"Blessed are the forgetful: for they get the better even of their blunders." - Friedrich NietzscheIt isn't often that a movie captivates me on so many levels like Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.
I don't write about movies much in spite of my love of a well written show. It's hard to find a movie that can resonate inside. Machismo and explosions have their place, but there is an astounding lack of substance in movies these days. The substitution of form over substance is the order of the day.
I'm not going to tell you too much about the show. If you're a moody, emotional bitch (like me) then you'll like the show.
I admit, I was completely turned off by the title. It's just weird. But I've watched it about 10 times in the last 2 weeks.
I guess I got over the weird title.
"Tis Better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all."
Or is it?
On the surface, that's the premise of this show. Would you erase all memories of a lost love if you could, make it so that they never existed? In the pain of a breakup, would you decide it's better to have never loved at all?
On subsequent viewings, I've noticed some deeper themes, points, and questions. Such as, if two people really are good together, if they really do enrich each other to the nth degree in spite of their dysfunctions and idiosyncracies, can that really be erased permanently?
Or if the pain of disappointment upon finding your significant other is actually NOT perfect is confronted directly, can it be overcome? Can it even actually serve to deepen a relationship?
This last question has special significance to me, and I believe it to be true. It certainly has been true in my marriage.
One of the most interesting aspects of this movie is that it focuses on five relationships in five stages of growth and destruction. During the primary viewing, I was captivated by the main relationship, the main focus of the story. Later, I started to look more at the other friendships and relationships in the story. Then I was able to watch it again and put it all into context. None of the characters are airbrushed into perfection...it is no typical Hollywood romance. It's one thing that makes it such a fascinating story.
And then there is the amazing cinemetography. It is told very well with the visuals alone.
The next time it's raining outside, and maybe a little chilly out, go out and rent this DVD. Maybe you're able to take more in at once than I am...but if you're not, watch it a couple of times. Watch it once to absorb the central story line and the cinematography. Then watch it again to check out all the other stuff that's going on.
Then sit down with a cup of tea and think about it.
"How happy is the blameless vestal's lot! The world forgetting, by the world forgot. Eternal sunshine of the spotless mind! Each pray'r accepted, and each wish resign'd." - Alexander Pope
3 comments:
Eternal Sunshine is one of my absolute faves. Restored my faith in the Academy when it won Best Screenplay that year. Then they shot my goodwill to hell when Crash won, but that's another story. :)
I haven't seen the movie but these are thought-provoking questions. Don;t we all learn from each relationship, whether it's failed or not, whether we're in the right one or not? How can we erase what inherently becomes part of us?
Amy - It's hard to have continual faith in the Academy. But they got it right with this one. The scene in which Clem asks Joel to return and "make up a goodbye" is one of the most haunting scenes I've ever seen.
ChickyBabe - good questions. Perhaps someone would want to erase the pain of learning you spent so much time in the "wrong" relationship? Or maybe you'd want to erase someone BECAUSE they became an inherent part of you and you want that part of you erased?
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