DVD: Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind - Collector’s Edition

Following their break up, Joel (Jim Carrey) is shocked when he finds that his ex-girlfriend Clementine (Kate Winslet) has erased all memory of their relationship. Taking it badly, he calls upon the Lacuna company to remove his memories and help him deal with the pain of his loss...


In Finding Nemo there’s a scene where Marlin leaves Dory behind, and when her short-term memory loss kicks in she swims around and around worried that she’s supposed to be with someone but not able to remember who. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind takes that feeling and inflates it a thousand fold, as Joel only starts to realize what he’s about to lose as he relives the memories as they are removed from his mind.

Wonderfully touching performances from the two leads – you actually forget you’re watching Jim Carey and Winslet buries her ‘classical Kate’ image – are topped off by an incredible supporting cast. The relationships of the staff at Lacuna play parallel to the main story, with Kirsten Dunst, Mark Ruffalo, Elijah Wood and Tom Wilkinson all on the kind of form that wins awards.

This collector’s edition DVD is all about the extras. However, at first glance you think the movie must have started to believe its own press. The photo book of stills could be a wonderful album showing Joel and Clementine’s relationship, but the snippets of reviews overlaying the pictures spoils the feel of it.

The new featurette Inside the Mind of Michel Gondry also opens with gushing comments from the cast and crew, but happily settles down into a very watchable documentary. Gondry’s vision is lauded throughout, mainly for his refusal to use what he calls “the stupid blue screen” when it comes to effects, preferring to find real world ways to solve problems. While this doesn’t always work – and some of the outtakes prove that – it’s nice to see a shoot that allows him to experiment and then sort it out in the editing suite.

This is a powerful and moving story shot in an innovative way. And with some quality extras to boot, it doesn’t get much better.

Buy Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind on DVD at Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com