Unusual, inventive and utterly captivating

Rating: 10/10 (11 May 2004)

Caught this last night and was hugely impressed. French video
director Gondry brings Kaufman's typically unusual and inventive
script to life using a dazzling array of visual techniques, clever sets
and artfully employed special effects. At its heart it's a downbeat
love story between shy introvert Joel (Carrey) and lovely but
shallow Clementine (Winslet). When Clemmie leaves him after an
argument, Joel learns that she's had every memory of their
relationship erased using a revolutionary new process. Deeply
hurt he contacts the inventor of the process, Dr. Howard Mierzwaik
(Tom Wilkinson) and demands to undergo the same procedure.
However, as Mierzwaik and his oddball team, Stan (Ruffalo), Mary
(Dunst) and Patrick (Wood) begin erasing all traces of Clemmie
from his mind, Joel suddenly decides he doesn't want to forget her
after all...
This is really an exceptional piece of work, intelligent, funny and
consistently surprising. While the screenplay centers on the
relationship between Joel and Clemmie, Kaufman does an
admirable job of giving each of the secondary characters depth
and balancing the action between Joel's desparate fight inside his
own head and the expanding drama taking place outside.

Mention must be made of the extraordinary and at times disturbing
imagery employed during the latter half of the film, as Joel's fight to
save memories of Clemmie. This film is the best example I've ever
seen of how special effects can be used to enhance and deepen
the story rather than distract from it. Cornering his 'remembered'
Clemmie in a bookshop Joel struggles to convince her to come
with him - symbolically rescuing his memory of her from the
erasing process - and as they argue the covers of all the books
around them become blank. Later, chasing her through a beach
house they visited when they first met, walls and ceilings dissolve
around them and the sea rushes around their feet. Unforgettable.
Performances are uniformly excellent. Again, although the drama
centers mainly on Winslet and Carrey's characters, it's a testament
to the integrity of the screenplay and the quality of the acting that
the film feels more like an ensemble piece. I had the sense that
everyone working on this film knew it was special and loved doing
it.
Overall, this is the most exciting new film I've seen since 'Fight
Club'. Along with 'Zatoichi' it's my pick for film of the year. See it!