Now I wish I’d stayed. The go-to source for comic book and superhero movie fans. But they are also opposites that attract. Joel finit toujours par retrouver Clementine. Outside of time, says Nietzsche, the man pulls his historicity, tastes pure present, conquers and feels his freedom. Thus, their love story would disappear forever from their common memory. Can you hear me? Having both made their way to Montauk, which itself stemmed from a memory Joel had during his treatment, they receive the tapes thanks to Mary, a technician at Lacuna, discovering that she herself underwent the memory erasure procedure to forget about her affair with the head of the company, Dr. Howard Mierzwiak. Il a changé d’avis et a tenté d’emmener son souvenir de Clémentine loin dans son enfance, là où personne ne viendrait la trouver. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind's ending doesn't just bring together its various narrative beats and provide a resolution (of sorts) for Joel and Clementine, but it also ties together the themes and deeper meanings of the movie as a whole. The ending to 2004 sci-fi romance Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind brings the story of Joel & Clementine to close, while also leaving their future wide open. Against Locke and most philosophers, who considers the memory as the foundation of identity and thus the stability of the individual, Eternal Sunshine supports to the Nietzsche’s thesis that forgetting is vital to humans, memory, and thereby the memories it accumulates, weighs about man and paralyzes his action. Things could end up different this time, because there's no way of knowing exactly how they will play out, especially with prior knowledge of these things (which could serve to help or severely hinder the relationship). That, yes, it might not work out, but right now that's all part of the adventure they can go on together, as they re-discover who the other person is, and also find a big part of themselves that's been missing too. Vous être curieux du sens d’un film en particulier ou préférez débattre en privé: basilesaintverraut@gmail.com. Joel and Clementine make the romantic choice at the end of Eternal Sunshine: that it's better to love, lose, love, and potentially lose again than it is to not have those real memories. Mary a ensuite découvert qu’elle avait eu une relation avec le Dr Mierzwak par le passé et qu’elle avait demandé à tout effacer de sa mémoire. Aujourd’hui on chasse chez Carrefour (cf La Loi du Marché) et on préfère tuer ses collègues au bureau. Since 2008, The-Philosophy.com acts for the diffusion of the philosophical thoughts. LE COMMENTAIRE. Clementine n’accepte pas que son compagno ne soit pas parfait donc elle veut le quitter. Mary had to discover the hard way of the memory erasure procedure she went through, of the affair with Dr. Mierzwiak, and of it happening all over again. Eternal Sunshine plays around with both time and genre, with large portions taking place in Joel's mind. There are no hints in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind's ending that this is a couple built to last, or that things will end any differently than before. Le cinéma sur le fond plutôt que la forme, Cliquez pour envoyer par e-mail à un ami(ouvre dans une nouvelle fenêtre), Cliquez pour partager sur Facebook(ouvre dans une nouvelle fenêtre), Cliquez pour partager sur WhatsApp(ouvre dans une nouvelle fenêtre), Cliquez pour partager sur Telegram(ouvre dans une nouvelle fenêtre), Cliquez pour partager sur Reddit(ouvre dans une nouvelle fenêtre), SI BEALE STREET POUVAIT PARLER • Explication de Film, En savoir plus sur comment les données de vos commentaires sont utilisées. If this is the case, then Joel and Clementine could have been through this an untold number of times. And while the choice they make is the right, albeit more difficult, one, that doesn't guarantee a happy ending for them. Related: What Happened To Smart Sci-Fi Movies. In short, the question: what I want now, do I want it forever? Cette tentation transhumaniste ne nous rend pas forcément plus heureux par ailleurs (cf Newness). The founding principle of philosophy is perhaps the astonishment, source of the questions. Although the film isn't explicit, which is by its own design, and that "okay" could really mean "okay, let's not try again", the greater implication is that they are back together at this point. Comme si tout était effectivement écrit, comme l’avait annoncé l’oracle Francis Cabrel. What you can choose is whether you accept that love or not, and the risks that come with it and if they're going to be worth it, which is what Joel and Clementine do in the end. Rather than freeing them from the pain the relationship left behind, it only makes matters worse. Imaginons