, as evidenced by that dreamy final shot of the happy couple running on a snowy beach, slowly fading to white, constantly replaying, are suggesting that some memories are better off as just memories. A striking, bittersweet ending: better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all, because it will still exist in a place more real than reality.

“Please let me keep this memory. Just this one.” — Joel Barish

Why Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind gets an A+

One of the best films about love and fate — up there with Kieślowski’s Red (1994) and Wong Kar-Wai’s In the Mood for Love (2000).

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