Romantic Comedy analysis-Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

As usual, I'd like to start this off by saying something rather strongly-I do NOT believe "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (Michael Gondy (2004)) to be a romantic comedy-far from it. With very few exceptions, I found little to no humor in what was portrayed on screen- just the opposite, in fact. The sick desperation with which Joel (Jim Carry) attempts to keep Clementine (Kate Winslet) within his memories was chilling to a degree that made me grit my teeth once or twice-he even went so far as to "hide her in his humiliation" a scene that, to me, showed exactly how attached he had become. Further, watching Clementine gets emotionally tortured-yes tortured-by Patrick, a man who is only with her because of his sick habit of imitating Joel's romantic memories and patterns. The torture I refer to comes from exactly that. Clementine is able to realize that something is amiss when her boyfriend Patrick (Elijah Wood) continually imitates things that Joel did for her...one scene in particular comes to mind, that being the scene where Patrick re-enacts the "Honeymoon on Ice" that Clementine and Joel shared, reaching it's climax when Patrick imitates the "I'm so happy...I could die right here" comment. It is chilling to see Clementine sit up in distress and begin to walk around, obviously confused as to what is going on. This scene also serves to demonstrate that even after Lacuna has done its procedure, the receipients retain subconcious memories of that which they have decided to erase, causing huge emotional distress when the erased memories are brought up, intentionally or not. This is further demonstrated when Mary (Kirsten Dunst) who, at the time is dating Stan (Mark Ruffalo) is reminded about an affair she had (and subsequently erased) with the head doctor of the clinic in charge of said erasing procedure, one Dr. Howard Mierzwiak (Tom Wilkinson). Ironically she is informed of the affair by none other then the good doctor's wife. This revelation apparently shakes her to her core, to the point of not only breaking off her relationship with Stan (strongly implied), but also breaking into the Lacuna offices, where the files of all the procedures are kept, and mailing them to everyone involved. The key point here, of course, is the fact that none of this depressing imagery and dialogue is in no way comedic-if anything, one must classify this movie as a "romantic-horror" flick, and a chilling one at that.

Western Characteristics

When people here the word Western, most people have a similar mental image. A rough and tough cowboy goes on a quest for vengeance, a devious villain with a gun, and a damsel and distress. Amusingly enough, this is fairly close to the truth, as most characters in Westerns fall under common denominations, covered below.

The rugged cowboy/sheriff with a strong sense of justice

This character is usually the main character, or barring that, one of the lead roles. Usually, he will be fairly righteous, sometimes to the point of being hypocritical and often brutal (Little Bill in Unforgiven (Clint Eastwood, 1992) for example). Usually, he'll join up with the reformed outlaw that’s trying to take justice into his own hands, or will be cast as the antagonist of the movie who is trying to kill the protagonist, who is usually the so called reformed outlaw out for one more hit (Unforgiven again). In this situation, he is, at the very least, sympathetic to the antagonist if he himself is not filling that role.

The reformed outlaw

Covered briefly above, the reformed outlaw is exactly what he sounds like. At one point or another, this person has committed a crime (usually murder) and he has sworn off his old ways forever for some reason, be it his wife, his children, or the fact that he doesn't need the money from his "hits" anymore-maybe he just got tired of it. Regardless, the end result is usually this character. He usually will be tempted by his old ways at least once, and at will succumb to those desires without fail, at least once during the film. Usually, this person will become involved in at least one shootout during the course of the movie, during which he will kill villain X, thereby succumbing to his old demons and/or achieving revenge for his murdered brother, mother, girlfriend, or other tragically killed minor character who we rarely, if ever, see (an exception to this comes, once again, from Unforgiven-we often see the cut up prostitute, and her character is fairly well developed. We never see Will Munny's (Clint Eastwood's) wife, seeing as she's dead.


The main antagonist

This is the most bland of the Western stereotypes. The main antagonist is usually a man (read: always a man) who usually holds a grudge against the main protagonist, assuming of course that the antagonist is not part of a gang of thugs that kills people for fun, in which case the protagonist will probably have a grudge against said gang for killing the aforementioned wife/girlfriend/son/daughter. The main antagonist will never actually live through the film, and will usually be killed in a glorious and/or dramatic shoot out. He may or may not have an accomplice, and if he does, he'll either be the loveable sidekick that ultimately realizes that what he's doing is wrong, the person who didn't actually do anything and is just caught in the middle, or someone as rotten as the main antagonist himself.


These and other stereotypical characters combine to make the Western what it is-an oft times over done but always entertaining tale of redemption, love, and ultimately, facing old demons.

Analyzing Pan's Labirynth

First off, I want to make my position on this movie clear-I thought it was absolutely wonderful. The acting was superb, the costumes were refined, the music fit the scene, and the scenes themselves were rendered in such detail that I could scarcely believe I was watching a DVD-in particular, the labyrinth itself was beautifully rendered. But above all else, one thing stood out to me, and that was its amazing script. Upon further investigation, I found out that the director and the screenwriter were one and the same, one Guillermo del Toro. Hollywood.com listed his professions as director, special makeup effects designer. Interestingly, this list does not list screenwriter as a profession, although if the credentials on Pan's Labyrinth are to be believed, "screenwriter" must be added to his list of professions. He graduated from University of Guadalajara Guadalajara, Mexico. Del Toro has a large list of movies under his belt, ranging from "Dona Herlinda Y Su Hijo" a.k.a. Dona Herlinda and Her Son in 1984 to his latest movie, the subject of this analysis (or at least the latest movie that I could find that he had produced), in 2006. If one were to watch Pan's Labyrinth one could classify it as a horror movie without too many problems. Yes, their are some elements of fantasy and history, but who can honestly say they didn't shutter when they beheld the monster from Ofelia's second task, or gritted their teeth at the scene (SPOILERS) where the captain is torturing a captured rebel? Upon further investigation, it can be found that Del Toro was taken by the horror genre from a very young age. Apparently, he was terrified by the episode "Mutant" from the series "The Outer Limits" (ABC, 1963-65). After seeing monsters in his closet, the "bogeyman" if you will, he made a deal with all the monsters he was seeing-if they would let him into his bedroom without harm, he would devote his life to them. Ignoring the films of his amateur days, his first "real" film was “Cronos” (1992), which took a new look at the story of the vampire. His first Hollywood movie however, came in 1997, with Mimic. Ultimately however, Del Toro was not happy with the finished product, and he felt that the studio had put too much pressure on him. After that venture, he created the independently produced film "The Devil's Backbone" in 2001, after which he returned once again to Hollywood, directing "Blade 2" in 2002, and "Hellboy" in 2004. Interestingly enough, Pan's Labyrinth drew on the time and place covered in "The Devil's Backbone". A prime example of an artist drawing off of his own works. Pan's Labyrinth would ultimately go on to win five "Academy Awards Nods including Best Cinematography, Best Original Screenplay and Best Foreign Language Film."


ALL QUOTES AND INFORMATION IN THIS BLOG ENTRY CAME FROM
"http://www.hollywood.com/celebrity/Guillermo_del_Toro/199287#fullBio"
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