I really have to muster myself up to watch this movie. Kaufmans understanding of vulnerability paired with Carreys excellent performance just leave you wanting to cry but holding it all in and yearning for hours after watching it. With that said, this is one of my absolute favorites but man does it take an emotional toll. Anyone else just really appreciate someone like Charlie Kaufman for caring that much about emotion?
shareKaufman is a great writer, he knows how to deal with human emotions, I think he's my favorite writer and I hope he makes more movies in the future.
shareYep, I watch it every Valentine's Day, and I bawl, not just cry, bawl. I LOVE this movie. It is my favorite film of all time.
The entire childhood being erased kills me. Joel hurting SO bad and asking "why, why did she do that to me?"
I've said that same line A HUNDRED times. It's so painful to be hurt. But, there is love in this that goes beyond our understanding really.
I cannot express how much this film touched me personally. I felt like I was the only one in the theater watching it.
Perfection!
"Guys like you don't die on toilets." Mel Gibson-Riggs, Lethal Weapon
The entire childhood being erased kills me.Were his childhood memories actually being erased, or was he using those as places to "hide" Clementine from the procedure? At the end of those scenes (bath in the sink, killing the bird) Clementine was gone but Joel remained, meaning the memories were still in tact but his efforts to hide her were unsuccessful.
Interesting question! Hiding Clem in childhood memories starting causing problems for the techies and they had to call the Doctor in as an emergency situation. I'm assuming this was the main risk of the procedure, if i were to speculate i would say that Joel probably lost some childhood memories (or they were scrambled/confused) of being bathed in the sink and some of the other examples while the Doc tried to re-route his memories back to Clem.
If Joel thought back to his mother bathing him in the sink and went "Clem, whenever i think about my childhood baths, i'm reminded of you. And I once had a babysitter that showed me her panties that looked like you". He'd probably check himself into therapy to work through some bizarre Oedipus complexes that he didn't actually have. Another reason Mary was right in trying to boycott Lacuna.
You've given a valid and quite possibly accurate explanation. I just wonder that since she was never successfully hidden in the childhood "hiding" spots, those memories remained as they were for Joel, i.e. no Clem "babysitter" at all.
shareGood point. I think in the trivia or faq's it's mentioned that originally Clem and Joel have a long history of breaking up and getting back together because of Lacuna. This makes me wonder... If this is a continuous cycle, including hiding Clem in childhood memories, if Clem remains as a ghost memory or residual memory to Joel? One of Joel's internal dialogues when he first spots Clem on the beach is "Why am i attracted to any woman that shows me the tiniest amount of attention" or words to that effect. Maybe he is only partially correct in his questioning. It could be that any time he see's Clem he gravitates to her because he has that feeling that he's known her for a long time (and of course has loved her). Clem may be absent from his childhood memories, but a whisper of her remains intact enough for him to feel he needs to pursue her...?
shareI could be wrong, but I believe it's suggested that those childhood memories where erased from Joel's mind. Whilst on the train together, when Clementine tells him her name, she sings the Huckleberry Hound song, to which he states that he doesn't know it. His mother was singing this song to him when he was being washed in the sink, so the memory of that song was erased. That's how I interpreted it.
shareI have also rarely seen a movie, that describes how relationships develop so perfectly.
https://hayareviews.wordpress.com/ Short and fast movie reviews
The film term is called "haunting", as in it still haunts me long after I watched it ... and it still does!
shareMe too... This has honestly been in my "!to-watch & delete" folder for like 5 months or more at number 2... Idling there like a pit in my stomach knowing how good it is, but not remembering why, or it was terribly sad.
I keep skipping over it or finding something else that's usually more up my alley like "rush" or "city of god" etc. Great movies in their own right but not "haunting"... I think it stings people who have been truly hearbroken. My dad used to tell me it happens to everyone it's only happened to me once, I used to do it to people not thinking it was really a big deal, stop calling when I was 18 or cower my way out or go out with a bang and attempt to consolidate the friendship --since thats what any good relationship entails, a good friendship as well-- but the friendship thing really never works, That was my 20's... Friendship worked for a couple girls in my case but it's never the same, it's like a once every couple months phone call or Facebook chat at best, I think more is really learned through friends of friends since the courtesy calls are just things you would say to any stranger on the street, no vulnerability anymore, that's gone forever.
Anyway some people get lucky, surprisingly more than I ever thought and never have to deal with that sort of thing, so this type of movie does not resonate as well. It's still good but just not "haunting" like the guy said below.... Some of the friends I had growing up, tons of them had highschool sweetheart parents or a couple friends I had ealier just got married this year to their girlfriends of 10 years, girls never been with anyone else, jesus it's hard to imagine, not knowing who or what else is out there, especially if you knew these friends I'm talking about lol.. But then where is the medium? There's me (and those like me) who have had what a doctor once called a "shockingly high amount of partners" --after one of those oh so comfortable routine checkups-- said this with a totally straight face, this is when I'm still younger too like 25 so I laugh, like he was joking, but he looked up with a glare and I don't think Ill ever forget that visit.. I mean I use protection I don't know what his problem was, he was Indian so it probably wasn't religion. Now it's bothering me. Anyway sorry for the long post but I think the people who truly find love early are the winners, lucky. How many of them are just settling though? I'd wager quite a few.
Since this is a movie forum I usually throw out a movie to reference or recommend... Reminds me of "The Age of Adaline" where his dad was with Adaline and loved her, but "settled" with his mom, 40 years later, still cant forget Adaline who ditched him at the bus stop out of cowardice really... but at the same time the dad found and loves his mom after 40 years the best he can and it worked out great for everyone. It's more of a sappy love flick and has some pretty bad fantasy elements at least explanations so it's more of a date night movie for any guys reading this, It's not too sappy at all just.. more a Girl film.
Hold it in!? Fack that noise.. lol
i watch this movie, and movies like it, to let it all go and unleash the salty feels. and every time it gets me..
That last hallway scene.lol every. *beep* time.
This is my go too movie for when I am going through something in a relationship just because it reminds me that even if it were possible to erase them from my memory, they really never leave so instead of crying and wishing I could forget them, I need to accept the pain and move forward.
I'm erasing you and I'm happy!
This is my go too movie for when I am going through something in a relationship just because it reminds me that even if it were possible to erase them from my memory, they really never leave so instead of crying and wishing I could forget them, I need to accept the pain and move forward.Well said Butterfly...I'm going through a desolution of an 18 year marriage RIGHT NOW. its been the single most painful experience of my life. When I saw this was playing on cable (either Encore or Showtime), I DVR'd it...man, how I ofen WISH I can undergo that same "erase" procedure...but in the end, its the pain that makes us appreciate LIFE when things go our way, when things are GOOD! Pain IS a part of life. I guess I had it GOOD for FAR TOO LONG and needed a wake up call. Like one of the other posters, I too cheated and broke up with many a girl back in the day...only to marry and be with this woman for a total of 20 years (2 dating, 18 married)....only to now, at 41, have it dissolve and try to find myself again.
I wish I could have this movie erased from my memory, just so I could see it new all over again. And then repeat.
shareIt's one of my favourites too, watch it from time to time. But somehow I always find it inspiring and feel-good due to them actually loving each-other so there is always hope. Of all the nonsense the companies sell as romance this should be praised and sailed as the most romantic film of all times.
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