Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2 Viewers)

[Rose_Punk]

I was thinking of using this as one of my related texts. Has any one else done this? Any pointers?

Cheers

 

[absolution*]

<3 <3 <3 :uhhuh:

 

[mouldy_bread]

I'm doing this as an imaginative journey too. It should be really easy as the ideas behind it are basic enough. But my suggestion is dont get bogged down in the plot because it will just get confused and twisted.

I love this movie !

 

[amanda.]

help help help help....

I am doing eternal sunshine of the spotless mind for my related text, and as much as I love this film I have no idea of the concepts or techniques etc behind it!!! Does anybody have any suggestions, as I have an exam for this subject in a few days...Thank you!

 

[jo_muffin]

a really good technique I used is the use of colour in the movie, ie. Clementines hair. When she's in love with Joel, its red/orange - passion, love etc. However, she gets her mind erased it dyes it blue - clear, *spotless*. also note that seh still wears the orange sweatshirt showign she cant erase all of the passion that she had for joel. also, another point i used in an exam was how they use humour and irony. when joel's talkin about erasing her, its all falling apart! the film reflects the text and things fall down etc.

just a few ideas

 

[dorothygale]

yay, go this movie! this was 1 of the 1st texts i thought of, it's so perfect. good points, too, muffin. i'm just about 2 start it, have u guys already done it?

 

[_muse_]

omg yes! i saw this movie the other day and until now i had no intention of using it as a related text.. <3 eternal sunshine of the spotless mind!!

 

[dorothygale]

eternal sunshine - tempest

so.. would anyone know how to link this movie to other imaginative journey texts.. such as, say.. the tempest?

 

[nearly-dizzy]

I think i'm going to use it too -
did anybody find any good websites/resources linking to imag j's?

 

[kokodamonkey]

i used it as one of my related texts.

 

[kinkybell]

Yeah I used it too, It's a great text. I linked it to This Lime-Tree Bower My Prison... Remember you're writing about it in terms of imaginative journeys not as a simple text. So colour I wouldnt think is such a great technique... think about the manipulation of sound and images to show the destruction of his memories. Here I'll copy it for you...

• Through an imaginative journey, the viewer is able to explore and reflect on society and the impossible fantasies that we dwell on. In the film ‘Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Minds’, the viewer is taken on an imaginative journey through the mind of Joel Barish. It is through this journey that the film questions society and how we treat memories and relationships, how we linger on negative times rather than focusing on the good. Another major idea explored in the film is the human desire to start over; is it what we need to move on after bad times or it is necessary for our emotional development? The impossible concept of starting over is something that society desires, however no one knows the possibilities and problems that would come out of starting over. It is through an imaginative journey that we are able to see the possible consequences making it able for the viewer to question weather the impossible we wish for is worth wanting at all.

• The film ‘Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind’ Focuses on memories, relationships and the human desire to start over. The film creates a world where people are able to ‘start again’ through a memory erasing procedure. It is through this world that the film is able to comment on society’s tendency to focus mainly on negatives rather than positives. Through the procedure, the memories Joel, the protagonist, has to experience again become less and less negative. As memories are peeled back, the viewer becomes aware of Joel’s ex-girlfriend Clementine’s positive attributes that were withheld due to Joel’s emotional state. The viewer is able to see the order of how Joel remembers Clementine through the order of memories that are erased. Kate Winslet’s performance as Clementine is crucial to the portrayal of the degradation of Joel’s memories as well as insight into the order of Clementine’s traits that are remembered first. The first memories the viewer is witness to are clear and of arguments and fights. Kate Winslet’s first appearance in Joel’s memories is portraying an ‘irresponsible’ Clementine. She slurs and intimidates Joel, by scowling ‘in your wormy little brain you’re trying to figure out did she fuck someone tonight?’ The shots are long and blur towards the end of each shot suggesting the elimination of the memory. This is further suggested when the shot suddenly cuts back to reality as the man doing the procedure says ‘got it’ suggesting he has deleted the memory entirely. The next few memories are similar with Clementine being argumentative while Joel acts as the victim repeating ‘sorry’. The first positive memory is all it takes for Joel to realize his mistake. Kate Winslet now portrays the ‘insecure’ Clementine. She whispers and expresses her deep emotions as fears, ending the conversation saying ‘don’t ever leave me’. The memory starts to fade through the use of overlapping images and sounds which connect to the next memory. We are shown the memory is lost as Joel clings to the blankets trying desperately to hold on to the memory saying ‘please let me keep this memory’; through his desperate plea we understand his regret. It is only through the imaginative journey that we are able to explore the idea of starting over, enabling us to weigh the possible consequences.

