Eternal sunshine of the spotless mind

                   Blessed are the forgetful..for they get the better even of their blunders.

Many times i've wondered, if at all there was an option, to wipe out those memories of embarrassing situations, memories of sadness, of failure, of all those negative that which hang around mind like unwanted files, cluttering the space. The pain that is associated with them, which gets rekindled each time you revisit. The bouts of suffering that which gets reminded each time. The shudder that runs through the body and the cold chill on the spine reliving those embarrassments. If only we could, not just forget about them, but also make sure that they are erased forever. But even if we do erase those memories, will it make life any better? So goes the theme of the movie "The eternal sunshine of the spotless mind".

First thing that attracted me to the movie was the title. Some sentences or word, however big or clumsy they are, gets immediately fixed. I saw it once on a cover and it got branded right into my mind. For a long time, i contemplated on watching it and even bought the DVD. But felt, it might be too boring and skipped it each time. When i got to know that it had Jim Carrey starring in it, that was the second vote casted on its favour. I simply love that man. Behind his facade as a hyper energetic character, lies a highly sensitive personality. And i am a huge fan of Kate Winslet for the variety of roles that she tries. The movie boasts of a top notch cast. Jim Carrey, Kate Winslet, Elijah wood, Mark Ruffalo, Kirsten Dunst and any more biggies, it would've been like J.P Dutta's "L.O.C", a parade of superstars.

"Sand is overrated. Its just tiny pieces of rock" and so begins the movie. First line kaetta udanaye it felt different. Jim Carrey meets Kate on a train and though their personalities couldnt be any more different they fall for each other. In the very next scene Kate is seen kissing a person and feigns ignorance about Carrey who is heartbroken. In the following scene Mark Ruffalo and Elijah wood are seen performing some test on him.The stroy telling mode is so jumbled that, it takes a while to adjust to the twists and turns. After a while you get to realise the choppy butchered way of story telling, which is so much in synch with the theme of the movie.

Carrey and Kate are estranged lovers and due to their conflicting personalities they quarrel a lot. During the aftermath of one such fight, Kate decides to take the ultimate step of removing the very presence Jim carrey from her life, past and present and visits a memory correction clinic where they map the brain tracing the memories that you want to get removed. When Carrey gets to know about it, in an urge to get back at her, he also subscribes for similar treatment. While undergoing the test, he backtracks his memories, while they are getting erased and re-lives those situations. He realises that he is equally at fault on each of the situations and how he could've avoided them and more than anything, that he is still in love with Kate. The moment the realisation strikes him, his mind works over time to protect the remaining memories of Kate and tries his best to hide them. Those scenes are so touching and masterfully created that they hook you right into the storyline and you begin to enjoy the ride, getting totally in synch with the back and forth storytelling style. As the memories get erased from latest to oldest, the final few memories of how he met her and what made him fall for her, that get erased the last, makes him miserable. Before it gets completely wiped off, he retains the final sentence said by her, to meet her in Montauk. That is the first scene of the movie where in Jim Carrey is seen rushing into the train before it closes.

In between, there are two parallel stories that happen in real time. Elijah wood, steals all the personal belongings of Jim carrey that  has all his notes about Kate and uses them to get Kate attracted to him. Kirsten Dunst who is shown to be in love with Mark Ruffalo finds out to her shock that, she herself had undergone memory erasement procedure, to break off her relationship with her boss. In a fit of rage and having realised the futility of the treatment, she mails the details of all the patients back to them reminding them of the very memories that they got erased. Both Kate and Jim Carrey also gets back their tapes and realises how bad they had been thinking of each other that had driven them to this decision. After contemplating whether its worthwhile to pursue their relationship again, they decide to take a chance on themselves and give it a try again.

"Eternal sunshine of the spotless mind!
Each prayer accepted, and each wish resigned."

Many scenes from the movie are as poetic as the title itself. In any relationship, there has got to be ups and downs. While going through the tough times, when one realises the happier moments that each had with other, i guess people may not opt for divorce so easily. A lovely movie and must watch i would say.

P.S: There is one SJ Surya movie , Ah..Aah, a crappy one at best, which is based on similar theme. Now that i've seen the original, the tamil version doesnt sound that bad at all. Definitely it could've been done with better casting. But an interesting attempt at best nevertheless.