Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind is an Academy Award-winning film by director Michel Gondry, who co-wrote it with Charlie Kaufman and Pierre Bismuth. Jim Carrey and Kate Winslet play Joel and Clementine—two radically different people who are inexplicably drawn to each other when they meet on the train. As the movie unfolds, it is revealed that they are former lovers who underwent a special medical procedure to have the memories of their painful relationship erased from their minds. Using visual effects, the film explores Joel's mind as each memory is taken away, even when he begins to second-guess his decision.

Kaufman, who won the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay along with Gondry and Bismuth, also wrote Adaptation and Being John Malkovich. Gondry also directed The Science of Sleep and many well-known music videos, including "Fell in Love with a Girl" by The White Stripes and "Everlong" by the Foo Fighters.

Fast Facts

1. Release Date: March 19, 2004
2. Director: Michel Gondry
3. Starring: Jim Carrey, Kate Winslet, Kirsten Dunst, Mark Ruffalo, Elijah Wood
4. Rating: R
5. Won the 2005 Oscar for Best Original Screenplay

Film Title

The title of the movie comes from the poem "Eloisa to Abelard" by Alexander Pope. Four lines are quoted in the film:

"How happy is the blameless vestal's lot! The world forgetting, by the world forgot. Eternal sunshine of the spotless mind! Each pray'r accepted, and each wish resign'd."

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