

It raises the question of whether human experience is little more than the aggregate of a person’s memories, or if experience constructs and defines a person whether they remember it or not. We wind up witnessing the birth and death of their romance at the same time through a stunning and artistic interpretation of the delicate and complicated fabric of memory.Ĭontaining elements of romantic comedy, science fiction, and fantasy, the film is primarily philosophical in nature. The deeper we follow him to the early days of their relationship, the more passionate the couple becomes. The story becomes that of a man on the run, attempting to protect his memories of Clementine from the erasing technology as he simultaneously re-lives them and watches them vanish. But while the film spends the bulk of its narrative on the counter-chronological story of Joel and Clementine’s tumultuous relationship, he comes to remember all the reasons he originally loved her. to wipe him from her brain, and in turn, he retaliates with the same course of action. Joel soon learns that Clementine hired a memory-erasing company called Lacuna Inc. Their staggering imbalance of personalities sparks an instant connection that, as far as they know, came out of thin air.Īs it turns out, the couple had a whole relationship prior to this one. There he finds Clementine (Kate Winslet), a breezy and spontaneous girl who ad-libs her way through life. On what seems like a whim, he boards a train to Montauk for little reason beyond impulse. The maze story follows Joel (Jim Carrey), a hapless goof with few social skills who trudges through the monotony of formulaic daily life. The film can be quirky, sentimental, romantic, depressing, and surreal-but above all, it’s freeing and salutary in its messages about love and experience.

It asks the viewer to consider their own quieted memories, for better or for worse, and discover the role those events had in shaping who they are. It forces the mind to remember the thoughts it has put aside, pushed to the background, and subdued. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004) calls upon something personal within the viewer.
