This film blew me away because I simply wasnt expecting it to be what it was. Though I had a feeling it would be something special, I didnt realise I would be so involved and, by the end, so totally moved! It appears that everything Kauffman touches turns to gold!
First and foremost, a wonderful and unusual, eccentric story, that when told to a friend sounds ridiculous, but when watched on the big screen is perfectly feasible. The script was great, you totally believed the dialogue that the characters shared and each character had his/her own individual voice.
The imagery was alternately beautiful and horrifying. Featureless faces and memories being raced against before their erasure was a masterstroke! Joel's memories of Clementine and his placing her in different parts of his memory was very clever, and very well done, relying on the visual medium (which made it easier for me to understand hehe).
Something that occurred to me after leaving the cinema was that there was evidence of couples within the film that would go on to have the Lacuna treatment. Joel's friends, the couple (one of which was Mel in Frasier I believe?), looked as if they would soon be candidates for the treatment, and the young man who was clearly more into Kirsten Dunst than she was into him also looked as though he'd be a candidate. This I found subtle and clever.
The acting was simply flawless. I realised after watching the film that it was probably the first genuinely good film I'd seen Kate Winslet in (who will ever forget Titanic?), and my god she was redeemed for that film! Not only was her accent perfect, she managed to be a character that you liked, but also wanted to shake! And you could tell that the relationship would have worked had they kept their eyes open and not allowed themselves to hate eachother, because the line between love and hate is a very fine one! It is a rare thing to have a believable love between two fictional characters.
The star of the show though was Carrey. I find him irritating and embarrassing in his comedic roles (Bruce Almighty I found horrendous) but it appears that he cant do wrong when he stars in carefully chosen dramas. The Truman Show, Man On the Moon and Eternal Sunshine... are all superb films, and he never fails to impress me in his dramatic roles.....I would love to see him in more. And SURELY this year he has to be at least nominated for an Oscar! Who would have thought it, that the 'rubber faced genius' (debatable!) would not only be a good straight actor, but also an Oscar worthy candidate.....that would shake up Hollywood a little I should think!
First and foremost, a wonderful and unusual, eccentric story, that when told to a friend sounds ridiculous, but when watched on the big screen is perfectly feasible. The script was great, you totally believed the dialogue that the characters shared and each character had his/her own individual voice.
The imagery was alternately beautiful and horrifying. Featureless faces and memories being raced against before their erasure was a masterstroke! Joel's memories of Clementine and his placing her in different parts of his memory was very clever, and very well done, relying on the visual medium (which made it easier for me to understand hehe).
Something that occurred to me after leaving the cinema was that there was evidence of couples within the film that would go on to have the Lacuna treatment. Joel's friends, the couple (one of which was Mel in Frasier I believe?), looked as if they would soon be candidates for the treatment, and the young man who was clearly more into Kirsten Dunst than she was into him also looked as though he'd be a candidate. This I found subtle and clever.
The acting was simply flawless. I realised after watching the film that it was probably the first genuinely good film I'd seen Kate Winslet in (who will ever forget Titanic?), and my god she was redeemed for that film! Not only was her accent perfect, she managed to be a character that you liked, but also wanted to shake! And you could tell that the relationship would have worked had they kept their eyes open and not allowed themselves to hate eachother, because the line between love and hate is a very fine one! It is a rare thing to have a believable love between two fictional characters.
The star of the show though was Carrey. I find him irritating and embarrassing in his comedic roles (Bruce Almighty I found horrendous) but it appears that he cant do wrong when he stars in carefully chosen dramas. The Truman Show, Man On the Moon and Eternal Sunshine... are all superb films, and he never fails to impress me in his dramatic roles.....I would love to see him in more. And SURELY this year he has to be at least nominated for an Oscar! Who would have thought it, that the 'rubber faced genius' (debatable!) would not only be a good straight actor, but also an Oscar worthy candidate.....that would shake up Hollywood a little I should think!