20 years on from its release, Hasitha Fernando looks at the story behind Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind…
Starting its journey as a conceptual art experiment Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind has gone on to win the hearts and minds of audiences and film critics through its unique exploration of romantic relationships and their inevitable fallout, all brought to life through Michel Gondry’s remarkable visuals, Charlie Kaufman’s fiercely original script and a duet of exquisite performances by both Jim Carrey and Kate Winslet. As the movie celebrates its 20th anniversary here are some interesting behind-the-scenes details regarding the singular sci-fi rom-com for your reading pleasure.
A conceptual art experiment served as the inspiration for the story
The creative inspiration for Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind came from an unusual source, and that source was conceptual artist Pierre Bismuth. Filmmaker Michel Gondry, who eventually helmed the movie, and Bismuth have been close friends since the 80s when the former was the drummer on French pop-rock band Oui-Oui. This relationship often led to many instances where the duo shared their unique ideas and differing perspectives with each other over the years.
On one such instance Bismuth presented a provocative idea to Gondry, over dinner: what if you received a card in the mail stating that, “Someone you know has erased your from their memory and that you should not attempt to contact them again”? This intriguing concept got Gondry’s creative cogs working, and he got together with Bismuth and screenwriter Charlie Kauffmann to hatch out the story. And it was this story that Kauffmann developed further and transformed to as the film’s brilliant screenplay.
The meteoric rise of one Michel Gondry
From a very young age Michel Gondry wanted to be a painter, heavily influenced by his family’s pop music background. He entered an art school in Paris to pursue graphic design and it was around this time period that Gondry and a couple of his friends got together to form Oui-Oui. Gondry did serve as the pop-rock band’s drummer, but the artist didn’t restrict his creativity to just the music they were producing. He also directed their video clips which offered audiences a glimpse into Gondry’s creativity and his unique visual flair. The aspiring director’s talents didn’t go unnoticed for long, as Icelandic music artist Bjork approached Gondry to helm her first solo music video for ‘Human Behavior’.
The collaboration proved to be a fruitful one and soon Gondry became one of the most in-demand talents in the music industry going on to produce music videos for the likes of Massive Attack, The White Stripes, Radiohead, and The Chemical Brothers. The creative was also a popular choice to helm commercials for top brands like Gap, Smirnoff, Air France, Coca Cola, Adidas, Polaroid, and Levi. It was around this time, when Gondry had achieved much success and fame in the music industry, that Hollywood began to notice the gifted auteur and thus his talents were channeled to make the Charlie Kaufmann penned Human Nature (2001) film, which was then followed by, none other than, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind three years later.
Jim Carrey’s first meeting with Michel Gondry was far from ideal
Jim Carrey is an actor that requires no introduction. The rubber faced comedian made the proverbial splash with Ace Venture: Pet Detective (1994) and was akin to an unstoppable force of nature in the 90s with bona fide hits such as The Mask, Dumb and Dumber, Batman Forever and Liar Liar. But with The Truman Show (1998) Carrey started drifted into a different arena, which witnessed him flex his dramatic acting chops and doing away with his manic comedy schtick. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind was yet another one of those left-field detours made by Carrey that brought the gifted actor unanimous praise and great success.
Before Carrey came into the picture Nicolas Cage was the first choice of the producers with even Denzel Washington being considered for the role of the melancholic Joel Barish. This all changed when Carrey met with Gondry about starring in the film, whilst battling one of his bad depressive episodes. Over lunch Gondry told Carrey “you are so beautiful right now. You are so broken… please don’t get well.” Recounting the story over a decade later, Carrey would remark during an interview: “that’s how fucked up this business is.”
Improvisation was actively encouraged during the shoot
Charlie Kaufman’s utterly original script married with Michel Gondry’s unique visual concepts made for an incendiary pairing. Therefore, cast members mostly followed Kaufman’s script and Gondry’s direction very closely. However, in spite of this the actors were also actively encouraged to improvise and to give their creative input during the course of the shoot by Gondry. Elijah Wood and Mark Ruffalo improvised extensively on set, and the scene were Ruffalo and Kirsten Dunst dance over an unconscious Jim Carrey in their underwear was also unscripted.
A fair amount of dialogue between Jim Carrey and Kate Winslet was also based on stuff they improvised in-between takes which were the result of videotaped rehearsal sessions where they swapped stories about their real-life relationships and heartbreaks. The train scene at the beginning where Winslet punches Carrey’s arm was also not planned or staged, and Carrey’s response which we see in the film was truly his genuine reaction.
