7/14/12 WORD TO THE WISE: ETERNAL SUNSHINE OF THE SPOTLESS MIND
I am sorry to say that I have recently been relatively disappointed in film. It started when I went to see Magic Mike in theaters-- a film which does not possess even the smallest fetal skeleton of plot or character development. And continued with a slow night spent in my dorm room watching a bizarre Netflix biopic.
So, relatively resigned to bad movies in general, back on my Netflix account, I began Michel Gondry's Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. My first thought was "well, if it's got nothing else, it's got the beautiful Kate Winslet." At the time it felt like a superficial throw-away, but, in retrospect, I realize that a lovely, talented actress is nothing at which to scoff.
Screenwriter Charlie Kaufman's previous film, Being John Malkovich, had a huge following, and while it was certainly smart-- to me it was too dark, the mood too low, the characters too satiric.
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind was not only smart and interesting, it was about beauty, love, happiness, and memory. It possesses Kaufman's signature light tone and quickly spins off into his wild world of magical realism, but, in my opinion, the key to its success is that it is based in real, relatable emotion.
Eternal Sunshine tells the story of a romance between the introverted, conventional Joel Barish (Jim Carrey [I know, I know! Conventional Carrey?! Hard to believe, but true..) and mercurial oddball Clementine Kruczynski (Kate Winslet). The story begins with Clementine and Joel striking up a relationship on the LIRR, while the hazy suggestion of complication and previous encounters hangs in the air. In the next scene, Kaufman begins to unravel this past for the viewer, revealing that Joel and Clementine had been a couple but that once their relationship began to fall apart, Clementine had had Joel erased from her memory in what is here a routine medical procedure. Upon realizing this, Joel decided that he wanted the same operation. As he undergoes treatment, the viewer enters his brain along with Dr. Mierzwiak, and sorts through Joel's memories of his relationship with Clementine.
This film was odd, cute, smart and everything I needed at the time. Trailer below:
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Word to the Wise
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