Eyeopening and Captivating

Rating: 10/10 (26 October 2016)

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind revolves around the lives of Clementine Kruczynski, and Joel Barish. The two struggle to keep their relationship afloat, and find themselves fighting more than usual. This results in a break-up which eventually leads Clementine to erase Joel from her memory entirely. Joel sees Clementine at work a few days after the procedure, hes shocked when she doesn't even seem to know who he is. Joel goes and talks to some friends and discovers that she had him cleared from her memory completely. Joel is confused and decides to go to the same place, to get the same procedure as her. Joel brings all his belongings that remind him of Clementine in, to be disposed. Later that day they begin the procedure. The bulk of the movie is a time-lapse of the memories in Joel's brain of Clementine. You see the first time they meet, from the very last memory they had together. Throughout this procedure; not only can you see all of the memories play out, but you also have the insight of Joel's subconscious. It is clear while Joel is re- watching all of his memories play out he regrets making the decision to get the procedure in the first place. He still loves Clementine and while he relives his life with her, he keeps saying 'please, don't let me forget this one'. He doesn't want to forget her, but it is too late. Now both of their memories are erased, and they no long have any recollection of one another. However, that is not where this story ends.
This movie is really moving and it's one that everyone can relate to. We have all had a person who we have wanted to forget, but as humans we can't imagine what it's really like to just forget a person completely. This movie demonstrates a desire most humans have felt before; to just forget entirely. You soon find out that maybe there is a reason we can't just forget someone, because no matter how horrible Joel and Clementine's relationship got, he still wanted to hold on to the memories that weren't so bad. The emotions that this movie conveys are very unique because of how bittersweet they are. It's sad because you see how much the two loved each other at the beginning of their romance, compared to wanting to forget about all those memories completely. The sweet part is that they are seemingly reliving those memories, Joel's subconscious and the memory of Clementine try to save and preserve the memories as the procedure is in process. This movie has always resonated with me because if this procedure was real, you can only imagine that it would cause more bad then good, no matter how much mankind has a need to forget all the bad things that happen in their lives, we still have a desire to hold onto what makes us, us. Underlying themes and expressions in the movie also make it a great one. The story of Clementine and Joel is the main story we follow but this movie also takes a look into the lives of others involved. Jim Carey and Kate Winslet do a wonderful job in expressing the feelings that we are meant to feel during the movie. A side note is that it's always nice to see an actor like Jim Carey who usually does funny roles play such a serious role. This makes the movie itself more interesting to watch. This movie is one of the best, and no matter who you are it will be sure to provoke some sort of emotion out of you. Another plus is the ending, which I can't say much about, but unlike most movies this one is pretty satisfying.