How happy is the blameless Vestal's lot!
The world forgetting, by the world forgot.
Eternal sunshine of the spotless mind!
Each pray'r accepted, and each wish resign'd.y
Alexander Pope (Eloisa to Abelard)
Eternal sunshine of the spotless mind is Charlie's Kaufman's understanding of how good and bad things, shape us to become who we are. It is his view of how the shit that happens to us normal people, those that cause us to lash out in frustration, to wonder if there is a God, to ever find out any meaning in life, well... these are what builds us piece by piece. The movie is a poignant trip into the memories that we love and hate.
The movie involves two main characters, Joel (Jim Carrey), who is a self-absorbed loser who can't speak to women strangers, and Clementine (Kate Winslet), an impulsive woman who changes her hair colour everytime. Well... not everytime. But you get the picture. Clementine, on a whim, goes to get a memory wipe and Joel, who finds out about the memory wipe, goes get one too. But when the procedure begins, he finds out the happy memories are to be wiped out as well and tries to save them.
Jim Carrey and Kate Winslet play convincing roles as a mismatched couple tired with each other. They hold on to a tenuous love inside Joel's head. With that said, they do not do anything remarkable other than that. The movie shines however, in the way the story is played, which is almost heartbreaking and tender and guaranteed to make you feel. My favourite scene was when Joel was sitting next to the imaginary Clementine and she tells him that this was their last memory and what were they to do then. Joel looks at her, eats a piece of chicken, and says, "Enjoy it." It is a testament to whether we regret, or if we let go and just move on.
There are side stories as well, played out well by stars like Kristan Dunst and Elijah Wood. While not Spiderman nor LOTR warrior, they do play interesting roles in the movie, if a little too unneccessary.
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind is a story that teaches you to love and understand each other, flaws and all. IT is funny as it is romantic and touching. My only gripe is that the ending could have been a little more realistic and not so
