My second Charlie Kaufman film and one that I had heard lots of good things about. I’m not really sure why I skipped watching Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind for twelve years, but I’m extremely glad I was able to see it. I’ve recently added the DVD part of my Netflix subscription back and it’s really helping with this crazy challenge. I give Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind the Must See rating and one that I’ll be watching again at some point.
What is Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind?
Joel Barish (Jim Carrey) and Clementine Kruczynski (Kate Winslet) are going through a breakup. They undergo a procedure that will erased each other from their memories in order to escape the pain of their loss.
I think this may end up being one of my favorite films. Jim Carrey and Kate Winslet are fantastic. I’ve never seen Winslet play a character like Clementine before and she really won me over in this film. Carrey may give his most understated performance where I don’t recall him doing any voices or over the top gestures that you see in most of his other films. He’s always been one of my favorites and I think this may now be my favorite Carrey film. The film features other solid performances from Mark Ruffalo, Tom Wilkinson, David Cross, Kirsten Dunst, Jane Adams, and Elijah Wood.
Michel Gondry directed this film perfectly. There are amazing visuals throughout this film with fantastic camerawork. Much of the film takes place inside Joel Barish’s head as he undergoes the procedure. I think one of my favorite moments is where Joel is speaking to Clementine in the library and all the books behind them slowly turn to white as his memory is erased. It’s visually interesting and a great visualization for the process that’s happening.
Kaufman definitely has a really awesome surrealist approach to film writing. Synecdoche, New York was similar, but the story was a little more all over the place. I definitely felt much more aware of what was going on in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, and the story underneath the surreal style made this movie amazing.
If you’re like I was then I definitely recommend you catch this film as soon as possible. It’s one I wish I’d seen in the theater, but I’m really glad it made its way into my 366 this year.
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