Eternal Sunshine of The Spotless Mind

How happy is the blameless vestal's lot!
The world forgetting, by the world forgot.
Eternal sunshine of the spotless mind!
Each prayer accepted, and each wish resigned.
-- Alexander Pope, "Heloise to Abelard"

Wow, but I loved this film.

I've just returned from watching Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind at the cinema, and I find that, thankfully, my memory is fine as I keep returning to certain key scenes and dialogue and general concepts that really stood out to me. I won't go into much here because of that whole spoiler thing, but suffice to say that I hugely enjoyed this clever, if disjointed movie-- the sum of all its pretty quirky parts.

Doubtless you know the storyline, but if you don't... boy meets girl, they fall in love. They get all finicky and shouty. They split up. Girl goes to weird science-fiction doctor to have memories of boy erased, and, thus, her unhappiness. Boy finds out. Is devastated. Does the same thing. Sort of regrets it-- and then...

Okay, so I can't really go into that. Let me just wax lyrical about how cool and original it was instead, and try to get across why I can't stop thinking about it. In one scene, fellow patients awaiting treatment sit beside Carrey in the waiting room. A woman clutches a dog's bowl, basket and various other doggy paraphenalia, obviously attempting to erase the pain of losing her dog.

What I like about Eternal Sunshine... is moments like this. Firstly, because the film has several key moments of emotion and empathy for the characters that was just absent from writer Charlie Kaufman's other films. Don't get me wrong-- I loved Being John Malkovich, and squishypeanut and I enjoyed trying to work out what on earth happened in Adaptation-- but this was the first of his films that carried emotional resonance for me while also managing to be pretty damned clever. It wasn't just being clever for the sake of it, as in the other films-- its intelligence brought depth to a genuinely touching love story, with no hint of fromage in the air. It is full of thoughtful visuals and ideas that are not spoon-fed to the audience, but are there to leave their resonance on the mind long after the film has ended.

Take the dog-forgetting woman. If that dead animal, or dead person, lives on in the memory, then its existence was worthwhile. Carrey's character feels irritation and anger towards Winslet for the bad times in his relationship, but there are so many good memories and moments that revealed something to him of his own essential nature that it is damaging to lose them.

God knows there are many things I myself wish I could erase from my memory, things I would rather not think on, but they serve to make me the person that I am. All memories and experiences leave their hallmarks on a person's character, and no matter how unpleasant some experiences are, they also serve to make a person more completely themselves. Hardly an original thought, but still a timely and relevant one brought to life by this worthwhile film. Also, it made me actually like an Alexander Pope poem. Am stunned.

P.S. Also, Elijah was as lovely as always. Though I like him better with that tousled hair.

P.P.S Dude! The trailer for Troy! Brad... *fangirl squee*

Guessing Game -- Sort Of.

From saffronlie

On your current playlist, hit shuffle and pick the first twenty songs on the list (no matter how cheesy or embarrassing), and write down your favourite line of the song. Try to avoid putting the song title in the line. Then, have your friends comment and see if they know the songs.


1. Never been here before—I’m intrigued, I’m unsure
2. Such a lovely day, and I’m glad you feel the same
3. Can you hear my heart beating its words?
4. If love was red, then she was colour-blind
5. You’re driving me crazy, when are you coming home?
6. And we cried and we cried on the 'phone
7. It's gonna hurt, but I'll have to say goodbye
8. We'll run away together, spend some time forever
9. So if I can shoot rabbits then I can shoot fascists.
10. You’ve got to let me in or let me out
11. How long, how long will I slide?
12. And you could have it all, my empire of dirt
13. Got the tickets from some fucked-up bloke in Camden Town
14. Sing a sad song and make it better
15. I was lying on the grass on Sunday morning of last week
16. My Spanish harlem Mona Lisa
17. And I find it kind of funny, I find it kind of sad
18. Les escaliers de La Butte sont durs aux misereux
19. Out on the wily, windy moors we’d roll and fall in green
20. Les ennuis, les chagrins s’effacent