2. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

The first film I have to cover would be "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind"

No doubt on my top list of favorite movies. I'd say most favorite but that would be ignorant, people's top favorites are that for a reason and are valued for different aspects and there can rarely be the most favorite. How many times did I say favorite there? Including that one, 5. Wow, I should start learning new synonyms.

It came out in 2004 and was directed by Michel Gondry with the screenplay written by Charlie Kaufman. It follows two characters, Joel Barish and Clementine Kruczynski. For anyone who has seen Pulp Fiction - another great movie, the scenes follow what Quentin Tarantino did with the cut up of scenes within the time line.

Joel begins a relationship with Clementine but when things begin to turn south Clementine goes to a clinic named Lacuna to have her memory erased of him. The setting is in New York and is supposed to be around present day, with just a few advancements in memory procedures - Joel himself didn't know this procedure was possible until Clementine had it done.

Finding this out Joel himself wishes to undergo the procedure and most of the film is him in his memories - at times participating within it as the memory occurred and others with him breaking out of the character and becoming completely lucid to what is happening. As he relives the memories (beginning at the most current and working their way backwards) he begins to regret the decision and wants to call off the procedure.

Canceling the procedure doesn't seem to be an option since in the reality outside what he is experiencing, which is him sleeping as the technicians are working on the erasure. Is erasure a word? Anyways, it's not surgical so he's not lying there with a part of his skull open but rather is hooked up to wires and controlled by a kind of technological means.

The subplot of the movie is focused around the technicians; Stan, Patrick, Mary and Howard. At first they act as minor characters to the plot but as the subplot develops we learn more about their friendships and relationships with each other and throughout they work as as a means to comment upon and focus on the moral aspects of the procedure.

I'm tempted to reveal a spoiler to give a fuller opinion of the movie and will have a section below which continues on the rant. However, for those of you who have not seen the movie and don't wish to have anything spoiled, please watch the deleted scenes on the special edition (or look it up on Youtube after you watch the movie) because there was something omitted, which personally I believe completed the subplot and was a foolish move to not include it.

Anyways, this is the end of the blog for anyone reading it who does not want spoilers.

So now on to a more focused rant.

Obviously at the beginning of the movie we as viewers don't know that the meeting of Clementine and Joel is not really their first encounter, in fact it is the scene after the procedure, just placed at the beginning of the film. Clues are given throughout - for instance in an early memory of their relationship Clementine admits to wrecking the car. In this very first scene we see the car already has a giant dent.

But I don't want this post to be all summary.

I personally caught on later on in the film when they show the actual first meeting of the two characters on the beach in Joel's last memory. The memory that made the film in my opinion. The two are sitting on the beach enacting the memory when both characters become lucid and look at each other and say:

Clementine: This is it, Joel. It's going to be gone soon.
Joel: I know.
Clementine: What do we do?
Joel: Enjoy it.

I'm a sucker for tragedy. Joel's development in succumbing to the procedure and just realizing the finality of his situation is so emotional and decides to spend his last memory by enjoying it, rather than wasting it automatically placed this film in my top favorites. Viewers who think about it in the slightest are able to view this dialogue as a comment on life, to just enjoy it because we can't stop the end from coming when it does (or at least that's how I look at it). The acting by Jim Carrey and Kate Winslet for their repected roles was well done and though I thought I'd have a hard time in placing Jim Carrey in a dramatic role when I had previously only really known him for his comedies, his acting took care of it and revealed to me that he was really a great actor.

The film has a weird aspect to it in the sense that when Clementine becomes lucid in the memories we are sometimes meant to assume that she is her character rather than a mere representation within Joel's mind. Technically she would be an embodiment of her former self mixed with Joel's consciousness when she becomes lucid and deters away from her original portrayal in the memory by conversing with Joel about the procedure. In one scene when they are sitting in bed and discussing the issue of what is happening, she claims to realize that she is a part of Joel.

This, however does not explain how they knew to meet in Montauk, just outside New York City after the procedure was complete. I assumed it was the film originally suggesting a theme such as when two people are destined to be together it will happen, or even love conquers all. But then I watch the deleted scenes when I saw the Extended Edition on sale a few months after I made the original purchase and saw how Clementine, in a scene outside Joel's memories is on a date with Joel and she claims to have psychic powers of some kind. Though this is meant to be taken as flirting or a bohemian fit to her character, it does give a sort of explanation to the chance meet as well as suggests that the memory of Clementine did in fact share a connection with the original character.

This is further suggested as well when she begins to have a closed realization when dating Patrick, who played by Elijah Wood begins to flirt with her after being one who took part in erasing her memory and takes on the role of Joel by stealing his journals and gifts from the clinic rather than destroying them. A move which he no doubt hoped would help win her over.

Finally, one other deleted scene that I wanted to talk about that I mentioned above that was omitted was when Mary is listening to her recording and reveals that she had an abortion (which was Howard's child as well) to undergo the procedure. This realization, though extremely powerful was odd to not include as it adds a more powerful reason to her returning the files, as well as solidifies the notion that if a procedure were ever possible it would be wrong to do so.

Now, I'm not suggesting that to fight for the rights to de-legalize abortions, personally I'd say I'm more pro-choice in a lot of cases, but rather the scene suggests we are who we are because of our experiences, positive or negative and to take away these memories would be to ultimately lose a part of ourselves in the process.

Interestingly enough, in Joel's final memory he states that he believes Clementine's name to be magical, associating the name with his Huckleberry Hound doll, but we as we see earlier in a memory with his mother bathing him as a child in the sink singing the Huckleberry Hound tune, "Oh my darlin' oh my darlin' oh my darlin' Clemtine ..." that memory will be erased with the rest and when he meets her for the second time at the beginning of the film, he doesn't make the same remark because the name is no longer magical for him; his memory is gone as well as that warmth the character had associated with his childhood.

Personally I think the reason I love this movie so much is because I have a huge fascination with memory. My worst fear as a child and growing up was to lose my memories. Alzheimer's Disease scared the shit out of me, so I immediately appreciated the film for the messages that I was catching on to. Ironically enough, last year in April 2010, I suffered a severe concussion and ending up in the hospital with no memory of who I was. Thankfully after a couple of days my long term memory returned and my short term memory slowly began to heal after that (I was like Dory from "Finding Nemo" for awhile).

I lived my worst fear, something I would have nightmares of as a child and am able to connect to this movie in a more personal way, adding to the appreciation to the messages.

Hope you enjoyed! Please feel free to comment below on anything about this post or blog, I'd love to hear 'em - positive and negative criticisms are always welcome!

Later!