que des ouvriers à la vie monotone puissent se payer le luxe de s’offrir des souvenirs d’une vie un peu plus excitante (cf Total Recall). Il s’y balade sur la plage et fait la rencontre de Clementine (Kate Winslet). On s’envoie des messages sur whatsapp à longueur de journées plutôt que d’apprendre à se connaître et d’essayer de résoudre nos problèmes. Mais comme elle refuse de devoir le quitter, elle préfère l’oublier, sans autre forme d’analyse. Car ce que Joel et Clementine ignorent, c’est qu’ils étaient déjà en couple par le passé. This quote by Nietzsche perfectly illustrates the thesis of The Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, a beautiful philosophical movie of the 90’s, along Gattaca . As the story pushes forward, events replay with certain blanks being filled in, and their relationship has started to blossom - again to the audience, but for the first time to them. Leurs personnalités s’opposent: l’un est plutôt du genre à s’excuser d’avoir pété quand l’autre est du genre à roter bruyamment. When he awoke, Joel will have no memory of Clementine. Against Locke and most philosophers, who considers the memory as the foundation of identity and thus the stability of the individual, Eternal Sunshine supports to the Nietzsche’s thesis that forgetting is vital to humans, memory, and thereby the memories it accumulates, weighs … L’homme pré-historique faisait pudiquement ses besoins dans les champs. Si l’on admet que le monde est régi par des forces mystiques plus que religieuses et que l’amour en est une, alors tout semble indiquer l’amour est plus fort. Human beings not only to love without expectation, but he likes rather according to what the other could bring against expectations and its goals. That Joel and Clementine seemingly choose to try again (and perhaps do so many times) helps speak to the nature and importance of memories as a tool for life lessons; that they're something to be cherished, not erased. They do not learn, draw no lesson from their experiences and their suffering, like amnesiacs. However, we should always keep in mind that through a person seen in the beginning of the relationship does not fade with time. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind ends with them agreeing to start again/for the first time, before closing out with a loop of the pair in the snow. ‘ In the smallest as in the greatest happiness, there is always something that make happiness is happiness: the ability to forget, or to say it more scholarly, the ability to feel for a time outside history ‘ (Nietzsche, Seconds Considerations). Before being a field of study, it is above all a way of seeing the world, of questioning it. Suite à une énième dispute, Clementine avait décidé d’aller chez Lacuna pour effacer tout souvenir de Joel. The pair both undergo treatments to have their memories of the other removed, although not before recording tapes to remind them of every little thing they hated about the other. Here's what happens and what it all really means. À force de tergiverser, on a laissé l’amour devenir un business dominé par des compagnies qui effacent les sentiments ou qui les encouragent. Today is a holiday invented by greeting card companies to make people feel like crap. The phrase “… meet me in Montauk …” should have a place in the pantheon of the best quotes from the film. The four little words uttered by Clementine, is meant hard, as if it breathed through his mind, want to tell Joel to return to Montauk, the place of their first appointment. Serait-elle plus belle pour autant? But at the same time, part of making mistakes is to take the opportunity to grow and learn from them; to do things differently. That they are so drawn together shows that love is boundless and a person cannot choose who they love; it can be unpredictable and senseless, but that's the way it works. The scene briefly plays, and then jarringly cuts back to the beginning, happening several times over on a loop. Michael Gondry's Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind has an ending that's both ambiguous and satisfying. And yet, despite that, the closing moments of the film do ostensibly see them getting back together despite those risks; both are accepting of it, as evidenced by the repetition of "okay", but they're going to try. La seule lueur d’espoir semble venir du fait que les vraies relations finissent toujours par s’attirer. Related: The Best Sci-Fi Movies On Netflix. Il encaissait parce qu’il n’avait tout simplement pas d’autres options. Preuve qu’on n’est jamais content de rien, Joel décide finalement de lutter contre ce qu’il a déclenché. However, both characters are placed in this recurring situation , returning the same and they accept each time to relive their choice. I wish