How charlie Kaufmann diffrenciates between the real and joel's memories in Eternal sunshine of the spottless mind my breaking down the conventions of CHN.
...e forgotten from Joel’s memory; or Joel surrounded by giant furniture whilst re-living an infantile memory would both fall neatly into the category of surrealist images. They are, however, as a subconscious memory rather than a representation of the real, given a licence to carry a realist message. It will be this aspect of the film that this essay will be based around. Kaufmann/Gondry use a completely different representation of the real and Joel’s memories, and it is my argument that although the CHN principles are broken throughout the film- the defiance of a linear narrative being the most obvious and frequent- the CHN conventions are far less apparent during the events taking place within Joel’s mind. I have chosen two short sections of the film to argue this theory. The first being the beginning of the fifth scene, depicting Joel distraught over the knowledge that Clementine has had all memory of him erased (in the disjointed/non- existent linear narrative of the film we do not yet know this detail, as the previous scenes were of the exultant relationship which Joel and Clementine experience at the chronological end of the story). It then follows Joel into his apartment where he engages in a platonic conversation with a neighbour. Within this brief conversation Kaufmann foreshadows parts of the plot by presenting Joel with little dots on the side of his head from a previous visit to Lacuna Inc (the company witch offers the ‘therapeutic brain surgery’). During this discourse Joel also receives mail from the company of the same name, which Kaufmann/Gandry make a deliberate effort to make the audience aware of. The scene then proceeds to the technicians from Lacuna Inc. beginning to carry out the procedure of erasing the memories of Clementine from Joe’s brain. It begins to cross cut between the real and fragments of Joel’s memories, making it indispensable to this essays argument, as it introduces the comparisons between the two for the first time. There is then an eight-minute interlude that consists of various memories being expunged from Joel’s psyche, however, it does not hold the persuasive sway of the following scene(s), and, therefore will not be discussed. This following scene(s) (the last two minutes of scene eight and the initial five of scene nine) illustrate beautifully the different approaches used by Kauffmann/Gondry when representing the real/subconscious and, hence, will be used as the central discussion to the essay. If the majority of the previously chosen clip serves to show Kauffman/Gandry’s illustration of the real, and merely introduces us to different techniques used to portray the subconscious, than this clip without doubt reinforces those differences between the two mediums. These scenes are almost entirely placed within the protagonist’s memory, unleashing an arsenal of meta-fictional, surrealist imagery and allowing the dialogue to leap up and down the digenetic ladder, making it an excellent vehicle to explore Kaufmann/Gondry’s disassembly of the CHN conventions. To summarise the plot within this second chosen section of the film, it begins with the moment when the technicians first encounter ‘resistance’ from Joel’s mind. It traces the wiping of his memories from the beginning of his treatment back to his last recollection of Clementine, via disjointed, muddling cross cuts from the real (set within Joel’s apartment) and the memories. The first example of a breakdown in the CHN does not occur within the former mentioned sequence of the film (scene five) until the moment that Joel begins to loose consciousness in the perpetration for the memory cleansing procedure. Prior to this Joel is lamenting over an undisclosed source. Although this breaks the linear narrative and introduces the narratives first ellipsis (as prior to this he was enjoying a satisfying relationship with Clementine), it does, however, follow many other CHN trends. The scenes’ continuity is constant, there is a coherent sense of space and time and the camera work retains fluidity. All of the shots are in focus, the composition of the scene is not interfered with and the use of establishing shots and re-establishing shots is evident throughout. Kaufmann/Gondry also use conventional forms of transitivity as the audience can make a psychological connection, appreciating the torment that Joel is suffering from, although they do not yet understand it’s origin. These conventional principles of CHN continue into the second part of the scene where Joel partakes in a conversation with his neighbour. There is human agency, verisimilitude is apparent (set in an apartment block in NYC) and the theme of transitivity is still a working one. Joel engages in ‘small talk’ with the neighbour and is questioned about Clementines whereabouts, he sombrely replies and attempts to distance himself from the conversation. At this point there is a diegesis in the narrative, the audience presuppose that there is problems within their relationship from drawing upon their own social experiences. This is a good example of transitivity in its most simple form, introducing a theme or emotion that an audience can relate to on a hab...