Following Joel through his memories inside his head, we watch Joel and Clementine’s relationship in reverse as Joel tries to hide inside his mind. Meanwhile, there is a second arc following the employees of Lacuna, (the memory wiping company) Patrick, Stan and Mary. As Joel and Clementine’s story unfolds, the separate, yet related stories of the employees are revealed and through them we discover how harmful the memory altering procedure is.
I will leave the rest of the film to your viewing pleasure…
As someone who has not seen this film, but rather read the screenplay and possesses a lively imagination, I would like to share my adaption of Eternal Sunshine from the perspective of the Director of Photography.
The film follows multiple characters, each with a unique perspective on the world and relationships based on their history. However, some of the characters come to find out that what they thought they knew about themselves and their story is wrong. Some have lived through an entire relationship and even lost a child – an emotional experience that would change an individual to the core…but they have no recollection or attachment, just the knowledge that something happened. Stability versus instability. Our lead character, Joel watches his memories fade through the film. Through his memories, the audience comes to know Clementine and begin to understand what made her the way she is and who she is with Joel, despite their differences. In short, because there are many characters perspectives to follow and multiple emotions being experienced in a short amount of time, in my adaption of photography, the flow of the camera and perspective will not be cohesive. When following different people, each story brings a unique perspective that feels different from the one before or after it, which can be seen through unique camera angles, cuts and compositing.
There is a beautiful contrast between Joel and Clementine’s personalities and characteristics. Joel is very emotionally withdrawn and tight lipped, while Clementine is full of emotion and life and says exactly what is on her mind at any given moment, whether you want to hear it or not. From a director of photography’s stand point, I would embrace these contrasting characters through tight and long shots. Camera distance is emotional distance. Only in the most intimate moments would the camera push into Joel’s space, leaving the viewer distant from him as well until those private moments as he is a very private person. On the opposing side, we have lively and unpredictable Clementine, with as many emotions as colors of hair dyes. In Clementine’s case, there is no such thing as personal space, which lets the viewer in on all her personal moments through the film.
In terms of compositing, I would illustrate the point of Joel’s memories turning into faded husks of once remember moments by gradually fading the color from the memory, letting the scene turn to sepia or black and white with only the faintest touches of color. Allowing that slow fade where appropriate, I would also use harsh cuts almost before the end of a memory to achieve that jarring effect of erasing a memory. The procedure of losing memories is not kind or gentle, but rather a closed door that cannot be opened the same way ever again. The incorporation of hard cuts and a quick jump cut to the next memory would be very effective.
In the end of the film as the story begins to wrap up, it would be effective to use a slow pull away shot from the characters as the colors begin to fade as the audience too leaves the husk of the film behind to return to their own reality pondering their own relationships and questioning their value of life and our interaction with those around us.
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