And I'll get bored with you and feel trapped because that's what happens with me.” Again, they both need therapy. “I can't see anything that I don't like about you,” says Joel, and Clementine tells him, “But you will! But you will. Spoiler (for a film that came out in 2004): By the end they meet again and are immediately attracted to each other, only to discover that they’ve been down this road before. Joel decides to do the same, and the film is a trip through his subconscious as he tries to stop the procedure from inside his mind, clinging to the memories of Clem even though they bring him pain. But instead of therapy, Clem chooses to erase her memories of Joel with a newly developed procedure. The conceit is that Joel (Jim Carrey) and Clementine (Kate Winslet) were in a powerful but volatile relationship, the kind where you’re deeply in love but also desperately need therapy. To many, it's a relic of a particular era of indie movies, defined by Michel Gondry, Charlie Kaufman, and anyone who saw their work and tried to make a visually complex, esoteric yet heartfelt film about loneliness. Get off the beaten path and see something real, we’re scolded, as if our emotional response is fake.Įternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind is a tourist trap of cinema. And yet, too often, we’re told we’re rubes for falling for them. These places were built to make us feel our own humanity. On the train back into the city, the pair strike up a conversation and, after Joel offers Clementine a lift, she invites him in for drinks to her house at 59.

It is not a “trap” to be awed by the intricate stonework, or to find yourself thinking of all the talent and pain that went into making something so beautiful. There is a reason the Taj Mahal attracts millions of visitors a year, or why there is an endless line to reach the top of the Duomo in Milan.

Joel and clementine