Eternal

Rating: 10/10 (26 March 2007)

WOW. what a movie - this one of my favorite movies of all time, and if there was a perfect movie, in my mind, this is it. This is why:
There are movies like the recently released 300 that are low-brow but entertaining purely for their visceral delights - they hold your attention, amaze you, but they offer nothing to think about. Accepting them for what they are, they have their own merits. While they are empty - all fat and calories and no nutrients - I will continue to watch these "blockbuster" popcorn movies on opening night.
Then there are the intellectual movies, so absorbed by themselves that they loose their audience. They set out with the goal of enlightening you, changing you - but they have the tendency to be tasteless and bland. The worst one that comes to mind being "Waking Life". This one actually tried to be eye-candy, but it bored me to tears. The philosophical musings themselves were interesting but basically it was a college lecture in CG graphics. Sophomoric at best, I would have watched Die Hard instead if I had the choice. It lost me at about 25 minutes in...and the theory, thoughts, and the message went through one ear and out the other...
The best movies in my mind transcend themselves and become experiences. They leave you with something, you learn from them, you think about them, they influence how you think about yourself and how you see the world. However, they also fulfill what a movie is supposed to do - entertain. Eternal Sunshine did this - and left me with something new, something I could think about and bring into my life, and at the same time, it held me, entertained me. That is a rare achievement in my mind.
Make no mistake, Eteranal is a movie that demands your full attention. Even so, it warrants a second and third viewing to fully grasp the beauty of this film. The jumps in the story can disorient and I can see how some will be put off by this. However, if you watch carefully and are able to understand this you will realize the beauty and craft behind the mixed pieces scattered throughout the film.
I haven't seen a movie that captures the feeling of a "dream" like Eternal. You will see the absurd, and the surreal...and yet it in your gut it makes sense - just like dreaming. Needless to say, what you will see will arrest you. The direction alone is a masterpiece - the scenes are loaded with creativity, and there are times where you will go "how the hell did they shoot that?". Gondry should have won an Oscar for this.
Finally, I have looked at a lot of the discussion around this film, and while the central themes remain the same, what people have taken away from the film seems to vary - there are different levels to the film beyond the visceral, which is already amazing in and of itself. The tone of Eternal is melancholic, however IMO it's message is very positive. Eternal's message to me is this...when you try to forget the pain, be it a person or an experience, you forget all the good that came with it.
Go watch this movie!