Film Analysis Paper: The Eternal Sunshine of a Spotless Mind

The Eternal Sunshine of a Spotless Mind (2004)

Directed by: Michael Gondry

Screenwriter: Charlie Kaufman

Cast: Jim Carrey, Kate Winslet, Kristen Dunst, Mark Ruffalo, Elijah Wood, Tom Wilkinson

Certification: R

The undying concept of romance in films is perhaps time-worn or misunderstood according to public opinion. The clichés that have withstood the test of time have compartmentalized romcoms out of quality cinema. However, The Eternal Sunshine of a Spotless Mind (2004) is a cinematic allegory of the flawed nature of love and how we are each doomed to an extent, yet an imperfect world, such as the one we live in, makes a product of imperfect human beings.

This romantic science fiction tragicomedy follows an estranged couple, Joel (Jim Carrey) and Clementine (Kate Winslet,) who find themselves feeling trapped in a doomed relationship. This opts for them to undergo a brain procedure in a New York City firm called Lacuna, who are known for their ability to scientifically wipe undesirable memories off people’s head. They do so by collecting items that you associate with the specific person and creating a map of them in your mind. Impulsively straightforward and spontaneous Clementine undergoes the procedure a day before Valentine’s Day in a desperate need to be spared the hurt of the spiraling relationship, leaving introverted and soft-spoken Joel in despair when he finds out she has done so from his friends Rob (David Cross) and Carrie (Jane Adams.) This urges him to visit the firm and proceed similarly. The same night, Patrick (Elijah Wood) and Stan (Mark Ruffalo), two Lacuna technicians, visit Joel’s apartment and begin the process. The majority of the movie unfolds in Joel’s head, whilst he is asleep under the induced procedure. The narrative is a parallel between his visit of memories with Clementine, starting from the last time they had seen each other and working his way backwards, as well as a different story arc with the employers of Lacuna. This conveys uncertainty, confusion, and anxiety to the audience, because while Joel revisits and reconciles his past memories of their relationship, he decides he does not want to go through with it anymore. In addition, the separate story arc takes us along present events, such as the fact that Patrick uses Joel’s identity and memories to seduce Clementine. After both of their procedures have been successfully terminated, they meet again in a travelling train and immediately feel drawn to each other without having the one most vital piece of information; that they are former lovers.

The incorporation of elements from separate genres ranks this film very high, even though it was assumed after the story had been composed, that such a concept would be difficult to market. The fragmented way of unfolding the plotline and alternating between the previously lived memories, and the currently living ones, collide with one another in a whirlpool of mixed reactions. This analysis of non-linear unraveling generates from French film theorist, Gilles Deleuze. “Cinema according to Deleuze is about the play and interplay of movement and times. Cinema can fragment time and space and take us away from the mixed, linear point of observations and single moments in time,” (Simmons, 2009.) The Eternal Sunshine of a Spotless Mind successfully manages to extract a perplexing sense of disorientation surfacing through the unbalanced pendulum of conscious and unconscious.

In this paper, I will analyze the themes of memory and identity that heavily lace the film. Once you undergo an experience, whether that is of a positive or a negative nature, it instantly becomes part of the puzzle that is your personal identity. Throughout the film, the concepts of identity and memory are reinforced multiple times, varying from Joel’s missing diary entries and unexplainable emotions relating to what once was his relationship, Clementine’s overwhelming disorientation regarding her identity or lack thereof, or even Patrick’s identity and memory theft in order to lure Clementine in a relationship that identically resembled her previous one, and many more. It becomes very evident, almost immediately, that visual storytelling plays a significant role in the unraveling of the plotline using many aspects of the mise-en-scene. The film alternates between present and past time from beginning to end. This switch of time accompanies the switch of colors. The use of color as a symbol is one of the oldest practices in film, and yet it can even be effective without the knowledge of the viewer. For example, Clementine’s hair changes shades according to the situation. When her and Joel break up, it is blue, the color of sadness and self-alienation. However, during the wholesome moments of their relationship her hair was an irrefutably bright shade of red, metaphorically depicting the love and passion they shared regardless of the inevitable doom that veils over the majority of relationships. Apart from her hair, the same pattern of shades of blue and red are spotted in props, lighting, and the set. Visual elements apart from the extensive use of colors, such as the motif of water throughout the film, as well contribute to the prominence of memory and identity. It seems as though the motifs of water, such as the beach on which the couples meet, or the downfall of rain inside Joel’s apartment, represent a connection between the individuals and their feelings emerging from their memories.

