AT THE MOVIES WITH KASEY BUTCHER
The human mind is a wild and mystical labyrinth of all the information that makes us who we are. It is so complex that even psychologists, whose job it is to study the mind, do not fully understand it. As our minds form memories, they take data from our experiences and encode it, making connections to as much previously stored data as possible. Thus, the human memory, just one part of the mind, is an intricate weaving of all the experiences of our lives. That being said, the question is could you erase someone from your memory? Furthermore, if you could, would you want to? Could you interrupt the “intricate weaving” of your memory and not alter your personality?
The Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, starring Jim Carrey and Kate Winslet, tells the story of a couple who tries to erase each other from their memories. Joel (Carrey) and Clementine (Winslet) are a slightly dysfunctional couple who fall in and out and back into love again. After a messy breakup, Clementine turns to Lacuna, Inc. a corporation who can erase troubling memories during a person’s sleep without any real brain damage. When Joel hears that Clem has erased him, he too goes to Lacuna to have her erased in revenge. During the procedure, however, Joel becomes aware of what is going on (which is not supposed to happen) and decides that he does not want to forget Clem after all. Under the inattentive watch of Lacuna technicians Stan (Mark Ruffalo, You Can Count on Me), Patrick (Elijah Wood, Lord of the Rings), and Mary (Kirsten Dunst, Levity), Joel is able to bypass the system and try to save his memory of Clem. He and Clem play a virtual hide-and-seek through his memory until Lacuna’s head doctor, Howard (Tom Wilkinson, Girl with a Pearl Earring), finds and erases Clementine from Joel’s mind. When the two meet again by chance, they can’t help but feel that they have met each other somewhere before. Is it fate, déjà vu, or that the true complexity of the mind prevented full erasure? One can only wonder.
Eternal Sunshine is the most wonderfully weird film I have ever seen. The whole time I was enchanted and curious as to just what might happen next. The story is incredibly original and utterly amazing. It is memorable and strangely romantic. Michel Gondry (writer / director) did a superb job.
The acting is good as well. Jim Carrey brings an atypical performance to the screen. He doesn’t utilize his “rubber-face” techniques or behave in an outrageous manner. He is subtle, anxious and quirky. He is even on the brink of dull-but this is who the character is. He did a great job. Kate Winslet takes a completely unlikable character and makes her sympathetic. Clem is whiney and neurotic and at times downright irritating, but Winslet brings an aspect to her that makes you feel more sorry for her than angry with her.
The cinematography of this film is interesting and bright. The color scheme is ever changing, but the lighting is dull and heavy-like a poorly lit apartment or doctor’s office. It matches up with the tone of the story. The characters are crazy and interesting, but the things they do are slightly dark and, as Clem says, “kind of warped.”
This is a movie that I would not miss. It is slightly hard to follow, but it is very interesting and thought provoking. It is a wild ride through the mind, the memory, and the heart.
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