“Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind” is a 2004 romantic science film directed by Michel Gondry and written by Charlie Kaufman. The film is told from the point of view of Joel Barish (Jim Carrey) on his tumultuous break up with Clementine Kruczynski (Kate Winslet), which led them both to have a procedure to erase each other from their memories.

The audience experiences an unconventional approach as the film blurs the lines between Joel’s present and his past to allow the audience to witness different stages of the relationship between the two main characters. This depicts post-cinematic storytelling through its departure from traditional linear narratives with its experimentation of audiovisual editing. 

At points, the ‘real’ world interweaves with the past through the use of editing to visualise the parallel between the characters in the present interacting with the memories of Joel’s past and the environment surrounding them. This creates a sense of disorientation for the audience as the narrative is far from chronological order, but is useful to reflect the peculiarity of the situation the main character is in, also tying into the sci-fi genre and elements of the movie. 

The use of a nonlinear timeline is used to allow the audience to become an active participant in the construction of the protagonist’s perspective on the events unfolding and his feelings towards his present and past. This is seen by giving the viewer the power to interpret the events from distorted sequences which engages the audience to make connections and analyse the relationships of the characters between the varying scenes throughout the film.

By Lilly Khaokham

Denson, S. and Leyda, J.(2016) Post-Cinema: theorizing 21st-century film [ebook]. Falmer: REFRAME Books