Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

Conventions are a bittersweet fact of creation that gifts and haunts those who embark on a similar path. Laid out by those before us who had success, they offer a lifeline to future embarkees to continue onward. Every genre of film has them and they help define what makes something successful. Those same things that aid us can also hinder us at the same time though, shackling us to the pre-conditioned norms and rules. For those looking to pursue of something different going against them feels daunting and stressful through fear of failure, but if successful provides a great sense of accomplishment, success, and relief. Today's film is about one of those embarkees, striving to make something innovative amidst time tested conventions. An effort that proved successful and provided us with a modern classic.

So if you’re like me and you enjoy film and the impact and emotions it can convey then grab a glass of your preferred liquid and join me for the next half hour. For me, that’s a glass of Bourbon from our friends down at Buffalo Trace in Kentucky. So sit back, relax, and let’s talk about the love of film. Welcome to “Glazed Cinema“.

Modern Classic. It’s a term that despite its contradictions gets a lot of use doesn’t it? Whether you’re talking about art, books, music, or movies everyone has their own list of modern classics. What constitutes a modern classic though? The one common thread it seems is to say “This matters. This is meaningful. This is going to be remembered.” Well there’s one film that in my mind is a modern classic that I feel deserves some special attention. It’s a film which was made prior to social media changing our entire social fabric. A movie that stars and actor not normally billed for dramas, but who does an excellent job. A movie where memories and hair color are entangled. A movie that made me want to find a frozen pond to lie down on and look up at the stars.

Now let’s face facts. The list of modern classics is long and growing longer by the week. There are some films that also transcend the term as well. Movies so good that are undoubtedly destined to be classics. This harkens to films released in the past twenty years such as There Will Be Blood, No Country For Old Men, Parasite, and The White Ribbon. This is, at least in my opinion, where Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind resides. It’s a film that resides nicely, within a trilogy of genres including Science Fiction, Romantic Comedy, and Drama, and from director, Michel Gondry.

Gondry grew up in France and got his directing start in music, making music videos. The first videos he directed were for French bands, one of which was Oui-Oui, for which he was the drummer for. After much success he eventually directed videos for artists like Bjork, Massive Attack, and The White Stripes. Personally, I was giddy to find that he directed so many of Bjork’s music videos. I love Bjork and her music and always dug her videos, so it was really neat to find that this connection in my research.

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind surrounds a couple of Joel and Clementine played by Jim Carrey and Kate Winslet respectively. The two cannot be anymore different from one another. Joel is introverted, shy, thoughtful, and purposeful whereas Clementine is extroverted, fun-loving, and impulsive. These differences also embody themselves physically as well. Joel usually dresses in muted and earthy tones whereas Clementine wears bright colors and also dyes her hair in neon. Her hair color changes often throughout the movie, showcasing bright colors of blue, green, red, orange, among others. When they’re together, their contrasting natures balance each other out at their mildest and explode at their most extreme.

It’s during one of these extreme instances when Clementine’s impulsive nature brings about actions that affect the both of them when she visits Lacuna, Inc. Lacuna is a company that offers a service to wipe memories from your mind. Though these memories can be regarding a multitude of things, they seems to specialize in erasing the memories of people. After an argument and subsequent outburst with Joel, Clementine goes signs a contract to erase Joel from her mind. A contract that will have consequences for her and Joel, setting Joel on a reactionary course to do the same. Mid way through the procedure however he realizes his folly and tries to preserve the memories of her he can.

The film starts off with Jim Carrey’s character Joel waking up alone in his bedroom. He gets ready for work and then goes outside to his car to see a massive dent in the front driver side with paint. He leaves a note on the car next to him that simply says “Thanks”.

We next see Joel on a train platform outside. It’s winter in New York and the platform is packed with people wearing coats, hats, and gloves. While on the platform, Joel gets an irresistible urge to skip work and looks around. Soon he’s running across the platform and down the stairs. Joel, it seems is heading to Montauk. He walks on an empty beach, visits a large house, and wonders why he's there. We next see Joel on an empty train station platform with a sign reading “Montauk”.