At first the viewer is unable to distinguish memory from present as the two are shot similarly, which mimics Joel’s confusion. However as the memories become older Joel is able to manipulate and hide the memory of Clementine. This gap of reality is achieved through picture and sound quality degrading and become more electronic or turning into ‘white noise’ (for example Joel’s memory of the lobby where his neighbor’s words become indistinguishable as he fades away), faces vanishing and becoming unrecognizable and the morphing of two memories (such as the rain and mud from his childhood in his lounge room as an adult.)

The film is an imaginative journey as the viewer is taken through the mind of Joel Barish. This ‘sci-fi’ world we are taken into enables the viewer to understand that memories should be cherished and are necessary for our development. The idea of starting over after negative emotions and memories plague our mind is played with in the film. The film ends with Clementine and Joel accepting the faults they both talk of in the tape they recorded before their memory was erased. However, the final shots are of the couple playing in the snow. The shot is repeated several times over. This suggests that their lives entail meeting, parting, and getting erased, only to meet again.

• The film ‘Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind’ is, in ways, similar to the poem ‘This Lime-Tree Bower My Prison’ by Samuel Taylor Coleridge. In the film we follow the protagonist Joel through his memories as they are rapidly deleted. After reliving each of his memories he begins to see the positive side of his relationship with Clementine. Through reliving key moments of their past, Joel realizes that negative experiences have overtaken the positive experiences. During the procedure this epiphany occurs and Joel struggles to keep hold of the good times.

In the poem, ‘This Lime-Tree Bower My Prison’ the persona takes the reader on a journey of a nature walk using his memories as a guide. At the beginning of the poem, the persona speaks of the bower he is in as a ‘prison’. While saddened and moping over his loss of the chance of creating memories he could have cherished, the persona begins to relive previous walks through his memories and imagination. After doing so, the persona realizes that he had already had the memories which he was mourning, as the persona states, ‘A delight comes sudden on my heart, and I am glad as I myself were there!’

In each of the texts, the protagonist has an epiphany while going on an imaginative journey through their memory. Joel relives his relationship to Clementine through his memories, while Coleridge goes on a nature walk through his memories of past walks. Through reliving memories, Joel is reminded of the positive side of their relationship while Coleridge is reminded that nature never deserts the ‘wise’.


That's a copy of my assesment... Don't copy it please!!!! Reword it! Plus this is before I fixed all the errors...

 

[mushi shells]

what concepts could you use in relation to the imaginative journey with that ORT?

 

[Sam.]

Eternal Sunshine is a fantastic text to use. Hundreds of techniques to talk about and very easily linked to imaginative journeys.

Just make sure, as someone mentioned earlier, to not get too bogged down in the plot. You should ONLY EVER talk about a plotline if it for some reason makes an impact on how a technique has been used or how an idea is portrayed. You should assume that the examiner knows the basic outline of the text. And lets face it, 95% of HSC students use the same texts in the analyses... most examiners know them by that time.

By the way, Eternal Sunshine is also great if you're doing History and Memory as an module later in the year.

 

[iknowmyonion]

OMG, not only does eternal sunshine = <3
but it is also REALLY good to link to imaginative journeys.
i did also, i got 18/20 for that section (and 17/20 for the other, but i used fight club the novel for that).

 

[nearly-dizzy]

OMG, not only does eternal sunshine = <3
but it is also REALLY good to link to imaginative journeys.
i did also, i got 18/20 for that section (and 17/20 for the other, but i used fight club the novel for that).

brilliant movie &
top taste in music too
(know your onion )

 

[stammy]

mmm, no worries, you REALLY need to re word it, its not very good at all....

 

[Dominica]

I'm using it as well...
another point to make is how the sub plot emphasizes the main plot. Look at the relationship between Howard and Mary.
In the sub plot we see that maemory loss will not erase feelings towards each other...

just a though

 

[ashbashness]

Nice points kinkybell! Hope you don't mind me stealing them (even though you did it last year and probably don't care now...)

Also like to add that ESoSM is also an imaginative journey on the composer's part, starting with a 'what if' and continuing from there, showing the impacts on humanity. Don't know how I could continue that...

 

[jamiwithoutane]

ESOTSM was our prescribed text.
I'd strongly recommend looking at philosophical questions that the film raises and relating these to the AOS.

A great choice of additional text.