Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind [WS]

Director: Michel Gondry Michel Gondry

Overview

"A surreal and challenging romantic fantasy that only seems to improve on itself with repeat viewings, Michel Gondry's Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind arrives on DVD with some fascinating and revealing extras courtesy of Universal. Presented in 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen, the image sports a mild grain with vibrant colors and little evidence of digital artifacting or edge enhancement. The closed-captioned English Dolby Digital 5.1 audio mix is clean and even, and the disc also offers additional English and French Dolby Digital 5.1 mixes with optional French and Spanish subtitles. For those looking to unlock the many mysteries of the elliptical film, an audio commentary track with director Gondry and screenwriter Charlie Kaufman begins slowly but soon finds the creative pair following the film from first pitch to final frame. It's nice to hear Gondry discuss some of the impressive camera tricks he utilizes in the film, and it's obvious that he and Kaufman really connect creatively. A conversation with Jim Carrey and Gondry finds the pair working very harmoniously as well -- with the possible exception of one heated but ultimately benign exchange on set -- and it's great to hear the two discuss the believable backgrounds that they infused the characters with as well as their constant stride to create an original and creative feature. Even if the featurette entitled ""A Look Inside Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind"" is little more than an extended commercial, it does offer some fun and revealing interviews with the cast and crew and truly gets the viewer excited to take another look at the decidedly complex film. While a handful of deleted scenes doesn't necessarily reveal anything new about the film, the scenes do provide a few quiet and hauntingly affecting moments that didn't make it into the final cut; fans of the film will no doubt be excited to have the opportunity to check them out. A semi-creepy Polyphonic Spree music video features footage from the film altered to have characters and inanimate objects from the film singing their tune ""Light and Day,"" and a brief infomercial for Lacuna Inc. rounds out the features in a quirky and upbeat note."

Product Details

Release Date:	09/28/2004
UPC:	0025192395925
Original Release:	2004
Rating:	R
Source:	STUDIO DISTRIBUTION SERVS LLC
Region Code:	1
Presentation:	[Wide Screen]
Sound:	[Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround, DTS 5.1-Channel Surround Sound]
Language:	English
Time:	1:48:00
Sales rank:	4,440

Special Features

Closed Caption;"A Look Inside Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind" - Step into the mind of the filmmakers in this behind-the-scenes look at Eternal Sunshine; "A Conversation With Jim Carrey and Director Michel Gondry" - Witness an unparalleled discussion between Jim Carrey and Michel Gondry as they reflect on their favorite moments from the making of the film; Feature commentary with Michel Gondry and writer Charlie Kaufman; Deleted scenes; The Polyphonic Spree "Light & Day" music video; Lacuna infomercial

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Jim Carrey	Joel Barish
Kate Winslet	Clementine Kruczynski
Kirsten Dunst	Mary
Mark Ruffalo	Stan
Elijah Wood	Patrick
Tom Wilkinson	Dr. Howard Mierzwiak
Jane Adams	Carrie
David Cross	Rob
Thomas Jay Ryan	Frank
Deirdre O'Connell	Hollis
Ryan Whitney	Young Joel
Debbon Ayer	Joel's Mother
Lola Daehler	Young Clementine
Gerry Robert Byrne	Train Conductor
Amir Ali Said	Young Bully
Brian Price	Young Bully
Paul Litowsky	Young Bully
Josh Flitter	Young Bully
Paulie Litt	Actor
Lauren Adler	Actor
Jon Brion	Composer

Technical Credits

Charlie Kaufman

Pierre Bismuth

Michel Gondry	Director
Charlie Kaufman	Screenwriter,Executive Producer
Georges Bermann	Executive Producer
Glenn Williamson	Executive Producer
David Bushell	Executive Producer,Executive Producer
Anthony Bregman	Producer
Steve Golin	Producer
Martin Garner	Special Effects
Drew Jiritano	Special Effects
Jeanne McCarthy	Casting
Louis Morin	Special Effects
Brian Smyj	Stunts
Eugene Gearty	Sound Effects,Sound/Sound Designer
Frank Kern	Sound Effects
Jack Panuccio	Key Grip
Zbigniew Kouros	Key Grip
Billy Anagnos	Stunts
Mike Russo	Stunts
Stephanie Finochio	Stunts
Jonathan Graham	Key Grip
James Boniece	Key Grip
Pierre Bismuth	Screenwriter
Thomas Viviano	Special Effects
Stéphane Loiselle	Casting
Danny Aiello III	Stunts
Artie Malesci	Stunts
John Favre	Stunts
Mark Bero	Special Effects
Melanie Larue	Casting
Peewee Piemonte	Stunts
E.J. Evans	Stunts
Bob Andres	Key Grip
Blythe Cappello	Casting
Stephen Pope	Stunts
Cort Hessler III	Stunts
Jeanne MCarthy	Casting
Thomas Belson	Sound/Sound Designer
Thomas Nelson	Sound Mixer

Scene Index

	Introduction	vii
	The Shooting Script	1
	Q & A with Charlie Kaufman	131
	Stills: Including Commentary	146
	Cast and Crew Credits	161
	About the Filmmakers	166

Editorial Reviews

At once scathingly unsentimental and thrillingly romantic, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind is the perfect date movie for smart couples. The film offers further evidence of screenwriter Charlie Kaufman's amazing talent for generating intense emotional investment from seemingly absurd situations, and visual fantasist Michel Gondry shows here (as he failed to do in his first collaboration with Kaufman, Human Nature) that he is the perfect director to bring the screenwriter's brilliant, twisted, solipsistic vision to life. Gondry's visual inventiveness matches Kaufman's enjoyably offbeat conceit. In the film's jaw-dropping centerpiece, Gondry and Kaufman literally deconstruct the typical romantic comedy "falling in love" montage, as the technicians of Lacuna work on Joel's (Jim Carrey) brain, erasing the high and low points of his relationship with Clementine (Kate Winslet) as fast as he can remember them. While there's a surface similarity here to the chase through John Malkovich's subconscious in Being John Malkovich, the emotional stakes here are higher, as Joel has a change of heart during the procedure, and, aided by his own mind's version of Clementine, frantically tries to preserve a memory of her, eventually going to comically desperate lengths. Gondry surprises us again and again with the images he conjures from Kaufman's labyrinthine script. In Human Nature, it often seemed as though the filmmakers were holding the bizarre characters up to ridicule, but Eternal Sunshine is, at its core, generous and humane. We can't help but empathize with Joel's yearning or fall for Clementine's passion and confusion. The film is so generously overstuffed with ideas and jokes that it demands repeat viewing. Capturing the joys and pains of romantic obsession as few filmmakers have before, Gondry and Kaufman have come up with a masterpiece.