Last night, we went to see Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. I’ll add my enthusiastic endorsement for the spectacular brilliance of this film. Whether it’s Kaufman’s creative screenwriting, Gondry’s directing, Carrey’s talented acting, or all of the above and more, I don’t care. Something comes together in this film that makes for a wonderful experience. All of us left the theater, nodding our heads, unable to immediately identify exactly what it was we liked so much about the movie.
I solidly enjoyed Kaufman’s Being John Malkovich when it was released several years ago, but had not yet seen any of his other works. To catch up on the Kaufman style before going to see Eternal Sunshine, I rented Adaptation this past weekend, and liked it just as much, if not more than Malkovich.
Rather than spoil any of the mentioned movies by drilling into them too deeply, I’ll note an observation, punctuated by recent exposure to two more Kaufman pieces. I’ve noticed the modern movie-going experience is evolving the “reality-as-entertainment” idea. For decades, movies enabled us to escape our own realities, temporarily transporting us to another location, another life, or another world. Reality in movies featured the often unattainable greener-grass side of life: glamorous lifestyles, careless cowboys, and perfectly scripted love stories with happy endings. Through the ’70s and ’80s, some movies shifted away from reality, leaving confines of this world, going back in time, or depicting scenarios of the future. The ’90s brought us Hollywood’s version of doom-and-gloom reality, painting overly grim pictures of hyper violence and mass destruction.
Recent movies like Memento, Adaptation, and Eternal Sunshine pull back from the over dramatic urban destruction. They throw away the notion of chronological story telling. Instead, they toy with our minds (and characters’ minds), shift the time/space continuum, and travel far beyond traditional dream sequences, challenging our perceptions of the movie’s own “reality”. Is this really happening? Or is this how the character remembers it happening? Did this happen before or after the last scene? Where are we now? Is this yesterday or tomorrow? I thought this already happened?
Eternal Sunshine is an original, entertaining experience right along these lines. One of those love it or hate it movies. If you like the style of Kaufman’s other works, Sunshine is definitely worth your time if you haven’t yet seen it.
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Yeah I love Kaufman’s films as well. I haven’t seen “Eternal Sunshine” but I plan to this weekend.
I’d sing praise, but I think Mr. Bowman and countless others have already done that. (But I’ll do it anyway.)
The movie is nothing shy of an experience. I have watched it twice in theatres. One friend did not much care for the movie, while two others had the same feelings of “Whoa…”, and the entranced-like physicality I did my first time around.
If you haven’t seen it, I strongly recommend that you do. :)
Spike Jonez would have been a better director for Eternal Sunshine. It was a great movie, nonetheless.
Suggestions on reality based movies: Lost In Translation, 21 grams
Just to save you the pain: pass on Gondry’s previous full-length movie he did with Kaufmann called “Human Nature”. Totally unwatchable, unfunny, and just bad.
Instead, rent Gondry’s collection of videos he’s got out
His videos are amazingly creative and funny, and the 2 DVD set includes a long self-documentary and a number of short films as well. Gondry’s stuff is so clever and ingenious, and he’s really thoughful and articulate about creativity in general.
Another Kaufmann movie that nobody’s mentioned is “Confessions of a Dangerous Mind.” It’s not as good as “Adaptation” or “Being John Malkovich” (I haven’t seen “Eternal Sunshine” yet) but it’s still good. It’s a rental, though, whereas the other ones I own.
I’ve never been a really big fan of Jim Carrey’s over the top performances, but in this movie he shows he can be really good and funny without resorting to physical slap-stick. A great acting job. Highly recommended.
kottke(.org) put it best when he said:
“The final scene of the movie between Carrey and Winslet is, at once, one of the most truthful, heartbreaking, hopeful statements about love that I’ve ever seen in a film.”
anybody who has watched one of their relationships fall apart, and that is most of us, will relate to this film. depressing maybe, yet encouraging in that it reveals that we all endure the same universal shit, and carry on regardless. i don’t think spike would have made as good of a film with this script,as his element is the absurd—not the intimate, personal, and embarrasing. gondry speaks that language well.
Now I’m going to have to see adaptation. :)
Along the lines of Memento and Adaptation (and the subject of the post): Mulholland Drive. And if you’re a fan of Jim Carrey, The Truman Show, which is also great.
Seems like you’ve spotted a trend, Doug. Add “Vanilla Sky” to your list of recent movies that toy with reality.
I enjoy Kaufman’s films, though I like some more than others. I really enjoyed Malkovich and Eternal Sunshine, while Adaption and Confessions didn’t really do much for me. I agree there are quite a few mainstream movies coming out that seem to look more like foriegn or indie films than some of the others out there. It’s refreshing to have something in the theatre to actually go see, which is rare for me these days. As a heads up, the most recent American Cinematographer has a feature on Eternal Sunshine and where the inspiration for how it was filmed came from.
Vanilla Sky, Lost in Translation, Memento and the others listed I will agree are all good movies. I’ll add One Hour Photo to the list.
Another one for the list of movies that toy with our perceptions of reality: Roshamon, by Akira Kurosawa. It’s a classic. :^)
And I’ll heartily agree with everyone here who loves Eternal Sunshine.
I thought Eternal Sunshine was GREAT, to say the least. Adaptation i think could have used a better ending, it seemed RUSHED. I haven’t watched “COnfessions..” but intend to.
Few movies i recoomend : Dirty Pretty Things, Dancer in the Dark, My life as a dog, Italian for Begginers…Movies by Satyajit Ray are good as well.
Let’s not forget Total Recall, which predates most (if not all) of the above mentioned films, and uses the same reality/fantasy/memory plot device as Vanilla Sky and Eternal Sunshine. Plus it stars our Governor, which makes it that much more enjoyable. Oh and it has the classic “Get ready for a surprise!” line with the fat person head, as well as the highly efficient airport (spaceport?) x-ray screening device that I find myself longing for when I stand idle in a security checkpoint line.
The film went well until the end, which seemed rather cut with a knife. It is a passionate movie, the thrill comes right from the images and sounds.
I just saw Eternal Sunshine and I enjoyed myself. Not for everyone but I will be so bold to say that this movie is sheer brilliance!
I just got around to finally seeing Eternal Sunshine last night and it was even better than I’d expected.
Right now, I’m mostly seeking out the films written by (or based on the works of) these three writers:
Charlie Kaufmann
Joel & Ethan Coen
Philip K. Dick (Total Recall is mentioned above).
They all involve at least some aspect of what’s been discussed up there, in terms of reality-bending.
I don’t like most movies with Carrey but I’d like to see Eternal Sunshine after reading your article. The second thing that make me want to see this movie is that I like Kaufman’s movies. So what I’m going to do now is to call my boyfriend and have him buy the tickets.
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