Published at: March 9, 2004, 9:46 a.m. CST by headgeek
Some days it is such a blessing to be a movie critic. Wednesday was such a day, a week ago, I woke up bright and early – not usually the way I like it, but this was a special day… I was getting up early to go see THE ETERNAL SUNSHINE OF THE SPOTLESS MIND, the latest from the curly noodles of Charlie Kaufman. I read the script for this film about two weeks after an incredibly tense and bitter break up. I was distraught, depressed and feeling like a complete and total mound of steaming dung. Kaufman’s script had the exact right message that I needed to hear at the time.
You see, ETERNAL SUNSHINE OF THE SPOTLESS MIND is about the need to remember, or the need to forget. The script was very much a cautionary tale about those that forget the past are doomed to repeat it, that message has changed in the actual film. I’d heard that it had changed, and I was terrified to see the results.
I was also terrified, because Michael Gondry made a pretty huge mess out of HUMAN NATURE, the only Kaufman scripted film that hasn’t sailed over the centerfield wall for me. Of all the Kaufman scripts, this was my favorite, and I didn’t want Gondry to drop the ball. Since the directing announcements though, I’d seen Gondry’s DVD with all his fantastic Bjork videos brought together and I had a degree of confidence in him that HUMAN NATURE hadn’t given me.
However, I was about to see the film. Arriving at the theater about 30 minutes early, I see that Rav was there. He’d put his car in the shop the day before, and the night before I gave him instructions on how to use the public buses for transportation from his home to the Dobie Theater. Really simple, but because he was Rav, I was expecting him to arrive with shredded clothes and walking bow-legged. He appeared to be fine.
After about 20 minutes we were told which theater to go to, settled in and waited for the magic to start. As the lights dimmed, I uttered under my breath, “Don’t Suck!”
WOW! ABSOLUTELY PERFECT!
I have utterly no concept of how commercial the film will be, though I can’t imagine anyone that sees it not falling in complete love with the film. I suppose this will mainly depend on the trailers and word of mouth to succeed. I so want it to do spectacular business, if for no better reason than to perhaps fuel my desire for more incredibly smart science fiction films that are fueled by soul, intellect, powerful performances and supported by a visionary use of visual effects work that never overshadows the story… exactly how Gondry and Kaufman do in this masterful film.
The science fiction aspect of the film has been wonderfully unveiled in the trailers for the film. Lacuna is a company that has opened up to provide for its clients the focused erasure of troubling memories. You’ll see a lady sitting in the waiting room with box filled with doggie items, obviously her dog died and she wants to forget the little mutt ever existed so she can get over the loss in a nice fast disposable manner. The concept of a society that could just toss memories aside and move on to the future in a painless manner… well, it isn’t too hard to believe in. The other night I was working in the living room when a commercial came on for a pill that will make you more social, less afraid to be interactive with your fellow workers, keep you out of being alone in the corner. The ad said you should consult a doctor before quitting and that the pill will let you be the real you. Uh huh. SO… Shy people aren’t really themselves, eh? Interesting.
As pharmacology gets better and as we get a “Brain Pacemakers” and “Electronic Knees” well how far away in a world of mapping the human brain are we till we can selectively damage our brains to “Be The Best Version of Ourselves!”
Kaufman has nailed his premise and Gondry perfectly captures it. On another level, his work with Kate Winslet and Jim Carrey, as well as the rest of the cast, is nothing short of a revelation. It is easily Jim, Kate and Kirsten Dunst’s best performances. They are so real, so vulnerable, so likable and so easy to empathize with. Kirsten’s character is amazing for how great it is, for how little she is on screen. As the admitting desk lady at Lacuna Inc, she’s personable and warm. She comes across as someone trying desperately to be the best she can to impress someone whom she deeply respects and loves.
Jim Carrey is invisible in the movie. With a scruffy look, that clean cut Jim is out the window. Watching how distraught he gets over being erased by the woman he loves… then having the same process done to her through his own memory. The device of staying with his consciousness within his memories and dreams as he becomes aware of what exactly is happening… and realizing that it isn’t just the “Bad Memories” that are going, but those precious moments you could never imagine forgetting. The glances you love, those moments of magic being torn… Then his desperate attempts to hold on to her memory… BEAUTIFUL. Easily one of the great romance tales… It is literally all about the memory of love.
Kate Winslet’s character in the script always seemed to come across as being a bit on the “bitchy” side, but as Kate played it in the film… My god you so can understand loving her. She’s sarcastic and surprising. She’s impulsive and emotional, but as Gondry shoots her – she’s everything crazy and overwhelming about someone you love. That cyclone that sweeps into your life and changes the world as you know it. She’ll drive you insane, but she’s worth every second of it.
The conflicts that come to cause the split up are brutal and real. The sort of vicious phrasing that couples use to stab deep into each other’s hearts. The stuff that the second you hear, you wish you could wipe the memory away… and in this story, you can, but the price is all those other happy thoughts as well.
I’m so happy this film came together perfectly. Michel Gondry’s cinematic devices will take your breath away. The scene in the book store as the peripheral things in Jim’s memory get wiped first… stuff like the words and art of book covers and spines… the other shoppers.. all subtly fading away, not all at once, but in pieces… a little here and a little there, but what your eyes are focused on is the love between two people that won’t have it for long. It is breathtakingly beautiful and tragic all at once.
What a fantastic movie. I can’t wait for the rest of you to have a chance to see this thing. What bliss. In my opinion, this is the very best film adapted from a Charlie Kaufman screenplay… and that my friends is saying quite a bit. I love this movie!