There on the platform is a blue haired woman and when their eyes meet Joel, a shy reserved man hides behind a column. The woman is Clementine played by Kate Winslet and she makes herself visible to Joel. This happens in various ways like waving, peaking around columns, and getting closer to Joel, who shyly hides into His shoulders. On the train Clementine strikes up a conversation and it seems that both of them are on their way back to the city. As they talk it becomes quite clear that they are opposites of each other. Joel is more reserved and shy, not really one to talk as opposed to listen. While Clementine is more outgoing and brazen, almost afraid of silence. The story that slowly unfurls from here intertwines time with memory, love with heartbreak, and past with present.

Eternal Sunshine is a romantic comedy that shatters all of the preconditions of the genre, leaving the shards of convention at the feet of innovation, reflecting what once was. Mixing science fiction and drama we get a unique play on what one would expect. Though, I think it’s fair to say that the director tries to dispel any preconceived notions in subtle ways, no more than his use of title. A title such as our subject today’s certainly throws anyone off the scent upon contact and invited curiosity.

The meaning of the title is referenced and quoted in a wonderful scene within the film itself and comes from a poem “Eloisa to Abelard” by Alexander Pope. The poem is about a twelfth century philosopher and thinker, Peter Abelard and his wife, Heloise. In real life, it's a tragic tale of love denied and Pope used their tale as the influence for the poem. If you're not familiar with their story, it's worth doing the research to learn more. Pope's poem is a decent length and within it can be found some fantastic writing and throughout is the play on memory. There is one stanza however, which the title of our subject comes from, also containing ties to the film’s plot. If you’ve seen the film, perhaps you will also find common threads. I love the fact that I can see inspiration in these lines and the final product of Gondry’s imagination. The entire stanza is quite brilliant and reads:

“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;

Labour and rest, that equal periods keep;

"Obedient slumbers that can wake and weep;"

Desires compos'd, affections ever ev'n,

Tears that delight, and sighs that waft to Heav'n.

Grace shines around her with serenest beams,

And whisp'ring angels prompt her golden dreams.

For her th' unfading rose of Eden blooms,

And wings of seraphs shed divine perfumes,

For her the Spouse prepares the bridal ring,

For her white virgins hymeneals sing,

To sounds of heav'nly harps she dies away,

And melts in visions of eternal day.”

A lot can be taken from that…if you haven’t seen the film, come back to these lines after your viewing...I imagine you’ll notice some similarities here as I have. In this stanza alone we can find a lot of things tying the poem and the movie together. Certain lines like, “Obedient slumbers that can wake and weep”, or “To sounds of heav’nly harps she dies away, and melts in visions of eternal day.” These remind me of the process of memory recall that we through Joel endure and how beautiful and painful those memories can be. The last few lines remind me of Clementine and how she is this sort of beacon throughout the film, as Joel sails the rocky and stormy waters of his memory, facing their relationship's past reality in the beacon's light. It's those first three lines though that film plays on. The idea that forgetting is the needed cure. There were other inspirations for this film, nothing is born out of one thing, but I love the connection between these two and can't help coming back to these lines.

The screenplay was written by Charlie Kaufman, who had input from Gondry on the final result. If you're familiar with Kaufman's work, Eternal Sunshine definitely fits in his realm of creativity. For some reason most of his screenplays are equally hard to nail down and describe, but each are amazing in their own ways. Aside from our subject today Kaufman also wrote the screenplays for films like Being John Malkovich and Adaptation. Throughout writing, the ending of the movie changed three times prior to settling on the one in the movie. Ultimately, the choice was the right decision and helps make it memorable.

Another thing that's memorable about this movie are the visual effects. The environment of Joel's mind presents a fragile vail between one memory and the next. A vail that can be cut, interwoven, and tangled to present an interesting visual dynamic. Almost every scene in this film was shot using props and almost nothing used CGI at a time when the practice was becoming commonplace in any sci-fi film. One thing I always loved about the film are those sequences when Clementine and Joel are navigating Joel's memories in quick succession. I always wondered how they pulled that off. Well during my research I found out. Through the use of hidden almost trap doors, they were able to shoot sequences like that where the actors could easily traverse the sets and have the camera film. Such an ingenious idea that provided fantastic results.

