Joel strangely finds himself going to Montauk and missing work. Goes to the beach in the middle of winter, a day before Valentines.
A girl with a bright orange sweater and blue hair catches Joel’s attention, but he is very awkward. The last time he remembers being in a relationship was 2 years ago.
Joel and Clementine finally talk to each other. There is some awkwardness but they enjoy each other's company.
They became very comfortable with each other and immediately started hanging out. They go to a frozen lake and look at the constellations.
The sequence of the movie jumps back in time. Joel knows about Clementine's memory erasing procedure and decides to do the same. They are collecting data of all the memories he had with her, but he feels awful.
The people doing the procedure are goofing around and not taking the procedure too seriously.
Joel starts remembering the bad and complicated memories with Clementine. He’s slowly gaining consciousness of the procedure.
He gets to happy memories that he wishes he could still keep and is finally fully conscious of his state. The Clementine in his head starts helping him plot ways to wake up and not go through with the procedure.
Joel tries everything to not have the memories of Clementine erased. He tries to hide her in his deepest memories. The film starts taking a more surreal turn here.
Joel is unsuccessful and he finally ends in the first memories he had of Clementaine. This was when he first met her at a cookout and he was going through a previous breakup.
Joel couldn’t fight the procedure from erasing his memories as he reflects on all the things he could have done differently in the relationship.
The film returns to the present moment where they met each other after they erased their memories. They figure out they did this, but still want to give their relationship another go despite knowing how things can go wrong.
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind is a 2004 film by director Michel Gondry. It presents the end of a relationship between Joel and Clementine. After the couple’s painful breakup, Clementine decides to undergo a life changing procedure to erase all memory of her ex-boyfriend Joel. This seemingly common story of love and heartbreak is told through a unique sequence however.
It begins with the “end”. We are introduced to two “strangers” meeting for the “first” time. Considering they are strangers, they get along quite well despite their difference in character. It abruptly cuts to scenes of Joel figuring out Clementine has erased all memory of him and the audience is informed of the “strangers” past history. Joel’s sense of betrayal and heartbreak to this news drives him to get the same procedure. The majority of the film is shown through the perspective of Joel’s consciousness as they remove all memory of Clementine. We see Joel relive the last moments of the relationship first, the worst moments. It then moves on to the sweeter times of the relationship. He soon realizes that the anger and hate he felt had clouded the wonderful memories he had of her and the reasons he loved her. We see him try to fight the procedure with no success, until we get to the final memory of them meeting for the first time. It finally cuts back to the present, where they had met again without remembering each other. However, they are soon sent letters and recordings of their procedures. Despite the ugly truths and challenges this exposed, they realized that their relationship is worthwhile.
While the film doesn’t shy away from heavy themes of regret, fear, and heartbreak it carries itself with some light hearted comedy and absurdity. The abrupt cuts, jumps, distortions, and unlined sound nicely takes the audience through an immersive journey of Joel’s fading mind. They primarily used cooler muted colors to emphasize heartbreak and loss, while the pop of warmer brighter colors mainly came from Clementine. Despite some surrealism, the film successfully captures the reality of relationships and everyday life.
Regret, Memories, Heartbreak, Love, Erase, Loss, Flashback, Surreal, Dreams
After a couple’s relationship comes to a painful end they decide to erase all memory of each other to soon realize it was never the answer.
erasing 1 (deducted)
erasing 2 (hand written)
erasing 3 (computer)
erasing 4 (sand)
erasing 5 (whiteboard)
erasing 6 (chalk)
erasing 7 (deducted abstract)
erasing 8 (switching off things)
erasing 9 (switching off things)
erasing 10 (switching off things)
erasing 11 (switching on/off)
old film texture
old strip of film burning
ExpoVideo_01 from UIC DESIGN on Vimeo.
ExpoVideo_02 from UIC DESIGN on Vimeo.
ExpoVideo_03 from UIC DESIGN on Vimeo.
Title sequence opens with beach shore. Director's name is etched on sand and is highlighted by a spotlight. Waves eventually erase name and we slowly move down to water. (You can hear soundtrack with waves in background)
As the spotlight moves towards the water it begins to freeze and create these cracks. Cracks spell out Jim Carrey. (Soundtrack + ice cracking sound)
Slowly start to zoom into one of the cracks on the ice until we stop and part of the "ice" flips like a page of a book. (soundtrack + page turn sound)
As the page flips a journey entry is exposed and spotlight follows. (Soundtrack + paper tearing sound)
Page is ripped out one more time to reveal Kate Winslet's name. Her name is written out and once done the page is flipped again. (Soundtrack + writing sound)
On the next page there is a card revealed. The text on the card is being typed out like in a typewriter. It finishes by typing out Mark Ruffalo's name. (Soundtrack + typewriter sound)
Spotlight moves to the right and reveals stacks of cassettes. One cassette is moving by itself and has Kirsten Dunst's name. (Soundtrack + cassette sound)
Spotlight zooms into the cassette and it turns into a monitor. (Soundtrack + faint monitor buzzing)
Monitor begins to type out data and the cinematographer's name is revealed. (Soundtrack + full on monitor buzzing)
Monitor shuts down and everything goes dark. (Soundtrack + monitor off sound)
Spotlight comes on again and we see an old photograph of a child. The editors name appears at the bottom of the photo. (Soundtrack + children laughing sound)
Photograph begins to burn and so does the background exposing a brick wall. (Soundtrack + children laughing sound + burning sound)
Full brick wall is revealed and spotlight moves to a train sign. The sign has the name of producers. (Soundtrack + train sound + crowd sound)
Spotlight moves down the brick wall until it turns black. (soundtrack)
Film title appears and some letters flicker different colors. The end. (Soundtrack)
Gelxi Ventura_Film Title from UIC DESIGN on Vimeo.