Joshua Hawkins Dr. Gould Masterpieces of Film October 23rd, 2014 Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind: A Critical Essay In an almost Tarantino-esque fashion, the film starts out in a non-linear sequence. Somewhere near the middle end of the story Joel and Clementine, played by Jim Carrey and Kate Winslet respectively, begin to fall in love. Unbeknownst to them, it is not the first time they have met, and also not the first time they have fallen in love. The film explores many aspects of love and its associated emotions, many of which are pain and unhappiness. Whether or not the characters relationship is based on love, is one thing. However, the flaw in the relationship is not so much about a love or lack thereof, but rather an immediate desire for happiness. It is only at the end, once Joel and Clementine realize that they will not be happy with each other, that they change their perception of the relationship, and simply go for it. Likely a stride in love, their fire is rekindled. …show more content…
His desire for love is over-shadowed by his desire for happiness. As a result, everything he tries to latch onto slips through his hands. Sylvie makes the point clear when she says, “Sand is a motif through the film, symbolizing the way in which Joel’s memories are slipping through his hand”. Taking this a step further, it is not only his memories which fade, but also his immediate desires. No longer is Joel consumed with thoughts of himself being happy, but rather with the idea that he and Clementine are meant to be in love. When the revelation of their actions occurs and both parties are aware that they decided to erase each other, they decide to persevere through. It may not be logical, but there is a level of commitment that trumps that immediate desire to be happy. They finally understand the reality that they will eventually be at odds yet they choose to take the plunge into that
As joel rewinds his memory clementine is shown to have orange hair,When Clementine’s hair is orange, she and Joel’s relationship is beginning to fail, Orange is symbolic of deceit ,distrust and danger.
In the book, Unbroken, by Laura Hillenbrand, Louie Zamperini was majorly obsessed with vengeance throughout the end of the book that his life was consumed by the quest for it. Louie felt as if the Bird had stolen his dignity at the POW campsites, where he was beaten, humiliated, starved, and stripped of his powers of self-defense. Louie was overwhelmed with his anger that the only objective he sought was to get revenge on the Bird. In other words, Louie was angered about his loss of dignity at the POW campsite, he wanted to get revenge on the Bird by killing him, and how Louie eventually forgives the Bird for what he did to him. These three reasons show how Louie’s loss of self-dignity in the POW camp was pursued.
While at the beach we are introduced to Clementine Kruczynski (Kate Winslet), a gregarious impulsive woman. Despite all appearances that the main characters are total opposites, a connection between Joel and Clementine is sparked. It appears as though theirs is not a chance encounter and they know one another.
Throughout William Shakespeare’s play, Romeo and Juliet, two teenagers fall in love. In the end, they kill themselves over one another. Between these two teenagers, only physical attraction was present. The “star-crossed” lovers faced many trials, and ultimately lost. The lack of Amor doomed Romeo and Juliet’s relationship.
The Sacred Realm is a theme of art that involves the concept of aspects that cannot be seen but can only be brought to existence through faith by viewing a piece of art work. This faith is usually in form of a sacred realm. It’s vital to understand that this theme cannot be viewed by the naked eye. For instance, the religious images in the visual art are employed to bring about the opinions and beliefs of the individuals who are in faith of the specific religion and this is reached by provision of abstract ideas with images thru the work of art. Therefore, the Sacred Realm theme of art explains in a virtual way the reason and purpose behind the existence of certain aspects of nature such as religion
One of my personal all-time-favorite movies, The Proposal¸ directed by Anne Fletcher, is a drama/romance that illustrates “two people who weren’t meant to fall in love” (Lieberman, 2009). The following movie trailer assists in outlining the storyline of the movie and how a series of unforeseen events can change animosity into romantic love.
The journey backwards through Joel and Clem’s relationship in his mind gives a great journey through a relationship with the romantic beginnings being the climax of a long relationship instead of simply the ignorant infatuated starting point that is lost as time goes on. By the time we reach the beginning of their relationship in his dream, we see characters who have traversed a whole relationship of ups and downs and who have traversed the trip back through it in the dream world and have all this connection. And we see them reenacting in dream form their initial meeting in such a way that retains its freshness and romance and wonder of two people meeting for the first time while commenting on what’s ahead. It’s an amazing combination of perspectives
In Michael Gondry’s Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004), the connections between people and memories become the focal point of a very unique romance. Through the use of new technology, the possibility of erasing memories makes painful relationships disappear like they never happened. The tale of Joel and Clementine allows the audience to rethink and question the process they undergo as beneficial or destructive. Though the process might be helpful in eliminating the pain caused from another person, four key scenes show how the lessons learned through relationship experiences are important.
Hillenbrand, L. (2010). Unbroken: A World War II story of survival, resilience, and redemption. New York: Random House.
Throughout this lay, there is a sense of hope in the author's tone, almost good-natured and kind hearted. She also sets a series of sorrowful tones that creates an atmosphere for the troubles the lovers have gone through to be in the presence of each other. However, the majority of the story is the happiness and joy from the lovers finally being with one another. Toward the
The protagonist has not lived before a similar situation since it is the first time that falls in love. This first experience represents a discovery. This child does not understand the feelings discovered and the state in which he is. “(…) I myself did not understand (…) I thought little of the future. I did not know whether I would ever speak to her or not or, if I spoke to her, how I could tell her of my confused adoration” (par. 5). The protagonist
The theme of the novel, Everything, everything, is that you must take risks in order to be satisfied with your life.
Michael Gondry’s Eternal sunshine of the spotless mind (2004) is not your typical Hollywood rom-com. Its cinematic style is very original and by far out of the ordinary for its genre. The use of techniques and the way the film is produced is the reason why it is so memorable. The non-linear narrative is based around a middle-aged guy who falls in love with a woman, who, after a while into their relationship decides to erase every single memory and feeling towards him. The story is told in flashbacks that slowly reveal the time and space the couple spent together and all the events that made
It can be observed through the flashbacks that since the main characters were too young at the time they both met each other, they had the tendency to feel intense and
The use of character, style, and point of view that Atwood uses to write this story gives you a real feeling of pity for these characters, only having horrible lows or average highs in their relationships. It appears that there is no great place to be in her story. Reading this story for the first time, the reader could assume Atwood has an obsession with bad relationships, boring average marriages, and death. The key to understanding what the author is trying to convey is realizing how the stories all link together and how they all lack the essence of excitement and desire. The author brings the idea that without focusing on the “how and why” of life and only focusing on the “what, what, what” will leave you with an average