Image via Wikipedia
This week i got around to watching a film that i have wanted to see for a long time. Every time i go to watch a film i would pick up the case for Eternal Sunshine of the spotless mind and then decide not to watch it because people always say you either love it or hate it, lots of mixed reviews and from what i got from people telling me about it was that it wasn’t the most easy watching film, so usually i would just put the film back down.
But this weekend i finally watched it, i had never actually read anything into the film before, all i knew was what was written on the back of the DVD case, other than that i was completely oblivious to what the film was or how it was filmed in a similar fashion to that of Donnie Darko meets all other films that try to mess with your head and get you thinking sort of way. Now don’t take it that the film is like Donnie Darko in the sense that it is really dark, i mean in the way that Donnie Darko has the under lining meaning or story-line to the film, eternal sunshine has its story-line like this too.
Eternal Sunshine is a sort of two in one film, it is about romance and heartache. The romance part comes when two people meet randomly after, Joel, the main character, played by Jim Carrey, decides to ditch work and ends up at a beach. Later the heartache factor comes in where Joel comes to realise that the love of his life, Clementine, has had all her memories of him removed. It all becomes to much for Joel and he too decides to opt in for the same treatment that Clementine had done, only to realise he has made a huge mistake.
This film really likes to play tricks with you, as i have said already, the film makes you think something is happening one way, however in fact there is a completely different storyline being told right in front of you, but it takes a while to work out what exactly is going on. I really enjoy these kinds of films, anything that gets your mind working is good in my books!
As for the statement that people say its either a love it or hate it film, i totally disagree, nothing in my opinion is too obscure than other films, this film has been written by someone who obviously has a great mind for complex story-lines. I suppose if you like to watch more brain dead films that require no intellectual thoughts then this film wouldn’t be for you, but for the majority of people, its a great film and gives you something to work at while watching the film, finding out what exactly is being shown.
I don’t like to ruin any film on anyone so i won’t say too much about the film. The film is about an hour and forty minutes, here is the overview of the film from IMDB:
A couple undergo a procedure to erase each other from their memories when their relationship turns sour, but it is only through the process of loss that they discover what they had to begin with.
There are a lot of popular actors in this film including Jim Carrey, Kate Winslet, Kirsten Dunst and Elijah Wood. The camera work is brilliant in this film in parts, in one part camera manipulation is used to make fully grown adults look the size of a 10 year old, usually computers are used to achieve this kind of effect, but if you watch the bonus features of the films you can see how the trick is done. Here is the trailer below.
The official music video for Eternal Sunshine and the Spotless mind is by polyphonic spree and is called Light & Day, the video is odd the way it is made, if you were to come across it you wouldn’t think it is the official video for the film, the only reason i know it is, is because it is on the DVD. The music video is below.