I’d stayed, too. The last scene of the film seems to be a conclusion that no impression of lucidity hug and kiss any languorous are exchanged. It's all those memories that make up a person's life, and Joel and Clementine need that if they're to go on. Capricieux. Amnesia is presented as a lightness, a source of creativity and freedom. This theory of eternal recurrence, whose Nietzsche inherits from the Stoics, is a thought experiment would be to ask, before you act, if you would do the same choice for all eternity. Moins douloureux. Les possibilités offertes par le transhumanisme sont infinies, c’est pour cela qu’elles sont si effrayantes. Cette explication n’engage que son auteur. This film is a beautiful metaphor of the Nietzschean concept of eternal recurrence of all things. Les plus romantiques d’entre rêveraient sûrement d’effacer les événements les plus douloureux de leur mémoire. Rather than seeing our love as the person who could give consistency to our being, the loved one is simply subordinate to our desire for perfection. Laissé sans explication, Joel trinque sans accepter non plus son processus de deuil. Le divorce est une porte de sortie (cf Marriage Story). A pharmaceutical tablet that could erase the memory of an individual is still part of science fiction, but let’s face it, if we had the opportunity to benefit from such a pill, there are certain moments of our existence as we would like to erase from our memory. They choose the intensity of life in a dull wisdom which they can not do that. Although Kauffman shifted away from this, and into something that is at once perhaps more ambiguous and more hopeful (and works better, in truth), it supports the notions the film itself does have in that Joel and Clem have been through this before. Aujourd’hui on utilise du désodorisant WC, parfumé à la lavande. The-Philosophy.com - 2008-2019, Nietzsche’s influence on the philosophy of Eternal Sunshine, Related articles on Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004), Review: “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind”, https://www.the-philosophy.com/eternal-sunshine-spotless-mind-analysis. Indeed, if them getting back together is to highlight the oft-cyclical nature of life and the way people can repeat mistakes, then it would be easy to argue fairly strongly that they will break-up once more. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind is about memory - and so too is life, but that goes for both good and bad. Michel Gondry, 2004. It may end in heartache, but they also know it'll bring happiness, laughter, and love into their lives, so it has to be worth a shot. This regret at experiencing the same pain twice (and quite specifically, the pain of hearbreak), without first being given the opportunity to learn and grow from it, is a key part of the human experience that she was robbed of. Notre égoïsme nous a poussés à ne plus faire la moindre concession. And it is this opposition between the two personalities that lead first to friction between the couple, then break. Parce que la vie est courte et qu’il faut profiter de tout, absolument. At once ambiguous and satisfying, and hopeful but with the potential of more devastation to follow, it's a stunning climax that lingers long after the credits have rolled. Etymologically, philosophy means love of wisdom. Détachés de tout (cf Detachment), on ne supporte plus nos ex sans pour autant supporter l’idée qu’elles puissent être avec d’autres. And since it didn't work before, it could mean it won't work again. In the end, they choose to take a leap of faith with one another, and to decide to explore their feelings and see where they lead, rather than just shutting them off completely and being miserable again. Even the weather fits this: snow itself can represent a fresh start, a blanket covering what went before, that then melts away. Directed by Michael Gondry from a script by Charlie Kauffman, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind follows Joel Barish (Jim Carrey) and Clementine Kruczynski, two strangers who meet on a train and then fall in and out of love. While Joel may insist that he "can't think of anything" he doesn't like about her, Clementine responds that he will, and that she'll "get bored...and feel trapped." As soon as he enters into a relationship, the individual is inclined to idealize the person he meets on a regular basis. