Eternal Sunshine In A Spotless Mind

Eternal Sunshine in a Spotless Mind // Timbuktu

To keep people interested in new films directors have chosen to take alternate paths on how they share their story with the audience. It is more popular now more then ever for filmmakers to find interesting and unconventional ways to tell the story. Whether that be switching back and forth between different realities, like the film Eternal Sunshine in a Spotless Mind, or not have a very distinct plot line, like the film Timbuktu. Eternal Sunshine in a Spotless Mind jumps from actual time, to a series of memories and flashbacks from the main character, Joel. Timbuktu was filmed in a documentary style, where is touches more on the living situations that the civilians had to endure whilst Timbuktu

The film begins with the two main characters, Clementine and Joel, meeting for the first time, or so they thought. Shortly after the audience get familiar with the characters a flashback occurs, explaining their past and why they no longer recognize each other. Turns out, they once dated and broke up. The breakup caused sour feelings of one another, which caused them to seek out physicians who specialize in erasing specific memories. The film primarily takes place in Joel's memories, therefore the point of view is mostly from Joel's perspective. This causes a reflexivity to the story, it brings close attention to the how the story is being told and how it should be interpreted. We can only know a little about their relationship because we are only hearing through Joel's thoughts. The audience and Joel visit his memories of Clementine together as they are being erased. The film follows a non-linear temporal structure, since the audience are unaware where the film is going to take us. The narratives conflict occurs when Joel is in the middle of the memory wiping procedure and realizes he wants to hold onto his memories of Clementine. Joel realizes he still has strong feelings for her,