Why You Should Watch: Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind
Because this film is an oldie but a goodie, well-deserving of its status as one of the “Greatest Movies Of All Time.”
Admit it: there’s no way you weren’t singing “Oh My Darling, Clementine” for an hour after watching Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. I watched it years ago when I was younger, but couldn’t remember the whole plot, only how it made me feel. And through the years, catching bits and pieces on television, the one emotion that stays with me is just an overwhelming fondness for the movie. (yes, I watched it through before writing this.)
What Does This Plot Even Mean?!
It’s odd, considering that the plot itself sounds ridiculous when you try to explain it. An indication of how confusing the film is? Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind is categorised as “Drama, Romance, (and) Sci-Fi” in IMDb. A man, Joel (played by Jim Carrey), meets a woman named Clementine (Kate Winslet). Over the course of two days, we see a bunch of flashbacks that show how their tumultuous previous relationship ended when they each had the other person removed from their memories.
Why Is The Cast So Good??
The cast, itself, is what makes Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind so good, because this is the film that made me actually love Kate Winslet and Jim Carrey. Kate Winslet, in particular, with her salon-worthy coloured hair — which, itself, played a huge part in character building — was amazing, giving us the coolness of a manic pixie dream girl while breaking that stereotype with her perfectly flawed portrayal of Clementine. Her eyes, especially, are so expressive, making those odd running scenes one of the most interesting.
Jim Carrey, too, gave such a soulfully-understated performance that he made sad Joel one to root for, and made the whole premise totally believable. As for the rest of the cast, I honestly forgot that Kirsten Dunst, Mark Ruffalo and Elijah Wood were in this movie, but was nevertheless impressed with their emotional character building. I mean, when Kirsten Dunst can make reading quotes a highlight, you know she’s good:
“Blessed are the forgetful, for they get the better even of their blunders.” — Mary (Kirsten Dunst)
The fact that Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind was even made is amazing, because it’s one of the most intelligent films I’ve ever watched: it is confusing from beginning to end, but that’s because it quite literally moves like how your mind works, in little snippets. This complex visual representation makes for a beautiful, and fully relevant, example of how our brains can work, with tiny bits darting back and forth.
There’s the assumption that you’ll understand what’s happening by the end. It has that confident streak that can either go swimmingly or blow up spectacularly, and here, it works like a charm, pulling you in.
Recently, I watched a video by Film Radar that dissected the deleted scenes from Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. That video discussed the power of editing, as Joel’s ex-girlfriend was edited out of the movie. With that editing, the way Joel came across was drastically changed. In light of that video, I thought I might post this old review, originally written on Why You Should Watch This.
