Oct 06, 2006 06:10 PM
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(Updated Oct 06, 2006 06:14 PM)
Movies are primarily a source of entertainment. Over a period of time, they have also become an art form. Movies also give us scope of expressing our thoughts, and gives way for a lot of experimentation. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind is one movie, which deals with experimental scenarios, in an entertaining and artistic way. It delivers on all the three fronts.
What if two people choose to erase each other’s memory from their mind? This is the question thatis being dealt with, in the movie. Joel Barish wakes up one fine day and takesa train to go somewhere. A girl in an orange sweatshirt intrigues him, she also follows him, gets introduced to him, and they spend the day, and also the night together, in a frozen lake. Next morning, Joel drops her in her place, and she wants to come with him, and sleep at his place. As Joel waits outside, the story goes back in time, and to another setup.
Joel, and the girl have known each other before, and her name is Clementine. We come to know that they had a fight, and as a result, Clementine chooses to erase the memory of Joel from her brain,completely. Ok, I should also mention that there is an organization, which provides this service. This is explained as a believable scientific process. Joel, coming to know of this, wants to get the memory of Clemetine erased too. The process happens over a night,so that Joel can get up the next morning, without a trace of memory of Clementine.
What happens over this night is shown in the movie, along with the thought processes that wouldgo in Joel’s mind, his eventual realization that he does not want to loose her memory, his fight within himself to retain her, are shown in a brilliantcollage of events. They do shuffle back and forth, into and out of Joel’s mind.
The movie takes up difficult questions, and tries to answers them honestly. What is striking is the clarity of thought of the writer who has conceived these ideas. Whether we would personally choose to erase someone’s memory off our mind is a tricky question, and I would rather not have it answered all my life. Each one of us would have a different take on this question, but nothing stops us from enjoying the movie as the ideas are dealt with effectively.
The movie did leavean impact on me, and should be watched by all those who are interested in cinema as an experimental medium.
