An Appreciation – Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

March 27th, 2011 | POSTED BY Allen Almachar

But at its heart, the charm of this film is not how it was made technically, but how much it allows us to look into these characters and see how much they really cared for each other. I was surprised with how deeply focused the film was toward these two. Through all the items and drawings that fill both Joel and Clementine’s apartment, and the particular memories that Joel has, an entire relationship is revealed to us. We learn of Joel’s experiences with being bullied as a child, and his past relationship with Naomi. We remember the time they visited Clementine’s mother, the fun times they had with their friends, going to parades, painting, playing music, going out hiking, eating Chinese food in front of the T.V. or lip-syncing the words to a drive-in movie. It’s these perfect little moments that make the film special, and they inhabit almost the entire second and third acts. As Joel’s mind travels further back in time, the love he remembers only intensifies. In one of the best scenes of the film, Clementine and Joel hide underneath their blanket. Showing to him her own sense of self-insecurity, Clementine describes an ugly doll she had as a child, and how she wished as hard she could for it to become magically pretty. Such a small detail, such a tiny reveal of character, but it adds so much to the feeling we have for these two. At this moment, we feel as Joel does; we do not want what these two have to disappear forever.

Stepping back, we find that the film cares just as much about its supporting characters as it does for its leads. Nearly every character here has feelings for someone else, wants to have love, but may not be able to get it. Take for example Stan (Mark Ruffalo), one of the technicians working to erase Joel’s mind. He’s in love with Mary (Kirsten Dunst), who is a secretary at the clinic they both work at. However, he may not be able to have that love reciprocated, because she harbors an attraction to Dr. Howard Mierzwiak (Tom Wilkinson), the head of the clinic, who may or may not have the same kind of feelings toward her. Then there’s Patrick (Elijah Wood), the other plumber-like technician, who has fallen in love with Clementine while erasing her memory, and tries to recreate the experiences she had with Joel in an attempt to make her fall in love with him. There are no real bad guys in this film, just real world characters that desire to have something special in their lives, to share what they have with someone else, and to not be alone. They just happen to move within a world of fantasy, science fiction, and pure imagination.

The acting here works on every emotional level, because the actors treat the material not so much as though they’re going through this fantastical ordeal, but with a sense of the literal. We are able to follow the emotional trajectory of Joel and Clementine, because both Carrey and Winslet guide us through with their acting. This is a great performance by Jim Carrey; he fills his role with the charm and enthusiasm that he’s had throughout his entire career, but not with the over the top, self-aware physical comedy that he was known for. The Truman Show (1998) and Man on the Moon (1999) showed that he was able to give a more dramatic performance, but I think his role here solidified that potential. He played Joel with such sweetness, hesitation, and sadness, but with so much enthusiasm and sympathy that it makes us more than willing to follow his story. Kate Winslet has had a career of great performances, and this is one of her highlights. Her Clementine is creative, spontaneous, and honest. She does what she wants when she wants, and doesn’t care what others may think of her. Winslet was able to handle the emotional ups and downs that her role required with ease. In a sense, she’s really playing the “Jim Carrey” role here—bright and attention-getting—but does it naturally. In turn, when a scene calls for subtlety, she achieves the required effect with the slightest look, the most minimal of words spoken, but delivers the emotional impact loudly. The chemistry the two have feels real. During a parade scene on the street, Clementine mysteriously disappears, and when Joel looks around for her, the look on his face makes it seem like both Joel and Jim are worried about where the person they were with went.

And it is that chemistry that makes the final scene of film so cathartic. There the two stand, now fully aware of what happened between them. They know that they have had a relationship, and that they had a bad break-up. Listening to each other’s confessions on tape, they become aware of the things they ended up not liking about one another, and how what loveliness they had before quickly went downhill. But yet, the opening scenes between them—including that great part where they laid on the frozen lake looking up at the stars—point toward something that neither wants to readily give up. Should they try another go at it, knowing full well that they could possibly grow tired of each other once again? Could this process be repeated, or will things be different this time? Now that they know each other’s faults and weaknesses, perhaps they can make the changes necessary to prevent what had happened before. Maybe there is a happy ending waiting in their future, or maybe not.

Why do I find myself so moved by this romantic story compared to other modern day films? I believe the reason is that this movie—with all of the great aspects of it—so easily puts the viewer in the shoes of its characters, and has them go through its emotional arc as well. We have all experienced love on some sort of level, and we have all experienced heartbreak as well. We relate to the characters because we can recall the small, perfect little times that we’ve had with past girlfriends and boyfriends in our own lives, and how everything in the world seemed right where it should be at that one, fleeting moment. Yes, there were times where our relationships have been caught in the storm and we remember how the other person could drive us up the wall, but the heartbreak we feel from losing someone like that is not because we hate the bad times, but because we’re saddened that we’ll no longer experience the good. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind shows us that all real relationships are worth remembering, and that the connections we have with others are something worthy enough to fight for.

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Adaptation, Being John Malkovich, Charlie Kaufman, Elijah Wood, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Jim Carrey, Kate Winslet, Kirsten Dunst, Man on the Moon, Mark Ruffalo, Michel Gondry, The Truman Show, Tom Wilkinson