Memories Last Forever
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind is a complex work of genius, written by Charlie Kaufman, who is known for his convoluted screenplays, with reoccurring themes such as diving into the mind and consciousness. Charlie Kaufman ascended to screenwriter stardom when he wrote Being John Malkovich in 1999 ( .) A few years later, Charlie resurrected an idea of his from the late nineties, about a couple who venture to a company to get their minds erased. When Charlie finished writing the screenplay, he chose Michel Gondry, a director that he had previously worked with in Human Nature. In an interview on , Charlie Kaufman explained his style as, "always keeping the camera rolling to preserve continuity." Keeping the camera rolling gives a realistic feel to each scene, and eliminates the need for post production correction. The collaboration between the two allowed them to see eye to eye, and produce Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind features underlying themes such as decaying memory, romance, and color.
Decaying memory is the underlying theme of Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. In the beginning of the movie, Joel Barish meets Clementine Kruczynski on a train to Montauk. The train scene is memorable because the song "I Need You Like the Sunshine" is played throughout the entire scene, but fades in and out when Joel and Clem are talking to each other. The music establishes a maladroit feeling between the two, but retains a viewer's attention by revealing a forthcoming relationship between the protagonists. However, the relationship soon turns inwards, consequently resulting in Clementine's decision to erase her mind of Joel. Following Clementine's action, Joel decides to do the same from a company named Lacuna Inc. After Joel comes to the realization that he is losing his best memories, he tries to reverse the process.
Romance is a prevalent theme throughout the movie, because romance is an important aspect of a couple's relationship. When filming the romance scenes, Michel used fog to display a thickness in the air. The fog portrays the effect of waking up from a dream, and shows that Joel is in his mind. In a scene where Clementine and Joel are under the covers, Clementine has a monologue. The Monologue talks about Clementine when she was a kid, thinking that she was ugly. Joel talks to Clementine after the monologue and kisses her, but she quickly fades away. When Joel and Clem are on the ice together on the Charle's river, there is a crack in the ice, representing a cracked relationship that is going to be repaired – a foreshadow ( .) Although Clementine and Joel's relationship is complicated, both characters resemble the opposite side of each other.
Clementine's hair color changes throughout the movie. The color of her hair represents the relationship status between herself and Joel. Blue represents blue ruin, also coinciding with the blue bottle when she pours Joel and herself two gin and tonics in her apartment. Clementine's hair is also blue when she meets Joel on the train to Montauk. Clementine's hair is green only for a brief moment, which represents Clem as incomplete. Clem feels incomplete because she cannot find the love of her life, and is ready to have a serious relationship. In the middle of the movie, Clementine's hair is orange. Orange represents the middle of the relationship, still happy but starting to turn ugly until Clem talks about wanting to have a baby. In the dream sequence, Joel relives the previous scene, but soon realizes that something has gone array. The faces of the people at the flea market are blurred out and unclear. Clementine also fades away from the scene, and Joel is quickly transported to another memory of his with the addition of more blurred characters. Although Joel has chosen to eliminate Clementine from his memory, he ultimately comes to the realization that he wants to keep his memories of her when he says, "I want to call it off. You hear me? I want to call it off (sobs.)" After Joel sobs he is taken to another memory and speaks to Clementine -which is really him talking to himself. He develops a plan to do the opposite action of what he did in real life to reverse the erasing process. When Joel travels to various memories, Clementine's hair is red. The color red represents the pinnacle of their relationship. The color red also represents the lust that Clementine has for Joel and the eagerness to help him (in his dreams.) In a dream sequence where Joel is at his mother's house, Clementine is his mother's friend. She talks to Joel and tries to help him conquer his fear of being bullied as a child. Oversized props were used in the scene to force a perspective as if Joel was still a child. The sink was a hot bath that the actress Kate Winslet (Clementine) fainted in, which Michel kept in the movie to make the scene more genuine.
Throughout Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind various themes are portrayed. Charlie Kaufman's work of genius, along with his second collaboration with Michel Gondry, became a cinematic success without the use of digital enhancements and visual effects. Joel and Clementine's relationship between each other is affected by the erasure of their minds by a process explained as "brain damage", by Dr. Mierzwiak. In addition to the erasing process, the movie features flashbacks that portray Clementine and Joel's relationship. Furthermore, the goal of the screenwriter and director was to show that memories last forever, and romance is the key to the preservation of a long lasting relationship.