We have yet to master the perfect modification of technology in order to freeze or rewind time and alter the natural flow of things. This indicates that we must face the fact that each moment makes up the next, and subsequently becomes fundamental to our identity. The movie The Eternal Sunshine of a Spotless Mind fiddles with this concept quite a lot. Even though the elements of science-fiction embedded in the plotline make for a non-viable set of circumstances, there are very potent realistic constituents and one of them being the connection of identity and memory. An academic analysis on the film contributes and suggests, “The Eternal Sunshine of a Spotless Mind argues that formations and formulations of identity are so embedded in our personal, social and cultural experience that they can never be fully erased or eliminated,” (Simmons, 2009.) Even in the constructed reality of the film, where a firm like Lacuna exists and people have the opportunity to permanently erase memories that manifest grieve and pain, the traces of those lived experiences still lurk. In simpler terms, you can erase the memories but not the feelings that those memories inspired. As it mentioned by the philosopher Sydney Shoemaker, people have a special access to their own past history and thus their own identity (Shoemaker, 1970.) For example, the film begins with an opening scene following Joel after a spontaneous decision to skip work and get on a train to Montauk. He proceeds on saying, “Took a train out to Montauk. I don’t know why, I’m not an impulsive person,” (2:15 minute.) Almost thirty minutes into the film we are given a parallel piece of information, “Clementine is just like that. She’s impulsive,” (27:31 minute.) This portrays how in many relationships people subconsciously tend to pick up on the characteristics of their partner and it is impossible to entirely obliterate every component of a shared experience. Even though they had followed through with the procedure, Joel and Clementine still found themselves going back to instances they had previously lived with each other. “Shared experience can be dulled, but never forgotten, because it has been lived,” (Simmons, 2009.) This is portrayed very vividly, as well, when Clementine gets a gushing sense of deja-vu within her relationship with Patrick. During the scene in which Clementine is having a nervous breakdown to her loss of identity, Patrick calls her “nice,” to which she responds with a flabbergasted “What?!” (1:06:21 minute.) Patrick’s attempt to mimic the first encounter of hers and Joel’s through his use of insider information, only backfires leaving her with feelings of angry confusion.

In order to understand the visual elements that convey this sense of identity, we first have to understand what contributed to their decision to consent to such procedure. What the Lacuna firm supposedly promised them was the riddance of any hurtful memories, which would allow these people to embrace a more positive approach to life. As the movie unfolds, however, we come to the conclusion that the inability to recollect the missing memories causes an uproar of emotional havoc within Clementine and Joel. In other terms, the deprivation of the truth caused them more harm and inner impoverishment than it aided in the avoidance of pain altogether. It is only suitable to take into consideration the fact that whilst this is prevalent in the movie, the characters of Joel and Clementine were never fully psychologically stable. “The film in fact implicitly supports this notion through characterizing Clementine as self-destructive and Joel as a depressive- just the types of people who could and would harm themselves,” (Grau, 2006.) Harm does most certainly not always come in the physical form. In this case, this procedure and their agreement to turn a blind eye to significant moments they collectively experienced, brought more misfortune than the conscious heartbreak.

The use of color in filmmaking takes us back many years. Similarly to real life, colors capture and convey emotion. This technique is extensively used in the movie, as a method of communicating the character’s sentiments in the specific moment and scene. Consequently, I find the use of colors in The Eternal Sunshine of a Spotless Mind directly compatible to the protagonists’ urging ties with their identity immersed in their memories. There is a prevailing dyad of two colors dominating almost every sequence of the film, separately or together. Those two colors are blue and red. According to psychological research, “The emotion ratings showed that saturated and bright colors were associated with higher arousal,” (Wilms, 2018.) The use of cold and warm colors is very evidently symbolic throughout the film.

The most obvious expression of color is Clementine’s hair. Evidently, the film alternates between the past and the present in an ambiguous way that makes the viewer lose their sense of direction. However, the time period can be pinpointed according to Clementine’s hair. In the present, her hair is a shade of blue, whereas in the past memories of her relationship with Joel her hair is a soft red/orange. Objectively, all colors represent different themes in regardless of the context. According to the book If it’s Purple Someone’s Gonna Die blue symbolizes a soft blanket of sadness, while warm reds (red-oranges) tend to be sensual or lusty (Bellantoni, 2005, 82.) Relating the use of colors now, with the context of the film, the emotional appeal is quite obvious. The blue of sorrow that her hair takes the color of displays her sentiments post the breakup. Not only does she feel the inevitable despondency of a failed relationship, but she finds herself being detached from her authentic identity due to her lack of recollection. This relates back to how our identity is constructed by our experiences. This unexplainable void enveloped her sense of identity, not knowing that it emerged from her attempt to rid herself off something no human brain is capable of permanently deleting, her lived experiences. In the midst of a mental breakdown she exclaims, “I’m lost. I’m scared. I feel like I’m disappearing,” (49:55.) Her intense outbreak can also be seen as a subconscious reaction to her disappearing from Joel’s head, one memory at a time. On the other hand, the color of her hair during the time in which they were together is a warm shade of red/orange. This signals the reciprocal passion and love they radiated for each other, and more practically the fact that we detect her red hair only in memories Joel has of her. Moreover, this indicates the grip on her identity, whether that was unavoidably accompanied with not innately good moments.

