Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind (2004) is a romantic sci-fi movie that promises to take its viewers on a journey down memory lane, specifically lead character Joel's memory, after he chooses to forget his ex-girlfriend, Clementine. The film is filled with ever-changing imagery and settings.
The plot is easy to follow, but can become confusing with all the twists and details. It's beautifully made and rife with little hints and setups for the ensuing plot.
Joel Can't Remember 'Oh My Darling Clementine'
When Joel and Clementine meet on the train to Montauk, Clementine introduces herself and makes a joke about people singing the song 'Oh My Darling Clementine' to her, which Joel doesn't know.
Later on the in film, Joel hides his memory of Clementine inside a childhood memory, one in which his mother sings as she bathes baby Joel. The song is 'Oh My Darling Clementine,' and the memory is erased. When Joel and Clementine first met before their memories were wiped, Joel did indeed reference the song to Clementine.
Mary Repeating Her Affections
During Joel's comatose state, Mary and Dr. Howard Mierzwiak have a romantic moment. Dr. Howard's wife sees them through the window and drives off, while Mary insists it was nothing. His wife says that it has happened before.
This serves as foreshadowing because, despite its attempts, the memory wipe doesn't work at removing the affections of the heart and those unable to learn from their mistakes are doomed to repeat them.
Precious Memories
The start of the film shows a version of Joel who is determined to rid his mind of Clementine. If she doesn't remember him, why should he have to deal with the pain of what they once were alone? But during the reliving of his memories in the erasing process, Joel learns just how precious and important these memories are to him.
He doesn't want to forget Clementine, despite the downhill progression of their relationship. This foreshadows Joel and Clementine's decision to give their relationship another go. They know what it will become, but they want to experience and have those memories.
It's A Love Story In Reverse
Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind shows viewers the love story of Joel and Clementine as it is being removed from Joel's mind. The films show their relationship and the affection they had towards each other after Joel and Clementine have already met for the second time.
The ball has already started rolling. All the wonderful times they experienced foreshadow the fact that they are bound to fall for each other once again.
Memory Of Meeting Joe Wiped From Clementine
When Clementine decides to sit closer to Joel on the train and strike up a conversation, she asks if she knows him from somewhere, as he feels familiar to her.
She decides it must be from seeing him come to where she works. When Joel went to talk to Clementine on Valentine's day, she had already forgotten him. But Joel didn't remember, as it was part of his memory wipe. Joel's visit to Clementine when she had already forgotten him ensured her interest in him on the train.
Patrick Appearing Outside Clementine's Apartment
Patrick is first introduced as a seemingly random guy talking to Joel through the car window. Patrick is also the man Joel sees being intimate with memory-wiped Clementine. Viewers think nothing of it at first, but then Patrick is introduced as an employee of Lacuna and he seems all too familiar.
When he mentions he is seeing someone to fellow employee Stan, things start to fall in place. This clarifies Patrick being interested in why Joel was outside Clementine's building.
Clementine's Orange Hoodie
When Joel meets Clementine on the train to Montauk, she is wearing her bright orange hoodie. It's the same hoodie that drew Joel's attention when they first met at the beach party. "That orange sweatshirt, I would come to know so well and even hate eventually. At the time I thought, how cool, an orange sweatshirt."
The orange sweatshirt was what drew Joel to Clementine when they first met. So logically, having forgotten that first thought Joe would again think the color was interesting when seeing it anew.
Joel's Thought When Seeing Clementine
When Joel sees Clementine on the station platform and on the train, he thinks "Why do I fall in love with every woman I see who shows me the least bit of attention?" And he had. He had fallen in love with Clementine before. And here he was again, doomed to fall in love with her again.
In a way, it was like Joel knew he had once loved her and been hurt by their relationship. The first time they met on the beach, Joel was more open towards her. The second first time they met on the train, Joel was more reserved.
Joel's Fight To Keep His Memories
When Joel sees Clementine at the bookstore, she has already forgotten him. He goes to his friends' house and they show him a slip of paper they were sent from Lacuna. Joel reads the paper and suddenly becomes disoriented. Clementine's name vanishes from the paper.
Joel is already inside his memories but doesn't seem to know it. After some time, his thoughts clarify and he understands what is happening to him. He begins to fight his memory loss process and fight for Clementine.
Joel's Notebook
Joel narrates his internal monologue and mentions the missing pages from his notebook. He is seen drawing in the notebook early on. He is also seen drawing Clementine during their relationship together. All objects associated with Clementine were given to Lacuna to ensure a smooth memory wipe transition.
Joel's drawing of Clementine on the train when he is supposedly meeting her for the first time foreshadows the drawing that he kept of Clementine in his apartment and his love of drawing her.