Film review: Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind.
Charlie Kaufman is back. Bigtime. After bringing us films which were as bizarre as they were brilliant, like Being John Malkovich and Adaptation, he's back on the scene with this charming but intensely strange lovestory.
I'll attempt to give a short summary: Joel is shocked when he finds out
to get Clementine out of his head - he's prepared to put up a fight for her.
Where to begin. I've always been a huge fan of Jim carrey; I like everything the man does - ranging from the downright silly (Ace Ventura, Liar Liar) to his Oscar-worthy (and Oscar snubbed) performances (The Truman Show, The Man On The Moon). Based on that fact alone, I could not miss this film. That, coupled with the fact that the wonderfully twisted Charlie Kaufman wrote this little gem, made this one utterly unmissable.
Speaking of Carrey, he absolutely shines here. Here, he gets to showcase his entire range of acting talents. From fear to sadness to slapstick, Carrey shows how great of an actor he really can be - and if he is denied yet again for an Oscar nomination, there is simply no justice in the world. The rest of the cast is no slouch either. Kate Winslet nearly steals the movie away from Carrey, which says a lot, considering his brilliant performance. Winslet should be up for a supporting Actress nomination here (which we all know she won't get; neither will Carrey). The rest of the cast performs admirably, from Mark Ruffalo's goofy operator to Kirsten Dunst's stoner secretary; from Tom Wilkenson's paternal doctor to Elijah Wood's secundary operator with a hidden agenda.
These good performances are brought about by a good direction, by
confusion and desperation Carrey's character is experiencing.
The film's main strength is that, while the basic plot of the film involves memory erasure, the film is far more than that. The philosophical themes behind memory and consciousness are meticulously explored, and the film will leave you thinking hard about your own memories, and whether or not you would go through the same procedure if put in Jim Carrey's Place.
The film goes into quite some other issues, too - how love turns into hate; how the memory works; how you have to erase a person from your life totally when you break up, and a big part of yourself too. In the end, Joel and Clementine decide to fall in love all over again, despite the problems they had. It can be seen as a statement: even if love isn't easy, it's always worth trying. Always.
In the end this is still a romantic comedy. That will never change - that's just the genre that it belongs to. But take a closer look, and you will see that this film rises above everything else on both accounts, comedy and romance. The comedy is utterly recognisable, and therefore heartwarmingly entertaining and endearing; the romance .. well, the romance does something that no film, ever, has done before.
It makes you walk out of the cinema loving your loved one even more.
Go see this. This could very well be the best film of 2004.
A 90 out of 100.
Cheers
I'll attempt to give a short summary: Joel is shocked when he finds out
| that his girlfriend Clementine has had her memories of their relationship erased. Out of desperation he contracts the company responsible for this, to have Clementine removed from his own memory in return. But as Joel's memories start disappearing, one by one, he begins to rediscover their earlier passion - why they initially fell in love. From deep within the recesses of his mind, caught in a sort of coma, Joel tries to escape the procedure. As the company people, Dr. Mierzwiak and his crew, chase him through the maze of his memories, it becomes clear that Joel just doesn't want |  |
Where to begin. I've always been a huge fan of Jim carrey; I like everything the man does - ranging from the downright silly (Ace Ventura, Liar Liar) to his Oscar-worthy (and Oscar snubbed) performances (The Truman Show, The Man On The Moon). Based on that fact alone, I could not miss this film. That, coupled with the fact that the wonderfully twisted Charlie Kaufman wrote this little gem, made this one utterly unmissable.
Speaking of Carrey, he absolutely shines here. Here, he gets to showcase his entire range of acting talents. From fear to sadness to slapstick, Carrey shows how great of an actor he really can be - and if he is denied yet again for an Oscar nomination, there is simply no justice in the world. The rest of the cast is no slouch either. Kate Winslet nearly steals the movie away from Carrey, which says a lot, considering his brilliant performance. Winslet should be up for a supporting Actress nomination here (which we all know she won't get; neither will Carrey). The rest of the cast performs admirably, from Mark Ruffalo's goofy operator to Kirsten Dunst's stoner secretary; from Tom Wilkenson's paternal doctor to Elijah Wood's secundary operator with a hidden agenda.
These good performances are brought about by a good direction, by
 | Michael Gondry, a man mostly known for his work on videos for artists such as Bjork, Radiohead, The Chemical Brothers and The White Stripes. In this film Gondry manages to get very convincing performances and emotions from an admittedly bizarre and unlikely concept - he shows an uncanny knack for creating images that are beautiful and that conjure up emotions and feelings that one cannot put into words. The director also deserves credit for the imaginative use of special effects in the scenes where Carrey is losing his memories - the viewer experiences the exact same |
The film's main strength is that, while the basic plot of the film involves memory erasure, the film is far more than that. The philosophical themes behind memory and consciousness are meticulously explored, and the film will leave you thinking hard about your own memories, and whether or not you would go through the same procedure if put in Jim Carrey's Place.
The film goes into quite some other issues, too - how love turns into hate; how the memory works; how you have to erase a person from your life totally when you break up, and a big part of yourself too. In the end, Joel and Clementine decide to fall in love all over again, despite the problems they had. It can be seen as a statement: even if love isn't easy, it's always worth trying. Always.
In the end this is still a romantic comedy. That will never change - that's just the genre that it belongs to. But take a closer look, and you will see that this film rises above everything else on both accounts, comedy and romance. The comedy is utterly recognisable, and therefore heartwarmingly entertaining and endearing; the romance .. well, the romance does something that no film, ever, has done before.
It makes you walk out of the cinema loving your loved one even more.
Go see this. This could very well be the best film of 2004.
A 90 out of 100.
Cheers
6 Comments:
It was alright.
However, more powerful than anything was the message it conveyed. They found each other again after they erased their memories. Now that's what soul mates are, to be able to find each other again in this world. Strong message. Yes.
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
It was alright? Alright?!
Well, I guess there's no accounting for taste, right? I absolutely loved it! You're right about the message, though.
Cheers
Damn you, Blogger!
Cheers
I absolutely loved it too. I was transfixed for the entire film and didn't want it to end! Excuse this comment for being somewhat after the fact.
No problem at all - I'm glad you enjoyed the film.
Cheers
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