The use of these two contradicting colors is picked up in props, costumes, and lighting as well, and once again it is mainly done to symbolize a visual warfare between the connection and the loss of identity. For instance, the very first scene we are greeted with is one of Joel hesitantly getting out of bed. The lighting throughout this entire scene is darker, with a blue undertone dimly illuminating the dull apartment. It is essential to note here, that in this scene Joel had already undergone the procedure and therefore, had no conscious recollection of Clementine. The blue tinted lighting, along with a background setting that is firmly influenced by different shades of blue, like the apartments in front of which Joel is sitting on the beach a few minutes later, create an atmosphere that submerges the characters and the audience in melancholy. In addition, in those beginning post-erasing scenes, the name “Blue-Ruin” is referred to twice. Once to address Clementine’s hair dye color, and once to label the gin which they were drinking in Clementine’s apartment. Generally, blue seems to overshadow the entirety of their world post the procedure. On the other hand, in a memory Joel revisits of his relationship with Clementine, where they are both laying on the bed completely under a duvet of many bright and warm colors, the lighting is a very warm shade of light orange. They are sharing a sentimental moment with one another, conveying feelings of love, tenderness and gratitude to each other but to the attentive viewer as well. The saturation of the lighting in this scene is very high, and as exhibited by the psychological study on color and emotion, it makes for higher arousal (Wilms, 2018.) Furthermore, and whilst entertaining the array of the two colors throughout the film, props are also highly amongst the shades of blue and red. One of the most repeatedly seen props is the miniature toy swing with the two birds sitting on it, one blue and one red. This toy is shown various times throughout past and present scenes. I believe, in this case, that the blue bird is in association with Joel’s passive and introverted character, whereas the red bird is the fueling destruction that drives Clementine to be the impulsive person that she is. The representative colors of their personalities are additionally shown in Clementine’s outfits. Despite the everchanging hair colors, she is always seen wearing something red in every scene she is presented in.

Apart from the illustrious use of color, this loss and doubt about identity is also portrayed through another visual, which is the varying motifs of water embedded in the storyline. As we have notably established, the protagonists struggle with the impulses and instincts that arise from past incidents of which they have no conscious recollection. The procedures performed by Lacuna closely resemble the bewildering nature of dreams, in which inexplicable patterns and incidents occur. Nonetheless, the distorted reality we place ourselves in is symbolic as to how we subconsciously feel. In fact, symbolism regarding dreams claims, “it often portrays a person lost in an internal and ill-defined reverie,” (Packer, 2002, p. 152.) Joel finds himself rummaging through past memories with Clementine in order to erase them, when he realizes that this has only resulted in him falling for her all over again. In a panicked subconscious delirium, he begins to look for ways to preserve her existence in his mind by hiding out in childhood remembrances. The rain that starts to pour inside of his apartment, and the transition to the “off the map” memory of his, of which Clementine was not a real constituent of, connote his attempt to cling onto her identity and his as well. Later in the same scene, Joel and Clementine are bathing in the kitchen sink as miniature forms of themselves, being content that they have tricked the process of the procedure. However, as Clementine suddenly disappears from that memory, Joel is violently submerged in the body of water, as if he is drowning. This indicates that Joel’s loss of identity, as well as inability to recollect those memories of Clementine, give off the illusion of drowning in a helpless vortex of disorient and inconsistency. The same pattern is depicted when the water from the ocean gushes inside the cabin as he mindlessly walks in it and is about to say his last goodbye to Clementine.

Are we simply the sum of our memories? Perhaps it is so, as the majority of the time we find ourselves revisiting arisen feelings and emotions that lie in everlasting memories. The Eternal Sunshine of a Spotless mind touches upon a very well-known catchphrase and, in some sense, enfeebles it; ignorance might not be a bliss after all. The spectrum of emotions is an unavoidable place for us as humans. This film portrays the untouchable aspect of our minds, that is our lived experiences, and how it is impossible to undo or rewind. Visual storytelling reinforces the theme of identity and memory almost in every scene, by depicting suitable environments that stir the appropriate feelings within the viewer. I think the most indicative scene, and the most appropriate to end with, is that of Clementine’s final farewell within Joel’s mind when she whispers, “Meet me in Montauk,” (1:31:02 minute.) This is not truly Clementine speaking to him, but rather his personal implanting of an impulse that would signify his unexplainable decision to skip work and get on a train to Montauk. In conclusion, we are yet not able to halt the natural flow of things, as we are not yet capable of dissecting the human mind to its full potential. We are an intricate species, engulfed in detriment and maybe an ounce of mutual hope.

Word count: 2945 words

Works Cited

Bellantoni, P. (2005). If it’s Purple Someone’s Gonna Die. Focal Press; 4th Edition.

Grau, C. (2006). "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind" and the Morality of Memory. The Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism, 64(1), 119-133. Retrieved March 13, 2020, from www.jstor.org/stable/3700497

Packer, S. (2002). Dreams in myth, medicine, and movies. Retrieved from https://ebookcentral-proquest-com.acg.idm.oclc.org

Simmons, G. (2009). Memory and reality in 'eternal sunshine of the spotless mind'. Screen Education,55(55), 113-118.

Shoemaker, S. 1970. Persons and their pasts. American Philosophical Quarterly, 7(4), pp.269-285.

Wilms, L., & Oberfeld, D. (2018). Color and emotion: effects of hue, saturation, and brightness. Psychological Research, 82(5), 896–914. https://doi-org.acg.idm.oclc.org/10.1007/s00426-017-0880-8