Assessment 1- Short Film Review Michel Gondrys Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind portrays an interesting and complex

critique of a timeless dilemma in human existence. That is whether society should pursue only those biological alterations that have an obvious curative purpose. This is a concept that resonates with modern medicine and societys desire to reduce suffering and is subtly critiqued throughout the film. Further to this idea the movie seems to illustrate how we cannot completely escape the inevitable (Alamia and Cross p.150). This is evident after Clementine and Joel erase their memories and unknowingly rediscover each other and instantly reconnect. Gondrys visual mastery and Kaufmans intricate plot and script allow for an interesting visual critique of these ideas. Again critiquing this notion of heartbreak being avoided and erased, the characters are descended into chaos as their two worlds disjointedly collide for a second time. Gondry utilises widespread surrealist imagery, visual metaphor and mise en scene to depict the chaos that ensues within the films plot. This is evident in the scene in Saratoga Avenue in which Gondry relies heavily on mise en scene and visual metaphor to express the anarchy that has enveloped Joel and Clementine. As Joel chases Clementine down a street Gondry illustrates a car falling from the sky and Clementine walking with only one leg. Moments later the shops and street begins to disintegrate around Joel and he is left running between the same two streets. It is this clever use of mise en scene and visual metaphor that heightens the sense of disarray for the audience. Adding to this sense of turmoil is Gondry's style [that] is not glossy or particularly refined. In fact, it's quite purposefully messy (White 2007 p.2). This messiness extends to his use of handheld camera work during the memory erasure scenes that enhances the disorder depicted. This is very effective as it allows the audience to feel the chaos and not merely witness the chaos that Joel and Clementine are caught up in as their memories and environment disintegrate. In a similar fashion to other contemporary memory inspired films, such as Memento,

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind is not confined to any specific chronology or time structure. Throughout the film Gondry utilises time to distort viewers perception and unveil the storyline. The film is set in an indecipherable time and follows a non-linear sequence of events. The entire film is run in a backward order as Joel relives the memories, now being erased, that he and Clementine shared. The use of the flashback technique is similarly employed by Michel Gondry to heighten the audiences sense of memory deletion as well as display Joel and Clementines interaction throughout the process of memory erasure. The most pertinent example of this is in the first scene in which the audience is lead to believe Joel first meets Clementine on whim at the beach. However following this sequence is a non-linear flashback revealing that the two had been unsuspectingly involved for sometime before this meeting. This same beach scene is shown again at the conclusion of the film revealing that the two had originally met there prior to the memory erasure thus highlighting the importance of the flashback in distorting time. This use of warped time is very successful as it is difficult to decipher when any particular event has taken place in time, and whilst this can become confusing at times, it creates a very real sense of memory being erased for the audience. However the films biggest flaw is this confusing mix of non-linear narrative, chaotic visual effects and repetition that becomes somewhat tedious, overwhelming and bewildering. At times the film becomes caught up in its own world of effects and metaphors and loses focus on the storyline and characters such as during Joels memory erasure sequence. The audience must then rely on piecing together sporadic flashbacks to complete the missing details. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind also lacks any real conclusions or closing political comment about the erasing of memory and avoidance of pain which modern society desperately seeks. For a film the deals so heavily with this topic and to some extent critiques this idea it perhaps would have been more effective to include at least a vague conclusion. Overall the film is a clever, eclectic tale in which Michel Gondrys stylistic brilliance, mise en scene and visual illustration are obvious.

References: Alamia, J. & Cross, C. 2005, A Review of Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Journal of Creativity in Mental Health, vol. 1 no. 1 pp. 149-152 White, C. 2007, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, IGN Entertainment, 30 May, viewed 14 March 2007, <http://au.dvd.ign.com/articles/792/792800p1.html>