Michel Gondry had a curious penchant for lo-fi special effects
Filmmaker Michel Gondry has always had a penchant for employing lo-fi practical effect techniques, old-school trick photography and ingenious props to achieve his intended output. So, even during the shoot of Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Gondry utilized all the tricks in his arsenal along with some well-timed edits and lighting to craft the bizarre and fascinating scenes in the movie. The use of digital effects was kept to a bare minimum. This surreal and minimalist style carried on to some of the subsequent projects Gondry was also involved with, namely, The Science of Sleep (2006), Be Kind Rewind (2008) and Mood Indigo (2013).
Kate Winslet played against type for this movie
Kate Winslet is an actress that has drawn fame and acclaim for her nuanced character portrayals over the years. But her character Clementine Kruczynski in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind was without a doubt the polar opposite of what she usually played in movies. A free-spirited soul through and through Winslet’s Clementine functioned as the ideal balance to Carrey’s Joel who was more introverted in nature. At the outset of production, the studio sought an actress who’d just recently won an Oscar however Winslet secured the role of Clementine because she was the only actress brave enough to give criticism of the script instead of pandering.
Colored wigs were an integral component of Kate Winslet’s character
Winslet’s character in the movie was a spontaneous and temperamental individual whose decisions are purely emotionally based. In the story her varying moods often corresponded with the garishly loud hair colors she used. To achieve this during the making of the film wigs were used, instead of resorting to dyeing the hair. Since the movie was not shot in chronological order, Winslet had to sometimes sport different hair colors depending on the scene that was being shot at the time. Reportedly, out of all the colored wigs that she wore the red wig was Winslet’s personal favorite.
Michel Gondry’s direction sometimes confused cast members
Known for his unconventional approaches to filmmaking, Gondry’s directing at times confused the hell out of the cast members of Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. The director had a habit of giving contradictory commands to the actors on set in order to achieve his objective and this infuriated Jim Carrey quite a bit. In the same scene Gondry would speak to Winslet and tell her to, ‘Go as big as you want. This is a comedy!’ and then he’d walk over to Carrey in that same moment and whisper, ‘This is a drama, not a comedy.’ However, as evidenced by the utterly beautiful final product its abundantly obvious that Gondry’s conflicting directions were entirely by design.
The film’s alternative titles in foreign territories misled audiences
Most movie titles retain their original title when they are being promoted and distributed in foreign territories. However, the process becomes a real challenge when your film’s title is a complex one like Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. The Italian title of the movie translated as, “If you leave me, I deleted you,” and the Spanish translation roughly meant, “Forget about me,” which undoubtedly confused and misled audiences about the film’s story and what genre it actually belonged to.
Awards love, critical acclaim & a unique legacy
Produced on a budget of $20 million, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind went on to make a respectable worldwide box-office haul of $74 million by the conclusion of its theatrical run. The movie received near unanimous praise by film critics the world over and as of writing has an approval rating of 92% on Rotten Tomatoes based on 256 reviews. Legendary film critic Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times gave the flick three-and-a-half stars out of four during his initial review in 2004 but revised the rating to a full four out of four when he revisited the movie in 2010, calling Kaufman the “most gifted screenwriter of the 2000s” and adding the effort to his “Great Movies” list.
During the awards season of 2005 Charlie Kaufman’s screenplay received multiple accolades, walking away with the Oscar, BAFTA, and WGA award for Best Original Screenplay. Both Winslet and Carrey also received nominations during multiple awards ceremonies for their powerful performances. As of currently the movie still remains the only effort to win the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay whilst not being nominated in the Best Film category, which in itself is quite the achievement. The poignant movie also ended up being included in multiple Greatest Movies of All Time Lists compiled by media outlets such as the BBC, Empire magazine, The A.V. Club, Time Out New York, and the Writers Guild of America, since its release.
The movie has, over the years, inspired many a creative in the film, music and videogaming industry. Kan Gao, founder of Freebird Games, said his video game To the Moon, which is about two doctors traversing through the memory of an old man to fulfill his last wish, was inspired by the film. American singer-songwriter Ariana Grande named her 2024 concept album Eternal Sunshine after the film, and her music videos for the songs “Yes, And?” and “We Can’t Be Friends (Wait for Your Love)”, as the rest of the album, contain references to the movie. Kelly Clarkson, B.I and Halsey are a few other artists who have referenced the movie in numerous ways in their songs and music albums.
When one looks at Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, in a lot of ways, the film is essentially a romantic comedy. Of course it has elements of sci-fi, drama and mystery infused into the twisty-turny narrative, but at its core it very much remains a romantic comedy albeit a surreal and unique one. “Sand is overrated” that much is true, but this movie certainly is not.
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Hasitha Fernando is a part-time medical practitioner and full-time cinephile. Follow him on Twitter via @DoctorCinephile for regular updates on the world of entertainment.
