Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind Essay

Art of Cinema Before taking this course, I had yet to known how much thought directors and producers put in upon creating a movie. From the three different movies that we have seen so far in the class, I have chosen to write on Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. I watched this movie without knowledge of the storyline or any expectations. As we start to understand the movie, I came to think that the theme of the movie was “fate” that brings people back together as the heaven-destined them to. At the end of the movie though, I was stunned- not only by the surprising ending but also by the narrative design, mise-en-scene, and cinematography. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind creatively uses a non-traditional structure, colors
and lighting contrasts as well as patterns to convey the emotion and the theme of the movie- fate, as a whole. Within the aspect of narrative design, the producers begin the movie in medias res, or by first putting the audiences into a series of actions that have already started. What is special about this particular movie is that the audiences do not know it starts in medias res until the end of the movie- even the characters. The movie begins with what we all thought was Joel and Clementine’s“first” meeting of Joel and Clementine. However, Joel and Clementine have actually met before and even loved each other, but because their memories have been erased, they do not remember just like the audience has no idea. It was not until the end of the movie, that Joel and Clementine realize that they have met before. As the story progresses, we finally create connections to the opening and learn that their meeting was not the first time. For me, the real beginning of the story, for me, was when Clementine decided to erase her memory since it causes a dramatic change in a couple’s relationship. Because the movie begins in medias res, the movie itself also has two beginnings. The fact that Joel and Clementine meet for their “first” time twice in this short time emphasizes the theme- that fate will bring them back together. Despite the fact that the audiences do not notice until those clues the end, it gave us a surprise and a better understanding of the theme by making us want to watch it again and examine the clues that foreshadowed the story. The creators of the movie did give out a few hints of the story in the very beginning- the train where Joel and Clementine first meets. Joel and Clementine’s conversation contains a few lines that continue as a pattern throughout the movie. The first hint comes when Clementine asks “Do I know you?” While this may not be a really obvious clue to figure out their relationship, it sets up basis of the storyline that the audience follows toward the end. Because one of the main focuses of the movie is their relationship before and after their memories were erased, this question remains as a key throughout. Next, as the two characters introduce themselves to each other, Clementine mentions a song, “Huckleberry Huns,” about her name. Towards the end of the movie, as their memories disappear, they sing this song once again. Both of these narrative designs connect the opening and the ending of the movie because they remind the audience of the wonderful time that the couple had spent together before. Regardless of the fact that they erased each other from the memories, the hidden links or fate, kept them together. Personally, I believe the story ended as an open ending. Although the couple decides to “wait” for each other, we do not know if the two would start dating or decide to walk their separate paths. According to IMDb, Charlie Kaufman, the script writer, had originally planned to have for Clementine several times more doe the procedure at Lacuna. In the end, nobody can assume what happens after, only our mind can imagine. Having an open ending allows the audiences to wonder in their own imagination, and arouses our curiosity to search for the possible hints back in the movie. One of the most noticeable and important mise-en-scene was the use of costumes especially on the colors. The costumes accentuate the differences in personality between Joel and Clementine. Since the beginning, Clementine constantly has bright hair and wears bright clothing on. On the other hand, Joel almost always wears black or dark colored clothing and a hat. The bright colors show Clementine’s carefree, open, and wild personality while dark colors display Joel’s quiet, reserved, and shyness. Not only does it portray their personalities, but also their change. At the very end of the movie when Joel asks Clementine to wait for him, his sweater has orange and white stripes on it. This symbolizes a change in Joel because orange, which was Clementine’s hair color most of the time, indicates his transformation toward happiness in his life. Another aspect of mise-en-scene would be the manipulation of lighting, especially when Joel runs into Dr. Mierzwiak’s office. The director chose to use dimmed flashlight effect in a dark room. Although they used the entire screen, the lighting put most focus on Joel. Consequently, it shows his confusion, anxiety, sadness, and the fear of losing his memories and Clementine. In another scene when Clementine and Joel visit the "frozen Charles," the producers used frontal lighting to avoid shadows. As an effect, it creates a heavenly warm atmosphere with full of happiness. On the contrary, when Clementine goes there with Patrick, the lighting is very limited- so minimal that the audience could barely see the actors. In the second scene, the lighting did not create positive motional atmosphere instead, portrayed her loneliness, sadness, and alienation, which is what Clementine exactly felt. Even though both scenes located at the exact same place, completely opposite atmospheres were created by this particular technique.. Lighting increased Joel’s confusion and frustration that he felt after Clementine ignored him at Barnes and Nobles and kissed Patrick, her new boyfriend.
As Joel walked out of the store, the lighting in the store turns off dramatically from the far end of the store in order. This reflects Joel’s emotional door that has also been shut down by Clementine. The scene represents Joel’s feeling literally turning into dark. The setting literally turns to dark as Joel’s heart also fades into deep shadow all of suddenly. Audiences already know that Joel is hearbroken through his expressions and their knowledge of the situation, but the lighting added extra power as an
effect.
In order to express Joel’s anxiety, the cameraman used racking focus. As Joel receives the packet from Lacuna, the memory erasing clinic, with a sleeping pill and pajama to prepare for the operation, he falls into anxiety and uneasiness. At the same time, his neighbor, Frank, tries to have a conversation with Joel. However, Joel cannot really concentrate to hear him. The audience can tell his emotional state through his acting, but also through the racking focus. The cameraman switches the focus from Frank, shot sharply visible, with Joel in the fuzzy background and then to a close-up of Joel with Frank in the background vaguely. It expresses how Joel cannot focus on having a conversation, but only think of his procedure, full of fear and concern. The most notable camera work created an illusion when Joel and Clementine jump back to Joel’s childhood memory.
Both characters maintained the same facial and body features, but only became smaller in size. For one technique, the creators built some of the set larger to shrink the characters, but for another, they effectively manipulated the camera angles. When shooting Joel hiding under the table, the camera work always came from the top or low angles. He never appeared by other characters’ whole bodies. Even with Clementine, only her legs or face appear with him. By shooting from an angle and at farther distances, the producers shrank the size of one character while maintaining the real life size of the others and created a whole new
world. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind effectively starts off in medias res with an open ending full of surprises. The use of colors and lighting add emotional intensity. Additionally, the camera works allow the audiences to peek at their past life in unusual ways. These effects creatively manifested more than what acting can alone do. All of these techniques contribute to express the complex and strange world in bewildering beauty. Overall, this movie successfully portrays what might actually go on in the mind of heartbroken people. It impersonates our thoughts, using actors, into a movie, so that we can actually “see” inside of our minds. By watching basically our own “mind,” makes more sense to us the meaning of life and love- that we cannot forget how or what we are.