Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)

A couple undergo a procedure to erase each other from their memories when their relationship turns sour, but it is only through the process of loss that they discover what they had to begin with.

Director:

Michel Gondry

Writers:

Charlie Kaufman (story), Michel Gondry (story),

Stars:

Jim Carrey, Kate Winslet, Tom Wilkinson

Top 250 #77 | Won 1 Oscar. Another 46 wins & 54 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Jim Carrey	...	Joel Barish
Kate Winslet	...	Clementine Kruczynski
Gerry Robert Byrne	...	Train Conductor
Elijah Wood	...	Patrick
Thomas Jay Ryan	...	Frank
Mark Ruffalo	...	Stan
Jane Adams	...	Carrie
David Cross	...	Rob
Kirsten Dunst	...	Mary
Tom Wilkinson	...	Dr. Mierzwiak
Ryan Whitney	...	Young Joel
Debbon Ayer	...	Joel's Mother
Amir Ali Said	...	Young Bully
Brian Price	...	Young Bully
Paulie Litt	...	Young Bully (as Paul Litowski)

Storyline

A man, Joel Barish, heartbroken that his girlfriend Clementine underwent a procedure to erase him from her memory, decides to do the same. However, as he watches his memories of her fade away, he realizes that he still loves her, and may be too late to correct his mistake.

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Plot Keywords:

Memory | Love | Crush | Valentine's Day | Beach | 

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Taglines:

Replace My Memory

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Genres:

Drama | Romance | Sci-Fi

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for language, some drug and sexual content

Details

Official Sites:

Focus Features Official Facebook

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

19 March 2004 (USA)

Also Known As:

Eterno resplandor de una mente sin recuerdos

Filming Locations:

123 Valentine Lane, Yonkers, New York, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$20,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$268,118 (Japan) (18 March 2005)

Gross:

$1,747,623 (Japan) (8 April 2005)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Focus Features, Anonymous Content, This Is That Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

108 min

Sound Mix:

DTS (as dts) Dolby

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The small computer hooked up to the memory erasing headset is an old Amstrad PPC 512 or 640, manufactured back in 1988.

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Goofs

Near the end of the film when Mary is walking around the corner with her box of belongings and cassettes, the man walking directly behind her disappears for one shot.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Joel: [voice over] random thoughts for Valentine's day, 2004. Today is a holiday invented by greeting card companies to make people feel like crap.

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Crazy Credits

The credits are right justified, versus the usual center justified credits.

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Connections

Featured in 11th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards (2005)
A small clip was presented as part of some of the nominated films.

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Soundtracks

"Wada Na Tod"
Written by Rajesh Roshan
Performed by Lata Mangeshkar
Courtesy of Universal Music India Private Limited (Mumbai)
Under license from Universal Music Enterprises

User Reviews

A deep and personal marvel!

this is my favorite movie of 2004 and definitely one of the top in my all-time favorite lists!

Eternal touched a certain part of you, your heart that most shows never did. or rather could never did. it shows the fragility of a relationship. people want to erase bad memories of a failed relationship yet at the same time, cant bear to part with the good ones! how so can that be done? how can you erase bad memories and saved good ones only? Carrey and Winslet did a perfect job acting as Joel and Clementine respectively. Arguably one of their career best so far. its a pleasant surprise to see the man behind "The Mask" playing such a quiet and introvert role. Kate, on the other hand, brought Clementine to new heights as the bubbly and brutally honest lass who you love and hate.

Eternal is a definite marvel, a feat in itself. its rich and flamboyant yet fragile. it brings the audience to such a personal level it hurts. especially when both cant seem to escape from the erasure.

well-done!