The Mind of a Madman | |
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
03:11, 21.9.2006
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This has to be, hands down, my all time favorite screenplay. When I first saw the movie, I wasn't sure if I liked it or not. Then I started to analyze it. Then I began to like it. I analyzed it some more. I began to love it. And so on, and so on...Is it just me, or when a movie deviates from the everyday Hollywood formula, is it difficult to digest at first? This story broke timeframe, reality, and imagination and shattered them into pieces of a puzzle, that when looked at from afar, form a beautiful kaleidoscope of a love story. What resonated with me most is that Joel (Jim Carrey) musters the courage to try again at his previously failed relationship, knowing that there is a good chance it will crash and burn. He does so because Clementine (Kate Winslet) has awakened in him, a spirit that has been dormant for what we can assume has been his whole life. Throughout the story, Clementine shares so freely and openly all of her feelings and memories with Joel, while pleading with him to do the same. But for whatever reasons, Joel has a problem unlocking the padlock on his past, prohibiting him from sharing himself with Clementine, and ultimately, leading to a doomed relationship. Without delving too deeply into the crux of the plot, Joel is faced with the fact that he will forever lose his darling Clementine, having decided to erase her from his memory permanently. ( A procedure she already had done.) But what happens in the final moment of his procedure is what true romance is all about. Joel refuses to lose her. He fights to retain what little memories he has left, by holding onto Clementine in his mind as she urges him to hide her somewhere that they'll never think to look. Somewhere deep... And he takes her, racing against time, into the most embarassing memories of his childhood. Those that affected him most, and it would seem were largely responsible for molding him into who he is now. Anal, paranoid, introverted...all the things that one would never associate with a hero. But he is a hero...because in the face of lost love, Joel chooses to fight. To stand up and take a chance. To feel free again, if only for a final moment. To hold on to the woman he loves. Even though it is only in his mind. But isn't that where our biggest battles lie? And at the end, he makes the conscious decision to try again, having learned from his past. Leaving us to believe there is hope for the future. Damn! What a movie. If you haven't seen it you're missing out. Charlie Kaufmann's screenplay takes conventional timeframe and turns it upside down. And it all works beautifully. Everytime I see the movie, I get inspired. Hopefully someday, one of my screenplays will affect someone in the same way. Until then, keep writing. - J. Leave a Comment { Last Page } { Page 3 of 10 } { Next Page } |
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