Narrative Analysis #1: "Eternal Sunshine"

For this narrative analysis I will discuss the work “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind,” directed by Michel Gondry, a film I recently viewed. A brief summary of the plot is that a man wishes to undergo a procedure to erase the painful memories of his ex-girlfriend. However, during the procedure he realizes he wants to stop the erasure, and struggles to hold on to the memories. The narrative elements that I found to be most significant to the film include elements within the plot such as structure, perception of time, conflict, and suspense and surprise. While these are typical elements of any narrative, I think that the way in which the director has chosen to present these elements to the audience is unique in “Eternal Sunshine.”

In terms of plot, the story is quite simple. However, the unfolding of events and information in the plot is more complex. Most of the important information is revealed to the main character, Joel, as well as to the audience, while he is dreaming and literally watching his memories being erased. While the memory erasing processes takes place during the present time in the film, the memories we see are actually events that happened in the past. Based on this information it could be argued that the plot is not presented in chronological order. This refers to discourse, which is how the director or author chooses to order the events of the story, as well as which parts of the story to reveal.

On the other hand, there are facts presented in the story that change our perception of time from the past to the present. During Joel’s procedure, both him and the audience can hear voices outside of his dream. The voices are coming from the people who are monitoring his memory erasure. In this case there is a sense of synchrony because we are viewing events from the past, as Joel revisits his memories, and being exposed to audio that is occurring in the present, and these are both happening at the same time. More importantly, it is through these voices that both the audience and the character learn new information about events and other characters. While everyone knows that Clementine has erased Joel from her memory, we find out that one of the medical technicians for Joel’s procedure is Clementine’s new boyfriend. We also learn that this character has “stolen” Joel’s memories, in addition to his girlfriend.
As Joel revisits memories of Clementine before they are erased, the details of their relationship and past events are presented to the audience. While the viewer learns of the problems in the relationship between the characters, Joel has an epiphany and realizes that he wants to hold on to the memories, and wants to wake up from the procedure. This fact reveals to us that Joel is experiencing an internal conflict. The conflict is that he is stuck in a dream and is being forced to revisit his memories, and then watch them be erased. The turning point of the story is when he realizes he has control over his memories and he fights to hold on to them and hide from the force that is erasing them. This aspect of the story is very much like a video game that the character is trying to beat. It also takes on a “choose-your-own-adventure” quality. As Joel relives memories of Clementine, he tries to change the events and hide her from being erased from his memory.

It is in the final events of the story that the elements of surprise occur. From outside of Joel’s character, the doctor working on his procedure has noticed glitches in the system, due to Joel’s desire to escape. Despite this, the doctor fixes the problem and is successful and erasing Joel’s memories. However, we are surprised when Joel and Clementine meet again, and even more surprised when someone has given them access to the tape recordings from when they both revealed to the doctor that they wanted their memories of each other erased. Here, both the audience and the characters find out even more information about the problems of their past relationship.

Gondry’s “Eternal Sunshine” is an extraordinary example of narrative. While it contains many of the traditional elements of narrative, they are presented in a new and complex way. In many scenes of the film, both the audience and character are finding out new information at the same time, which mainly occurs during Joel’s dream sequence. I think that this technique is useful in helping the audience relate to the character. Perhaps we may even put ourselves in this character’s shoes and question whether we would want to erase painful memories from our past, or live with them and try to change the present instead.