Film: Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
Director: Michel Gondry
Country: France / USA
Released: March 2004
Runtime: 108 minutes
Genre: Romantic Drama
Studio: Anonymous Content, This Is That
Influenced: Dan Harmon, Greta Gerwig, Duke Johnson, Richard Ayoade, Yorgos Lanthimos
Charlie Kaufman is without doubt one of the greatest and most original screenwriters in cinema history, the creative mind behind a series of weird cult classics that were released both before – Being John Malkovich (1999), Adaptation (2002) – and after – Synecdoche, New York (2008), Anomalisa (2015) – Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. Kaufman's early cinematic work involved collaborating twice with Spike Jonze and Michel Gondry, two directors that both came from music video backgrounds. Gondry and Kaufman previously worked together on Human Nature (2001), which was a commercial failure, but this didn't stop them collaborating again on Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, this time with the motivation to create a love story that explored the complexities of relationships in a non-traditional way. French conceptual artist Pierre Bismuth was also involved in developing the script, his background in the visual arts adding to the film's unique and innovative style.
The collaboration between Kaufman, Gondry and Bismuth resulted in a narrative that blends romance with science fiction, exploring the complexities of memory and relationships in a visually inventive way. Kaufman has long been the driving force behind some of the most singular stories Hollywood has to offer, exploring the neurotic, absurd and plain frightening aspects of everyday life, and what's so powerful about Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind is the sheer audacity of its narrative inventiveness. The story revolves around Joel Barish (Jim Carrey) and Clementine Kruczynski (Kate Winslet), who undergo a procedure to erase each other from their memories after a tumultuous relationship. The narrative unfolds primarily within Joel's mind as his memories are being erased. The film's title is a quote from the Alexander Pope poem, Eloisa to Abelard, suggesting the idea that the absence of painful memories might lead to a lack of personal growth.
Performing the memory erasure procedures is the fictional company, Lacuna, Inc. The employees of Lacuna, including Dr Howard Mierzwiak (Tom Wilkinson), provide a surreal and at times humorous backdrop to the story. A strong supporting cast includes three Lacuna employees: Elijah Wood as Patrick, an enthusiastic but somewhat misguided character who uses his access to people's memories for personal gain; Kirsten Dunst as Mary Svevo, a receptionist who becomes romantically entangled with multiple characters; and Mark Ruffalo as Stan Fink, a laid-back technician who becomes concerned about the ethical considerations surrounding the memory erasure procedure. Gondry makes innovative use of forced perspectives and in-camera tricks in the movie, notably when Joel & Clem are bathing in the kitchen sink, as well as the weird scene where Joel is under the table and transported back to his childhood, with Clem becoming one of his Mum’s sexy friends. Carrey and Gondry have said there was room in Kaufman's script for them to improvise, such as when Carrey sings the nursery rhyme Row, Row, Row Your Boat. It's a wonderfully raw performance from Carrey, as though he's excavating pain from his own past.
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind received widespread critical acclaim for its originality, performances and emotional depth. Charlie Kaufman won the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay and Kate Winslet was nominated for Best Actress. The film also received several other nominations and wins at various film festivals, including a Best Editing BAFTA for Valdís Óskarsdóttir and a Golden Globe nomination for Jim Carrey. As the cinematographer for Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Ellen Kuras also played a crucial role in bringing Kaufman's vision to life. Her subsequent work, including collaborations with Spike Lee, continued in this vein of innovative visual storytelling. Also of note is the film's soundtrack, overseen by musician Jon Brion and involving the input of the very talented The Polyphonic Spree and a beautiful cover by Beck of The Korgis' 80s classic, Everybody's Got to Learn Sometime. The film was initially intended to have a different ending, which was darker and involved Joel and Clem choosing to erase their memories again, but this was altered during production to give us a more peaceful and hopeful finale on the beach in Montauk, where their romance began.
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