We’ve all been in bad relationships. Some were romantic

relationships, family, work and even pet relationships.

Even though they are all very different each one has one

thing in common; they were bad. What if you could take

those accumulated memories that clutter the darkened cor-

ners of your mind, left there never to be glanced upon

again, and completely and utterly obliterate them as if they

never had happened? In the film Eternal Sunshine of the

Spotless Mind Joel Barish, played by actor Jim Carrey, and

Clementine Kruczynski, played by actress Kate Winslet get

that very opportunity.

Joel, a single man frustrated with himself and his life meets

Clementine on a sporadic trip he took to the beach one

morning instead of going to work. Clementine, hair of blue

and warmed in a bright orange sweater, could care less

about what other people thought and holds an attitude of

enjoyment of life. In other words, nearly the exact opposite

of Joel. There’s like many relationships didn’t flourish im-

mediately, but not without some hesitation on Joel’s part

the two became a couple spending all hours of the day and

night with each other for two years. There’s also, like many

relationships, eventually goes bad. Heart broken, Joel seeks

the comfort of family and friends to help him cope with the

loss of his companionship only to find that there is nothing

to be done to erase the pain of love lost. Out of hopeless-

ness, an answer does come in the form of a revolutionary

experimental non-surgical procedure.

Under the care of Dr. Mierzwiak, played by Tom Wil-

kinson, accompanied by his assistants, actors Mark Ruffa-

lo, Elijah Wood, and actress Kirsten Dunst, Joel Barish un-

dergoes Mierzwiak’s new procedure to completely erase all

traces of his lost love Clementine. As second thoughts arise

mid erasing Joel must decide whether to go through with

erasing fond memories of Clementine forever or holding on

to what remains.

In what The New York Times states as Jim Car-

rey’s best work, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless

Mind conveys a message of the importance of

romantic relationships, the good and the bad. Jo-

el’s life changed dramatically with the introduc-

tion of Clementine and when the relationship

goes bad he is faced with the decision of keeping

memories of her in his life or returning to the

uneventful routine yet unhappy state of normalcy

that he once lived in.

Visual Review

Sound Effects

The first sound of the film is the vague distant shutting of

a car door which cues the awakening of the main charac-

ter. As one element of film design, the sound effect of the

car door closing nearly inaudible sparks the curiosity of

the viewer into wondering what just happened and if it

was related at all to the story.

Reaction Shot

As Joel Barish opens his eyes awaking from the night it is

already evident that something has happened. Though the

reason for Joel’s first thing in the morning wake up reac-

tion is not explained or revealed until the end of the film,

his facial expression grabs the attention of the viewers,

drawing upon their curiosity and gripping their attention

wondering what could have happened before he awoke.

Lighting

The natural morning light provides a kind of dream like

feel to the opening scene of the film. Much like the calm

before the storm, the entire introduction to the main char-

acter Joel is shot in this lighting. He wakes up, gets

ready, and makes his way to work all in the same Mon

ought lighting. This all gradually begins to changes as

free spirited Clementine is introduced into the life of Jo-

el. As Clementine slowly meanders towards Joel on a

beach in Montauk, the lighting of the surroundings be-

gins to illuminate and throughout their first meeting the

lighting is much brighter.

Color

From the beginning scene everyone including the main

character is dressed in neutral colored clothing; the ma-

jority having a shade of blue. Joel wakes in dark blue

button-up sleep wear, leaves his home in a dark blue

overcoat and beanie. Even at the train depot the people

waiting are dressed in shades of blue and brown. One

color does stand out of the dull shades- a red bouquet of

roses. This color that stands out among the crowd is the

first indicator that

that something is going to change. Joel sees the train

in the opposite direction arriving at the depot and

sporadically ducks through the crowd of clue and

brown train station waiters, running along the lively

yellow lane that marks the danger zone of the train

tracks. Joel makes it to the other side of the tracks

and squeezes his way between the closing doors into

the fiery red and orange sided train alluding that

something exciting was going to happen; something

that was out of the ordinary with Joel Barish.

Quick Cutting

On the train ride back to where Joel is from Clemen-

tine finally makes the move to introduce herself and

strike up a conversation with Joel. Nearly each time

Joel and Clementine speak the camera makes a cut

shot that only places the speaker in the frame gener-

ating an energy and excitement to the viewer. You

know that things are finally starting to take off for

Joel and almost feel the nervousness of the moment.