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind has been celebrated as a modern masterpiece since its release, and a large part of that is down to its ending. I’m just a fucked-up girl who’s lookin’ for my own peace of mind; don’t assign me yours. La vérification e-mail a échoué, veuillez réessayer. Related: Is Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind On Netflix, Hulu Or Prime? This idealization ensures that the individual will love to believe that his ambitions could become his own and by dint of persuasion, he could bring to consider things as he sees them. L’homme pré-historique avait besoin de feu pour vivre. Joel and Clementine are very different people, and they bring out both the best and the worst in each other. This theme returns again to Nietzsche, especially the theme of the Eternal Recurrence. C’est ainsi que Clementine et Joel découvrent qu’ils se sont effacés mutuellement de leur mémoire respective. Ces technologies qui nous rapprochent nous éloignent des réalités. Random thoughts for Valentine’s day, 2004. On n’accepte pas l’inévitable, comme le fait que le manège puisse s’arrêter. L’homme pré-historique vivait aussi des histoires d’amour passionnées et connaissait parfois des séparations douloureuses. Après l’avoir découvert, il a décidé lui aussi de procéder à un lavage de cerveau, par colère et par dépit. Impossible de partager les articles de votre blog par e-mail. Both sides are aware of the reality of their situation, are willing to start their life in love, to forget that they had failed the first attempt, as they believe that the good times they live supplant times of pain they will suffer inevitably. This quote by Nietzsche perfectly illustrates the thesis of The Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, a beautiful philosophical movie of the 90’s, along Gattaca. Imaginons que des ouvriers à la vie monotone puissent se payer le luxe de s’offrir des souvenirs d’une vie un peu plus excitante (cf Total Recall). Even if they do break-up again, they cannot be complete without knowing what it's like to be with each other, because it's a very literal missing piece of their respective puzzles. That’s what Joel realizes when undergoing the process of erasing his memory: it is the idiosyncrasies of Clementine that he liked, his spontaneity, his impulsiveness, his loquacity, in short, the characteristics of its personality contrasts with his. Même s’ils savent que leur relation semble être vouée à l’échec (cf Love), ils veulent retenter l’aventure malgré tout – en conscience. Mary (Kirsten Dunst), Stan (Mark Ruffalo) et Patrick (Elijah Wood) ont débarqué chez Joel pour procéder à l’opération. Good morning Lacuna. Comme si certaines personnes étaient bien faites l’une pour l’autre. A one-stop shop for all things video games. Mary mails out all the tapes, and eventually both Joel and Clementine come to listen. Ils écoutent toutes les raisons qui les éloignent. La vie s’en trouverait changée. Here's what happens and what it means. Powered by WordPress. That Joel and Clementine seemingly choose to try again (and perhaps do so many times) helps speak to the nature and … Constantly looking for personal development and improvement, the Man would like the people around him adhere to his life goals. I don’t want this any more! He’s seducing my girlfriend with MY words and MY things! Then, philosophy related to the activity of argue rationally about astonishment. The columns of the site are open to external contributions. Constantly talking is not necessarily communicating. Ils passent la nuit à discuter ensemble comme deux amoureux qu’ils vont redevenir. Ultimately, over the course of the movie, Joel and Clementine do find their way back to each other, although it's not an easy path, nor a linear one. ETERNAL SUNSHINE OF THE SPOTLESS MIND. Cite this article as: Tim, "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind – Analysis, May 2, 2011, " in. Les besoins primaires de l’humanité n’ont pas beaucoup évolué. The-Philosophy helps high-school & university students but also curious people on human sciences to quench their thirst for knowledge. Les possibilités offertes par le transhumanisme sont infinies, c’est pour cela qu’elles sont si effrayantes. Outside of its central characters, side plots involving Lacuna, the company who carry out the procedures, then begin to develop and coalesce, bringing everything together in the film's final third. Mary's choice isn't just of her lashing out in anger at Dr. Mierzwiak and an attempt at revenge - though it is both of those things, not least because of the damage it will do to the company - but because of how she gives Joel, Clementine, and all the other Lacuna patients the choice that she never had. Nous sommes restés des enfants qui veulent tout, sans savoir ce qu’ils veulent vraiment. Despite the pain love can cause, it's ultimately going to be worth it for the joy and, of course, memories it will bring and leave you with. This was not the case because returning to Montauk, the lovers resume their love affair despite the fact that they are aware that one day it will end. Moreover, an employee of Dr. Mierzwiak, Mary Svevo, recited twice a famous aphorism by the philosopher: “Blessed are the forgetful, for They Get Even the better of Their blunders.”