Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind Review
by Balaji Srinivasan (balaji_cheenu AT yahoo DOT com)December 30th, 2004
Review: Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)
Starring Jim Carrey, Kate Winslet, Mark Ruffalo, Kirsten Dunst, Tom Wilkinson and Elijah Wood.
Directed by Michael Gondry. Screenplay by Charlie Kaufman.
**** (out of 4)
It is late at night. A visibly stoned receptionist at a doctor's office (Kirsten Dunst) is slowly talking with the doctor (Tom Wilkinson) at the house of a patient (Jim Carrey) who is getting his memories of an ex-lover (Kate Winslet) erased. The receptionist quietly mentions that she likes reading Quotes, and reels off a poem by Alexander Pope, one of its lines being the title of the film.
I didn't bat an eyelid at this unbelievable premise. I was sucked in and was gladly led by the suspension of disbelief. That is the level of achievement of the film.
ESotSM has a complex screenplay based on a simple story that deals with the exploration of the human mind, a subject that Charlie Kaufman has dealt with in his scripts time and again. The scenes are carefully set so that the viewer is constantly questioned to figure out the chronological order for himself. The film would stand even if it were presented in chronological order, and this non-linear presentation is little more than a curiosity, a puzzle to figure out.
The film centers on the mind of Joel Barish (Jim Carrey). He has had a heartbreaking split with Clementine Kruczynski (Kate Winslet). After the split, he comes to know that Clementine has "erased" all her memories about him with the help of the latest technology of "Lacuna Inc", headed by Dr.Howard Mierzwiak (Tom Wilkinson). Joel decides to do the same procedure on himself, and get rid of the memories of Clementine. As the "erasure" continues all night, Joel relives the good moments that he had with Clementine, and tries to will himself to stop the erasure midway.
The crux of the film centers on the erasing process - Stan (Mark Ruffalo) and Patrick (Elijah Wood) are technicians working on Joel's mind. The computer that erases memories looks like the first version of a clunky laptop made in the early '80s. Joel's mind replays the memories of events with Clementine and as these memories get erased, things keep disappearing from the events as we see it. This kind of visualization is unique and gives the film some memorable moments. Once Joel realizes that he doesn't want to go through with the process, he runs with Clementine from memory to memory as things get gobbled up behind him. The filming of this erasure is not laden with special effects, but is done with old techniques that make the film look dated. The awe factor wears off but there are enough other things to keep our attention on the movie. For most of the film, the viewer would be trying hard to figure out whether the particular scene really happened, or was a figment of Joel's mind (or Clementine's mind) and if it happened, when.
The film is directed by Michael Gondry, who also directed the much under-appreciated "Human Nature" (another script by Charlie Kaufman). The direction has an old-world independent quality about it that was supposed to set the film apart from other new flicks, but it failed to impress me. The script of Kaufman could have been filmed with seamless integration of graphics and more contemporary editing.
ESotSM boasts of a stellar cast: Jim Carrey is at his best, in his best role since "The Majestic" (which went unnoticed). He tries hard to bottle up his usual energetic performance and gives a subdued, restrained and powerful performance. Kate Winslet on the other hand plays an enthusiastic extrovert who wears her emotions on her sleeve and does it very well. The supporting cast does it bit, especially the pair of Mark Ruffalo and Kirsten Dunst. The script wisely allots an interesting story that runs in parallel with Joel's ordeal, which helps the supporting cast rise up from playing cardboard cutout characters.
The film finally deals with the eternal questions of what makes up love, what forms the need for companionship, and how people tend to get close to each other again and again. Without making it into a Groundhog day type scenario, the film cleverly keeps returning to the center theme of the movie, once the other facets of the film are figured out. The easily accessible themes in a seemingly inaccessible movie is what makes the film memorable. Add ESotSM to the growing collection of great Kaufman movies, a treat to the mind and the heart.
- Balaji Srinivasan (bb).
http://balaji.yi.org/blog/
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