Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)
In the 70's the director began to
be considered the true craftsman in the art of filmmaking.
Up until that point, the studios had held most of
the clout. With the advent of "Independent Films,"
the director became even more a respected artisan.
It was rare, if ever, that a scriptwriter
ever received acclaim or was treated with the reverence
that was generally reserved for the actors and directors.
Any scripter that received any sort of notoriety in
film work ordinarily came out of the arena of the
playwright where he or she had already amassed many
accolades. Never has a screen writer been considered
the true artisan behind a film. That is beginning
to change with Charlie Kaufman. With "Eternal Sunshine
of the Spotless Mind," Kaufman, who wowed audiences
with "Being John Malkovich" and "Adaptation," cements
his fame as the most well-known and well respected
scripter in New Hollywood. This film is his and bares
his imprint even more than director Michael Gondry's
or main star Jim Carrey's.
"Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless
Mind" (and its hard to imagine any established scripter
but Kaufman getting away with that title) is one of
the darkest, most complex, most intriguing films to
be seen. Kaufman is doing nothing less that mapping
the landscape of the human mind via story with this
film. His theme is the human mind and his plot involves
memory, depression, shame, grief, love, lust, heartbreak
and sorrow. Kaufman is amazingly adept at taking us
into the human psyche via story, visuals and dialogue
and this film is unlike any other ever made.
To be sure, Gondry (who also helmed
Kaufman's script "Human Nature") does a fantastic
job. His visuals are as stunning as Kaufman's story.
The way he uses CGI effects, editing, sets, and especially
lighting here is just phenomenal. This is a film that
is always interesting to look at and one that continually
takes us into images that we've never seen before.
The script and the visual images here are continually
walking the sharp edge between reality and concept,
reality and memory, and reality and imagination with
brilliant results.
That Carrey performs in this film
shows just how powerful and important Kaufman's work
has become. Sure, Carrey has been trying to establish
himself as something more than a rubber- faced comedian
for the past few years. His work here even surpasses
his performance in "The Truman Show" in displaying
his amazing acting abilities. Carrey is an actor to
be taken seriously, at least when he wants to be taken
seriously. He's backed by a plethora of amazing talent
as well with Kate Winslet, Kirsten Dunst, Mark Ruffalo,
Tom Wilkerson, Elijah Wood, Jane Adams, and even David
Cross turning in powerful and concrete support for
the actor. But this is Carrey's movie all the way,
on screen at least.
"Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless
Mind" is an amazing film, one destine to be among
the best of this year. It's also one that proves just
how powerful and amazing films can be when scriptwriters
are allowed to free their minds and open their imaginations
to the possibilities of story when no longer held
ransom by the limitations of studios, budgets, reality
or special effects.
Note:
The script quotes Nitzsche twice.
The title is from a passage by Alexander Pope which
is also quoted here.
Music by Jon Brion. Pop songs by
Beck, The Polyphonic Spree and ELO among others. The
Clash is mentioned.
Lacuna, the name of the company
that erases memories in the film comes from the Latin
meaning "gap" or "loss." One the company's van door
in one scene the company's van's door has the "C"
missing leaving it to read "LA UNA" which could possible
refer to the idea that Winslet is "the one" for Carrey.
In the original script, there were
to be other people getting memories erased including
a soldier who wanted to forget a friend's death in
battle and a woman who wanted to forger being raped.
At one time Nicolas Cage, star of
"Adaptation," was considered for the role Carrey plays.
The T-shirt Winslet wear in one
segment feature a cartoon called "Love Is..." which
was quite popular in the 70's. The one panel strip
featured a nude, young couple (sans genitalia) and
the text always read, "Love is..." and then something
that reflects that ideal. Like it could say "Love
is... doing the dishes" and the little cartoon couple
would be doing dishes at a sink. This strip appeared
daily in my hometown newspaper "The Daily Gate City"
in Keokuk, Iowa, where I grew up throughout the 70's.
I remember asking my somewhat prudish mother why the
people were naked when I was young but I don't remember
her answer.
Viewed in Austin in March 2004 with
my roomie Amanda.
