The Love Story of the New Millennium

Rating: 10/10 (12 May 2009)

Michel Gondry and Charlie Kaufman have crafted the best love story of the new millennium so far. The Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind tells the timeless tale of falling in and out of love, of meeting one's kindred soul and of overcoming adversities in the pursuit of happiness. But the filmmakers tell it in a mind-bending, mixing everyday emotions with elegant plays on time, narrative and memory.
Jim Carrey, in one of his best performances, plays Joel, an everyman who discovers his unstable, unpredictable, but captivating girlfriend, Clementine (possibly Kate Winslet's best role) has just erased him from his memory through a new scientific process invented by Dr. Mierzwiak (Tom Wilkinson). In revenge, he decides to erase her too. But as the process unfolds, he realises that even his most painful memories are a treasure worth cherishing; so in his mind, he fights the process.
In spite of all the fantasy in this movie, I don't think I've ever seen a relationship so well portrayed in cinema. Joel and Clem aren't just characters, there's something very familiar in them, which any viewer can find in themselves. They're imperfect, impulsive, sometimes unlikeable. But nevertheless love finds a way through them.
Kate Winslet was spectacular in her role, but Carrey is the real surprise. Every once in a while he surprises people with a great performance: The Truman Show; Man On The Moon. He plays grief, tenderness and shyness so well in this movie I wish he'd get more dramatic roles.
Few movies are as emotional and honest like The Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. Many love stories come from Hollywood, with their perfect love stories, where everything turns out well; but this is the rare movie in which love has but a temporary victory so it must be enjoyed while it lasts, in which downbeat ending can still be uplifting. How is that possible? I guess that's why Gondry and Kaufman are hailed as geniuses.