Life is but a dream

Rating: 10/10 (3 January 2006)

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
How does one describe a film such as this? Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind exudes a far different feel than pretty much any other movie in the history of film. Strictly speaking, it is a romantic drama, but there are so very many more layers to it than that. Eternal Sunshine is refreshingly surreal and weird, and yet at the same time painfully realistic and honest. This may sound like a contradiction - one of the film's points is that life is full of them.
Director Michel Gondry and screenwriter Charlie Kaufman have masterfully succeeded at creating a completely unique world in which to tell their wonderful story. Being that almost the whole movie is told in the mind of Joel (Jim Carrey), and is essentially a dream of sorts, Gondry and Kaufman have concluded that many dreamlike occurrences may occur. It's sometimes hard to follow the storyline, since the story is being constantly barreled abruptly in the opposite direction, with us as the audience being taken into areas we have never seen before. But this never comes across as a problem; instead we only become more intrigued by this surrealistic storytelling, and more interested in watching the relationship of Joel and Clementine unfold in reverse.
But, uniquely bizarre storytelling fashion aside, at the heart of the story is a genuine and painfully honest love story. We connect to the characters of Joel and Clementine in such a deep manner which is simply lost in modern fiction. Never once in the movie do we interpret Joel and Clementine as fictional characters - these are real people, and this is a genuine love story unfolding its complex beauty in front of us. Jim Carrey and Kate Winslet each give career defining performances, and capture our hearts like no other mere "characters" before. The supporting cast are equally note perfect, when given their moments to shine. Kirsten Dunst, Mark Ruffalo, Tom Wilkinson and Elijah Wood each manage to astound us in turn, and there is not a single character in the film who we as an audience fail to relate with and sympathize for. These are frighteningly real people, interacting in a very genuine fashion. Yet the movie really belongs to Joel and Clementine, and Carrey and Winslet whisk us through, dreamlike, and never fail to astound and delight us.
I think it's safe to say that Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind is one of the best and most unique films ever made - it boasts easily the best script of its year and one of the best ever written, in my opinion. It demonstrates a complex storyline in an intricate and dream like manner, and gives us one of the most truthful and affecting love stories ever captured on film. Be warned - this movie will stay with you for a very long time, and you will almost certainly start to see parallels in your own life. Such is the beauty and power of Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless mind. A proud 10 out of 10!
-10/10