sophiaserpentia | (no subject)

akaiyume and I went to see Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. This is a fantastic, magical movie.

Essentially this movie is a character study of two people, Joel and Clementine, and an event-by-event examination of their relationship. This character study takes place against the backdrop of an improbable medical procedure that allows memories to be selectively called up and then eliminated, making it possible to entirely forget that you ever knew a person.

We see the story from Joel's point of view. He is having the procedure done to retaliate against Clementine, who, "on a lark," left him and had the procedure herself a week before. Because the memories are played in a way that seems random, but is mostly backwards, it is only possible to piece together the whole story as the movie progresses. From the first memories we see, Clementine comes across as a drunk veering dangerously close to psychosis. So at first we are inclined to sympathize with Joel... but he is not exactly a saint; he uses his tolerance of her drinking as an excuse to feel withdrawn and superior.

As the memories progress, though, you begin to see that there was a strong and beautiful tie between them; and that perhaps only a mis-step, a single spoken insult from Joel, caused their relationship to careen into disaster.

There are strong hints at supernatural forces at play -- a link so strong between Joel and Clementine that despite the odds they find a way to arrange... ah, it's hard to describe what is truly magical about this movie without giving away TOO much. Suffice it to say, that there is a strong message being made here that the mind and the spirit are much more than the brain.

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what?! i'm gone all day and nobody had posted any thoughts here? disappointing.

i thoroughly enjoyed this movie. the phrase "it ended before it started" resonated with me after this movie. with concerns to supernatural forces, i thought they cast fate in a whole new light, allowing loopholes in their memories to shape the coming days

the escape tactics of the mind were intriguing, especially the writer's choice to make Winslet the stronger part of their relationship (the babysitter, the little girl who saves him after he strikes the bird). she played hero/counselour to facilitate his resolve to remember her in his life. that was too beautiful for words.

it's three am and i think that's almost a logical progression of sentences.

kyle.

i thought they cast fate in a whole new light, allowing loopholes in their memories to shape the coming days

One of the stronger messages of the movie seems to be that although a memory can be erased, or just lost, the effects of that memory remain and may in fact be stronger than the memory itself.

It is obvious that both Joel and Clementine suffer from terminal low self-esteem. During the pre-Lacuna stage of their relationship, as seen through Joel's memories, the outward signs of each one's lack of confidence manifests in a way that is nearly diametrically opposed the other's. Joel is calm but withdrawn and very hesitant, having to be dragged into any new experience, while Clementine acts in a defensive and impulsive manner, reacting with too much anger when Joel mentions a flaw that she is afraid she might actually possess, running frantically from one thing to the next in order to avoid herself.

Joel's memories also offer up beautiful hints of the manner in which the two help each other overcome some of their own personal demons. When shorn of the memories of each other, the two fall back on the strengths that they had given to each other while they were together. Joel has learned to trust his instincts and to act on his emotions rather than try to smother them. Clementine runs to Joel, instead of running a way from him and when she hears the accusation that caused her to explode ,ending the relationship and seeking a memory removel, she tearfully but calmly just asserts, "I'm not that way."