Gondry also put Carrey off balance by giving misleading orders or by rolling the camera at the wrong time. It's far easier to take someone really funny and bring them down than do the opposite." To induce Carrey, an actor who typically portrayed high-energy roles, to portray a restrained character, Gondry would not allow him to improvise, a restriction he did not place on the other cast members (Carrey objected). According to Gondry, this was because "It's hard to be funny. Producers cast Carrey against type for his role as Joel, selecting him for his everyday appearance, as well as his comedic ability. Charlie Kaufman wrote Joel with autobiographical personality traits. After their relationship ends, Clementine erases Joel from her memory, and he erases her from his mind in response. Jim Carrey as Joel Barish: A bookish introvert who enters a two-year relationship with Clementine Kruczynski.They are shocked by the bitter memories they had of each other, but agree to try again. Joel and Clementine receive their Lacuna records and listen to their tapes. Joel drives Clementine home and Patrick sees them, realizing they have found each other again. They are drawn to each other and go on a date to the frozen Charles River in Boston. He impulsively goes to Montauk and meets Clementine again on the train home. Joel wakes up, his memories of Clementine erased. Disgusted, Mary steals the Lacuna records and mails them to the patients, including Joel and Clementine. Furious, she tells Howard to tell Mary the truth: that Mary and Howard previously had an affair, and that Mary had her memories erased. Howard's wife arrives, and, from the street, sees them through the window. In Joel's apartment, while Stan is outside, Mary tells Howard she is in love with him and they kiss. As the memory crumbles around them, Clementine tells Joel to meet her in Montauk. Joel comes to his last remaining memory of Clementine: the day they first met, on a beach in Montauk. This halts the procedure, but Stan calls the Lacuna boss, Howard, who arrives and restarts it. His mental projection of Clementine suggests that Joel hid her in memories that do not involve her. As he reaches earlier, happier memories, he realizes that he does not want to forget her. Joel re-experiences his memories of Clementine as they are erased, starting with their last fight. While the procedure runs on Joel's brain, technician Stan and secretary Mary party and have sex. One employee, Patrick, leaves to see Clementine since her procedure, he has been using Joel's and Clementine's memories as a guide for seducing her. The Lacuna employees work on Joel's brain as he sleeps in his apartment so that he will wake up with no memory of the procedure. In preparation, he records a tape for Lacuna, recounting his memories of their volatile relationship. Heartbroken, he decides to undergo the same procedure. Nietzsche, Beyond Good and Evil, section 217Īfter a fight, Joel Barish discovers that his girlfriend Clementine Kruczynski has had her memories of him erased by the New York City firm Lacuna. īlessed are the forgetful: for they "get the better" even of their blunders. The film developed a cult following in the years after its release and has come to be regarded by many critics as one of the best films of the early 21st century. It won the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay, and Winslet received a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actress. It was a box office success, grossing $74 million worldwide. It opened in North America on March 19, 2004, receiving universal acclaim from critics and audiences, praising the plot, screenplay, Gondry's direction, and the performances, specifically Carrey and Winslet.
The film uses elements of psychological drama, science fiction and a nonlinear narrative to explore the nature of memory and romantic love. The title of the film is a quotation from the 1717 poem Eloisa to Abelard by Alexander Pope. The ensemble cast includes Jim Carrey, Kate Winslet, Kirsten Dunst, Mark Ruffalo, Elijah Wood, and Tom Wilkinson. Pierre Bismuth created the story with Kaufman and Gondry. It follows an estranged couple who have erased each other from their memories. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (also simply known as Eternal Sunshine) is a 2004 American romantic science-fiction film written by Charlie Kaufman and directed by Michel Gondry.