Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

Lore & Background

It grossed $73.3 million on a $20 million budget. At the 77th Academy Awards, Bismuth, Gondry and Kaufman won Best Original Screenplay, and Winslet received a nomination for Best Actress. The plot follows Joel Barish, who discovers his ex-girlfriend Clementine Kruczynski has erased her memories of him via the firm Lacuna. He undergoes the same procedure. During the erasure, Joel re-experiences memories in reverse order and decides he does not want to forget her. His mental projection of Clementine suggests hiding her in unrelated memories. The procedure is restarted, and Joel's last memory is their first meeting on a beach in Montauk. Meanwhile, Lacuna employee Mary Svevo learns she had a previous affair with her boss Howard, which was erased from her memory. She steals and mails patient records to them. Joel and Clementine, with memories erased, meet again on Valentine's Day and are drawn to each other. After receiving their Lacuna records, they listen to tapes of their bitter memories and almost separate, but agree to try again. The cast includes Jim Carrey as Joel, Kate Winslet as Clementine, Kirsten Dunst, Mark Ruffalo, Elijah Wood, and Tom Wilkinson in supporting roles.

Reader's Guide

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind has been named by several publications as one of the greatest films of the 21st century and gained a cult following. The film is noted for casting Jim Carrey and Kate Winslet against type, and for its nonlinear narrative exploring memory and love. Some commentators note how Clementine's character criticizes the Manic Pixie Dream Girl stock character. Clementine seems to exhibit traits of borderline personality disorder, though it is not clear whether Kaufman wrote her with that diagnosis in mind.

Did You Know?

• Nicolas Cage was Gondry's original choice to play Joel, but he was unavailable.
• Kate Winslet was the only actress to offer criticism on the script instead of pandering to the writers.