. En savoir plus sur comment les données de vos commentaires sont utilisées. But knowing what they do now, it begs a fair question of why they're going to go through with it, despite having heard where it'll lead. The cyclical, non-linear structure of the film's narrative itself suggests that this is a real possibility, and that Joel and Clementine have walked down this path many times before. This suggests that Joel and Clementine themselves are trapped in this very loop, of finding one another, falling in love, starting to resent each other, breaking up and having their memories wiped, and then finding their way back to each other again, the process beginning anew each time. I wish I’d done a lot of things. The ending of Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind then also ties into grander themes still of love, and more specifically who we love, and the choices (or lack thereof) around that. Aujourd’hui on ne peut plus vivre sans batterie. His partner would then become its reciprocal and not simply its complement. Et donc on a forcément envie que ça continue. Next: The 25 Best Films on Netflix Right Now, All the latest gaming news, game reviews and trailers. Julien Josset, founder. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind's ending not only sees Clementine come within a minute of walking out of Joel's life, but it even acknowledges that the pair getting back together is a potentially huge mistake. Often in life that way be with other people, but Joel and Clementine have a rare second chance to start anew together. We can say that Joel and Clementine are Nietzschean characters because they are pure becomings, transcendence of suffering, in short pure affirmation of life. Une fois la mission terminée, Mary s’est mise soudainement à flirter avec le Dr Mierzwak, se faisant attraper par sa femme jalouse et qui l’avait suivi en pleine nuit. The notion is also supported by Kauffman's original script for the film (via Screenplays For You) which, among its differences (including a framing device of Mary trying to sell a manuscript of the story), ends with a much older version of Clementine, whose file has "a list of fifteen dates of previous erasures stretching back fifty years, all of them involving Joel Barish." That itself is ultimately a choice in favor of love - and a victory for it too. Vindicative, Mary a volé tous les dossiers de la compagnie pour les envoyer aux clients. * We have published more than 500 articles, all seeking directly or indirectly to answer this question. That's not something Mary can rectify with herself, because she went through the treatment alone and because of who she tried to forget, but it's something other people - not least Joel and Clementine - can learn from. We too often forget that human beings are made and contrast what is considered a “defect” can be a personality trait that differentiates it from its fellows. Quant à la technologie, elle nous permet de ne plus rien accepter. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, perhaps unsurprisingly, has both Joel and Clementine learning the truth not only of what happened to them, but what they thought about each other before undergoing the procedure. Clementine decides to erase from his memory all traces of their relationship. Ils ont simplement changé de forme. The site thus covers the main philosophical traditions, from the Presocratic to the contemporary philosophers, while trying to bring a philosophical reading to the cultural field in general, such as cinema, literature, politics or music. Know first of all that there is no single answer to this question. That itself, however, does nothing to undercut their journey, but instead shows the powerful connection they share, and how they will keep finding their way back to one another. Instead, the “hypermnesic” (inability to forget) would be pure retention, pure nostalgia. One of the most decisive moments in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind comes not from Joel or Clementine, but Mary (Kirsten Dunst), the Lacuna employee who sends out the tapes. Plus pratique. One of the major questions left behind by Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind's ending is whether what we're seeing play out is the first and/or only time Joel and Clementine have had their memories wiped. The moment the relationship is progressing over by our desires and the other no longer complies with the idealized image we had built in the early morning of love, we feel frustrated and sometimes we think to end the relationship to continue our quest for the perfect soul mate.