“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 this stream-of-consciousness collaboration between Charlie Kaufman and Michel Gondry — Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, if it can be considered such, is the greatest rom-com ever made.

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: showing what it looks like to be in one’s own memories, and conveying the emotional loss of having those memories erased.

Acting:

Comedian Jim Carrey expands on the dramatic range he showed in The Truman Show (1998) with an incredibly humble, restrained, non-improvised performance as Joel, but the film’s true heart and soul is Kate Winslet as Clementine, Joel’s ex, a manic-pixie-dream-girl archetype that makes all the wistful pining worthwhile. Underrated are the colorful supporting turns from Mark Ruffalo, Elijah Wood, Kirsten Dunst, David Cross and Tom Wilkinson, who expand the film’s reach from sentimental introspection to surreal comedy — everyone playing the lead role in their own story, no matter how big or how small. Great cast.

Writing:

Kaufman’s story is brilliant on so many levels: as a wacky sci-fi high-concept premise; as a surreal black comedy; as a postmodern deconstruction of consciousness; as a metaphor for relationships and the nature of love; as a fragmentary narrative that constantly collapses on itself. There is so much going on, both inside the mind and out, that Eternal Sunshine enriches exponentially with each rewatch.

Music:

Composer Jon Brion’s score is another reason why Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind is such a masterpiece, particularly in his beautiful, minimal, evocative, shortform compositions — the circular, sonorous piano chords of “Row” and “Peer Pressure” are nostalgia turned into sound; the unshakeable soundtracks to core memories.

Ending (SPOILERS):

The end is built into the beginning, maybe a little confusing upon first viewing to nail down the timeline, but narratively necessary for keeping the element of surprise. Either way, reliving Joel and Clementine’s failed relationship in the span of one night — falling in love, or out of love, in reverse — is like waking up from a dream, and the next-morning realization hits like a crushing hangover.

Is the film’s ending optimistic or pessimistic? A bit of both, I think, but probably more so the latter: Joel and Clementine deciding to give their failed romance another go is fulfilling, especially for viewers who just saw how love can metaphysically transcend time (“Meet me in Montauk…”), but the pair are likely doomed to repeat the same mistakes in a toxic cycle.

In a way, the ending is curt and almost underwhelming, forcing us to consider that the characters are just vehicles for the film’s main ideas. Nevertheless, the final shot of the happy couple running on a snowy beach, slowly fading to white, constantly replaying a memory that may or may not be “real,” is a poignant open-ended note to close on.

“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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