Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)

Director:

Michel Gondry

Writers (WGA):

Charlie Kaufman (story) &
Michel Gondry (story) ...

Release Date:

19 March 2004 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Romance

Tagline:

I already forget how I used to feel about you.

Plot:

A couple undergo a procedure to erase each other from their memories when their relationship turns sour, but it is only through the process of loss that they discover what they had to begin with.

Plot Keywords:

Memory | Train | Crush | Beach | Elephant

Awards:

Won Oscar. Another 36 wins & 50 nominations

Cast

Jim Carrey	...	Joel Barish
Kate Winslet	...	Clementine Kruczynski
Gerry Robert Byrne	...	Train Conductor
Elijah Wood	...	Patrick
Thomas Jay Ryan	...	Frank
Mark Ruffalo	...	Stan
Jane Adams	...	Carrie
David Cross	...	Rob
Kirsten Dunst	...	Mary
Tom Wilkinson	...	Dr. Howard Mierzwiak
Ryan Whitney	...	Young Joel
Debbon Ayer	...	Joel's Mother
Amir Ali Said	...	Young Bully
Brian Price	...	Young Bully
Paulie Litt	...	Young Bully

Also Known As:

Eterno resplandor de una mente sin recuerdos (Argentina) (Chile) (International: Spanish title) (Peru) [es]
Вечное сияние чистого разума (Russia) [ru]
¡Olvídate de mí! (Spain) [es]
Brilho Eterno De Uma Mente Sem Lembranças (Brazil) [pt]
Du soleil plein la tête (Canada: French title) [fr]
Egy makulátlan elme örök ragyogása (Hungary) [hu]
Eilíft sólskin hins flekklausa hugar (Iceland) (TV title) [is]
Etânaru sanshain (Japan) [ja]
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (France) [fr]
Evig solskinn i et plettfritt sinn (Norway) [no]
Evigt solskin i et pletfrit sind (Denmark) [da]
I aionia liakada enos katharou myalou (Greece) [el]
Karge meele igavene sära (Estonia) [et]
O Despertar da Mente (Portugal) [pt]
Se mi lasci ti cancello (Italy) [it]
Sil bastan (Turkey: Turkish title) [tr]
Tahraton mieli (Finland) [fi]
Vecný svit neposkvrnené mysli (Czech Republic) [cs]
Vecný svit neposkvrnenej mysle (Slovakia) [sk]
Vergiss mein nicht (Germany) [de]
Vergiss mein nicht! (Austria) [de]
Vjecni sjaj nepobjedivog uma (Croatia) [hr]
Zakochany bez pamieci (Poland) [pl]

MPAA:

Rated R for language, some drug and sexual content.

Runtime:

108 min | Turkey:95 min (TV version)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital

Certification:

USA:R (certificate #40598) | Iceland:L | India:A | Chile:Y7 | Portugal:M/16 | South Korea:15 | Argentina:13 | Australia:M | Brazil:14 | Canada:14A (British Columbia/Ontario) | Canada:G (Québec) | Finland:K-11 | France:U | Germany:12 | Hong Kong:IIB | Netherlands:AL | New Zealand:M | Norway:11 | Peru:PT | Philippines:R-13 | Singapore:NC-16 | Spain:13 | Sweden:11 | Switzerland:10 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:10 (canton of Vaud) | Switzerland:16 (canton of Zurich) | UK:15

Filming Locations:

123 Valentine Lane, Yonkers, New York, USA

Company:

Anonymous Content

Trivia:

When Joel goes to Lacuna Inc. for the first time, he looks at cards being printed out with the names Chris Norr and Linda Chen. Chris Norr was a camera operator on the film. Linda R. Chen was an intern and a New York casting assistant.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: When Clementine goes to Joel's building foyer, and meets Joel's neighbor (the "McRomance" guy), the actor waiting to walk into the scene is reflected in the door.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Joel: [voice over] random thoughts for Valentine's day, 2004. Today is a holiday invented by greeting card companies to make people feel like crap.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Eagle Eye (2008)

Soundtrack:

Keep On Looking

A warm hearted original love story

After a lukewarm reception in 2001 with "Human Nature", Charlie Kaufman has teamed up with director, Michel Gondry again for this romatic fantasy. With a name like Jim Carrey, this second collaboration couldn't go wrong in terms of box office success, and nor should it as this film is quite simply brilliant.

"Eternal Sunshine" centres around the life of Joel (Jim Carrey) a shy, mild mannered man who is heart broken after splitting from his feisty, impulsive girlfriend, Clementine (Kate Winslet). A short while after their split, he meets her again while she is working at a library and he is stunned to discover that she doesn't recognise him. He later finds out that the reason for this is that Clementine has had her memory of Joel wiped out completely. Dr Howard Mierwick (Tom Wilkinson) has performed an operation on her brain after Clementine visited his clinic to forget Joel. Much to Joel's distress, he decides to do the same, but during his operation he revisits memories of Clementine that he struggles to let go of.

If anyone was in doubt as to whether Jim Carrey can act, this is the film that will put all doubt out of the way. He performs with sensitivity and warmth, never once verging on the manic rubber faced lunacy to which he is most well known for. Out of all the perfomances where he has stepped into the dramtic role (The Truman Show, Man on the Moon, The Majestic), this has got to be his best yet. Kate Winslet is also brilliant as his unpredictable, adventurous girlfriend.

Kaufman's story of a man going into a surreal dream world is not too dissimilar from his earlier work, "Being John Malkovich". You have off the wall images such as Carrey re-enacting his 4 year old self along his journey in his head. The eccentricity of the story, which is Kaufman's trademark, once again works excellently. When watching this you generally care for Carrey and Winslet, in much the same way as Bill Murray and Scarlett Johansson in "Lost In Translation". Gondry's diection gives a bittersweet flavour to the tale.

The sub plots involving the supporting characters who are operating are ingenius. Tom Wilkinson once again proves that he is one of the best British actors of his generation and he is backed up by great performnces from Kirsten Dunst and a post-LOTR Elijah Wood.

This is a lovely film and if you like originality with a sense of fantasy with a love story, then I suggest you see it. It's one of those films you'll want to see twice.