Director: Michel Gondry
Cast: Jim Carrey, Kate Winslet
While Jim Carrey (thankfully) breaks away from his tiresome norm of Pet-Detecting craziness in order to inhabit mild and pleasant Joel Barrish, the idea behind Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind is neither mild nor pleasant; it’s a swirling vortex of thoughts and emotions that delves right to the very core of the human psyche.
Basic premise: after a disastrous relationship, Barrish revolts against an experimental therapy that can permanently wipe painful or scarring memories, after deciding that he would rather remember the times he and his ex-girlfriend had together. The main chunk of the film then centres around Carrey frantically darting around his own mind witnessing his own memories disappearing and desperately trying to stop it; for the audience, it’s a bizarre and moving experience. Light floods the most vivid memories, while the suppressed, scarier ones are swamped in darkness. Other memories literally melt away as he approaches them; and some he doesn’t even realise he still has resurface. It really is a fantastic showcase of selective and effective special effects. It’s also a brilliantly original concept and, with a rom-com bent sewn into its very core, surprisingly accessible.
Verdict: Unique, powerful and thought-provoking, Eternal Sunshine is a brilliant visual representation of the human mind that will stay with the memory for years to come. And you don’t even mind Carrey that much.
5 Stars
