Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
Directed by: Michel Gondry
*ing: Jim Carrey
Kate Winslet
Rating: 1 million/10
There are great movies, there are good movies and then there are some movies which you cannot forget for the rest of your lives. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind is one of them. For anyone who has ever loved or lost, this master-piece will strangle your heart and twist your mind till you yell, cry, laugh and ponder!
The French maestro (Michel Gondry) transforms the screen in to a world of love, passion, beauty and hope from the very first frame.
The plot is simple. The treatment, direction and camerawork though is the most complex, I have ever witnessed on celluloid. Joel Barish (Jim Carrey) meets Clementine Kruczynski (Kate Winslet) and they fall in Love. They're poles apart, they're night and day but they're crazy about each other. A year passes by when things don't quite work out which leads to an aggressive break up. Joel tries to catch up with Clementine again but she doesn't recognize him. He's desperate and spooked till he finds out the reason for her behavior is an operation she has undergone to "ERASE" him from her brain. Ego shrieks and he goes for the enviable procedure too. It's during the procedure that he realizes that memories is all he has and he really doesn't want to let them go but he cant stop as he's fast asleep!
Having mentioned the crux of the story, the actual proceedings take place during Joel's operation when the director showers us with heart-melting, warm, tremendously performed scenes cum memories between the lead pair. From their first meetings to their love making escapades to the final break up, all of them are the majestically, gloriously shot and chained together. The film takes a sharp turn as Joel tries to hide Clementine in every other possible section of his memory in order to avoid completely erasing her from his mind. Does he succeed? Does he survive? Does she survive? The scenes strut from the past to the present to the near past to the future and so on, making it difficult and sometimes irritating to comprehend but I won't blame the film or the makers for it. Its flawless.
Eternal Sunshine has a very fictitious premise but real, lovely characters.
Jim Carrey isn't a jerk making weird faces for once but is a loveable, lonely and an honest man of a few words. He will mesmerize you with his acting prowess and his ability to hold his own even when he has no lines to mouth. He is tremendous and fabulous, mammoth and massive. Just try taking your eyes of him.
Kate Winslet as the bubbly, confused, inferiority complex-ed, non-stop talker Clementine is so real that you want to get up and touch her. She becomes the girl you see on the bus-stop everyday with ease. Complimenting Carrey in every frame with all her charm, this is one of her best performances. This is completely their movie.
Elijah Woods, Kirsten Dunst, Mark Ruffalo and Tom Wilkinson chip in with gems of their own. They contribute to these lovely hours at the movies with all their honesty.
I am thoroughly running out of adjectives and merely words to define this film. This is what cinema is all about. Smiles and Tears. This is a film that will make you cry your heart out inconsolably. This is a film you cannot miss. Rent it. Please.
- Abbas Aziz Dalal.
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