Worlds of Tomorrow: Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
Read by Alasdair Stuart
Welcome to Worlds of Tomorrow, an occasional feature we’ll be running looking at some of the best in science fiction cinema. From acknowledged classics to forgotten gems we’ll be covering them all. Some of them you’ll have seen, some you won’t, some you’ll agree with me on and some you’ll wonder what I was drinking when I watched them but that’s half the fun. Spoilers abound so if you haven’t seen the movie and want to be surprised, go rent it now, we’ll be here when you get back. Otherwise, prepare for a good night’s sleep and pay no attention to the nice men from Lacuna Corp…
More than Minorty Report, Blade Runner, Screamers, and even more than A Scanner Darkly…this is the most Dickian movie I’ve ever seen.
Excellent review, Alasdair! Your opening comments about the nature of love nearly had me in tears. Some years back, my wife and I were going through a seriously rough time. We watched this movie together. I won’t say that magically, everything got better between us afterward, but I think it did help put things into a particular perspective.
BTW – the final scene in the disintegrating beach house stays with me to this day. The dialog was fantastic, and really cemented Joel’s character as someone who allowed fear to prevent him from becoming all he could be.
I enjoyed this review much more than I enjoyed the movie itself. Good job. Now I’m tempted to go back and watch it again and try to get as much out of it that this reviewer did.
Protip: never watch this movie after a bad breakup.
Note: If a movie doesn’t end with Will Smith saving the day — I’m not going to watch it.
Honestly “Eternal Sunshine” was a difficult movie to watch, it was good, but it also was a bit upsetting.
I’m a huge fan of Oliver Sacks’ body of work. He suggest that we are not (necessarily) our Mind,Bodies & Souls, but rather more or our Actions, History and Knowledge. With this in mind I couldn’t help think that these people (in the movie) are changing who they are, by effectively removing a chunk of their knowledge (to hide a part of their History). In a way – killing themselves…
Plus I was saw the movie right after a breakup. Which MasterThief correctly points out is a no-no.