Another thing I like about this film is the music. The score was composed by Jon Brion and it plays off the visuals and feelings of the movie so well. I love the theme for this movie too. It's simple, I think there might be five instruments in the whole thing, all playing fairly sparsely. Despite that though, it's really catchy and provides this wonderful sense of whimsy and optimism in the notes and mysterious hollowness in it's musical space. The whole score plays off of that sort of atmosphere. Sometimes it's amped up, sometimes it's toned down, but regardless there's a nice consistent nature to it all. I could talk about each part of this movie and why it's effective and brilliant, but I need to hold myself back at least a little bit.

Of course we can't talk about this movie without speaking of the performances. All of the major players do such a great job in this film and really embody their characters well. Kate Winslet is perfectly suited as Clementine. Winslet is a highly skilled actress and she really blossoms in this role, letting her skills showcase the character. She does everything effortlessly and it all feels natural, embodying the character's carefree, impulsive, and emotional traits exquisitely. Jim Carrey is perfect as Joel. When recommending this movie in the past to people, I get asked about how he does in a dramatic role. Carrey is wonderful as Joel and I really can't think of anybody else who could have played Joel with as much honesty and vulnerability. He plays the quiet, timid, gentle, and shy character masterfully. I was really impressed by his performance and as an introvert, I could really relate to his character. These two have great chemistry and with their performances piggy-backing off of that, it's a delight to see.

The supporting cast are great in this too and I really liked the dynamic between Mark Ruffalo’s down-to-earth character of Stan and Elijah Wood’s annoyingly clingy character of Patrick. Kirsten Dunst is great here as well, playing the role of Mary extremely well. Mary‘s story in particular really struck me and this is aided by Kirsten Dunst’s portrayal of the character. Mary has a lot of ups and downs, showing the most emotional depth outside of Joel and Clementine. Kirsten does a very good job, stealing scenes and capturing her range of emotions in the screen time she has. These three help tie us back down to earth while navigating the intangible ether that is Joel's mind.

I remember when I first watched this film. I went in not knowing what to expect and was very pleasantly surprised at what I got out of it. I was captured, as I usually am, by the cover of the movie. It’s minimalistic, but raises a lot of questions, particularly combined with the ambiguous title. The cover is a picture of Jim Carrey, from the bridge of his nose up as Joel, looking upward. Above his head are Clementine and Joel, lying on a frozen body of water looking at each other.

When I saw it, the image struck me. I was drawn in, questioning what plot was behind the picture. Then, upon reading the title, more questions entered my mind. “Eternal Sunshine….that’s interesting…of the spotless mind…what does that mean?” After reading the synopsis and the cast I resolved myself to needing to see it.

When ai read the words “romantic comedy” I couldn’t help conjure those conventions in my mind. Those genre defining traits that fans love and was a little hesitant because to me personally those traits seem worn. What I got was a very pleasant surprise.

Upon first viewing I was touched by the experience the film provided in its 108 minute duration. I had experienced a lot of emotions and felt invested in these characters' stories. This movie is a bit of an emotional rollercoaster. I experienced emotions ranging from humor, sadness, and shock, the whole time being attentively absorbed in the unfurling plot. When it was over, I was enamored by what I had seen. It brought such a refreshing take on the romantic comedy with its genre mashing as it were. This film may take another watch to see things a little more clearly as the story is fairly complex, but what a journey this film provides. Its a journey I’ve gone on a few times and one I don’t tire of. Between the story, the performances, the cinematography, and the music there's a lot of wonderful things happening here. If you're in the mood for something a little different, something to entertain and keep you guessing, Eternal Sunshine if the Spotless Mind is a great movie to get lost in.

If you’d like to watch Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind for yourself you can find it on a variety of streaming services. At the time of this recording you can find it on Peacock. Peacock is a streaming service that offers numerous pricing options including a free tier as well.

Apart from Peacock, you can also find it on services like Prime Video, Vudu, Google Play, and Apple TV for $3.99 to rent.

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