elysium v.two.zero

i finally had a chance to watch eternal sunshineafter nearly six months since the first trailer hit the net, so there a distinct level of anticipation for the movie. kaufman had his critically acclaimed movies, and gondry had his extensive body of music videos. so what should one expect when you combine kaufmans introspective prose with gondrys surrealistic visuals? something completely unexpected actually. ill be the first to admit that i was deceived by the trailers, which depicted an almost farcical head trip thru someones hidden memories. and while there would have been nothing wrong with a more light-hearted and surreal approach, its all the more pronounced by the unexpectedness of a sincere and contemplative movie.

the movie begins with joel barish (carrey) feeling compelled to take a day off and head to the beach in the middle of winter. he meets clementine (winslet) there wandering along the waterside. thru her sheer assertive nature, they strike up a conversation, even tho joel is the polar opposite of clementine. the movie then shifts to a time when joel has broken up with clementine and finds out that she had all memories of him erased from her mind. he tracks down the company who provided the service, lacuna, and has the procedure done on him in order for him to forget about clementine also. joel eventually finds himself in his memories, and as the successive layers of past memories emerge, he begins to remember older memories of why they fell in love in the first place.

the movie is a brilliant depiction of life and love and the memories that they entail. not necessarily accurate memories, but your own distinct versions of how you remember an event. after having seen kaufmans malkovich, i had initially thought that gondry would tick the movie along from one surreal environment to the next. what i failed to realize was that unlike malkovich>, this wasnt a trip thru joels subconscious desires. rather, it was thru his memories, many of which he wished would just linger forever...whether it was laying in the middle of a frozen pond or meeting clementine for the first time. gondry moves the movie along at a deliberate pace, hovering over quiet scenes between joel and clementine, and then picking up as he tries to save his memories of her from disappearing. gondrys deft hand takes the movie on a trip thru successive memories as joel tries and prevents the erasure of his memories of clementine from his mind, eventually tucking her away into unrelated memories, leaving residual traces of her existence in his mind. carrey was particularly surprising as the quiet joel, expanding his acting capabilities without having to resort to physical comedy. his joel is a quiet and sheepish person, who seems at odds with the outgoing clementine...also deftly portrayed by winslet. the supporting actors all pull off their characters nicely...elijah wood as the under-handed technician, kirsten dunst who surprisingly opens up what looked to be a minor role, and mark ruffalo who rocks out in his undies. the movie is a surprise on many levels. not because i had expected the worst, but because it took an unexpected direction that brought more depth to the movie than i had initially anticipated. heres to hoping that gondry and kaufman make more movies together...