Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)

ETERNAL SUNSHINE OF THE SPOTLESS MIND (2004)

Rating: 5/5 stars

Date of Review: May 2nd, 2004

REVIEW BY JOHN ULMER (Copyright, 2004)

"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."

- Alexander Pope

Michel Gondry's "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind" is a bizarre

but wonderful movie, a very strange and remarkably tender experience,

which I suppose is only to be expected from screenwriter Charlie

Kaufman, the man behind "Being John Malkovich."

The film was produced by Focus Features ("Lost in Translation," "21

Grams"), a company which strives to offer original, quality films to

the true cinema lovers. If the company keeps producing films this

good, they may become hugely successful in the future, if not already.

The previews portrayed the movie as a bouncy, cheery comedy in the

vein of "Adaptation," the last film written for the big screen by

Charlie Kaufman, when it is really a tender movie about love and

romance. This is Jim Carrey's best performance to date, and may open

the eyes of his prejudiced haters who have only imagined him as Ace

Ventura and a certain cable guy for his entire career. No snippy

quotes, outrageous humor or bizarre antics in "Sunshine" -- Carrey

plays a true, realistic, three-dimensional character named Joel

Barrish, who plans to have memories of his girlfriend, Clementine

(Kate Winslet), erased by a new company called Lacuna, after he

discovers that she herself has had the procedure performed only a week

before. Joel meets with the company's founder, Dr. Howard Mierzwiak

(Tom Wilkinson), and is informed that the procedure -- although

"technically" brain damage -- is on par with a heavy night of

drinking. "Nothing you'll miss much," he is told, as he plunges into a

bizarre world of long forgotten memories.

The entire process of the operation is quite fascinating, really, if a

bit reminiscent of an idea founded by none other than one of Kaufman's

favorite writers, Philip K. Dick, who wrote the source short story for

the Ah-nuld movie "Total Recall." All items relating to the person you

want erased from your brain are assembled together, and the

technicians at Lacuna (Mark Ruffalo and Elijah Wood) then "map" an

outline of your memories, which are supposedly stemmed together. I

have my doubts about the seriousness and remote possibility of such a

procedure being performed, and the explanation is quite simply utter

bull, but we don't care because the entire erasing of Joel's memories

serves as a backdrop for a deeper meaning: If you could forget about

past romances, would you really want to? And if so, would you be

willing to sacrifice all the good ones, along with the bad ones?

The conclusion that "Sunshine" arrives at is, to be totally truthful,

as honest as can be. During the procedure, Joel's subconscious

realizes that it doesn't want to let go of its memories of Clementine,

and so begins a strange labyrinth of fragmented memories, constantly

changing surroundings, and mental materializations of Clementine. The

movie is like a very bizarre dream, when you're trying to interact

with people, but they're not responding, and you shout and try to get

their attention but they don't seem to notice. Joel's entire odyssey

of the interior of his mind makes "Being John Malkovich" look normal

-- but as I didn't like "Malkovich" very much, and thought its

strangeness was unjustified, it fits perfectly in "Sunshine" -- there

are some great special effects, such as when Joel is wandering through

his own memories, drifting in and out of sleep, hearing the voices of

the technicians erasing his memories and watching as objects and areas

around him vanish and deconstruct. It's so bizarre but yet also so

beautiful. Gondry was a former music video director (his complete

works are available on DVD) and he is the perfect candidate for this

project, having worked with Kaufman before on the 2001 flop "Human

Nature." It seems that he has finally found a unique directing style

that ties in perfectly with the underlying themes of the movie.

There is a very deep message in "Sunshine," and it is arguably

Kaufman's deepest film to date. Love and romance and memories of both

have rarely been examined as thought-provokingly and tenderly as they

are in this wonderful motion picture. The movie has a very profound

message that all viewers should pay attention to. There are many small

intricacies in the film, surely picked up on more thoroughly on repeat

viewings, and the entire construction of the movie is completely

enthralling and intelligent. I saw two people leave the rather empty

theater during the screening I attended. It tanked in the US and I

predict it will do the same in the UK, which is a shame, because this

is the smartest film of 2004 and has the most to say about our lives

than any other film this year. While everyone flocks to see the new

Denzel Washington action movie, "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless

Mind" is forgotten, which is quite depressing -- people would rather

spend their money on forgettable entertainment than view something

unique that has something important at its core.

I think what the movie finally asks us after its long, emotional

journey, is would we want our own memories erased? And if so, what

would the consequences be? A lesser film might examine this idea

poorly -- "Sunshine" is not. It is perfect in almost every conceivable

way, and anyone who complains that it is not original must be joking

-- in my entire lifetime, this is one of the most unique film

experiences I have ever had.

"Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind" is a beautiful movie,

eloquently voiced by Gondry, firmly constructed and rooted in an eerie

nightmarish fantasy land where anything is possible. It's beautiful,

it's bizarre, it's exceptional, it's funny, it's lovely, it's

touching, it's witty, and it's one of the best movies I have ever

seen.

- John Ulmer

http://www.wiredonmovies.com

e-mail: webmaster@wiredonmovies.com

==========
X-RAMR-ID: 37709
X-Language: en
X-RT-ReviewID: 1277721
X-RT-TitleID: 1130889
X-RT-SourceID: 1382
X-RT-AuthorID: 6769
X-RT-RatingText: 5/5