![]() ![]() The similarities between the two don’t stop at structure. ![]() ![]() Both films revel in this altered discourse, using it as a catalyst to propel us into their stories in a manner that plays on how we feels when we remember an event. But it also has its use in Eternal Sunshine, letting us experience Joel’s relationship with Clementine as he travels backwards through his memories, eventually reaching the point where they first met. The technique especially helps in Memento, recreating the sense of confusion that is familiar to Leonard because he doesn’t know what happened previously. In this vein, both films begin the narrative at what is eventually revealed to be the last chronological event of their respective plots, and each film has two separate storylines which parallel each other, one traveling backwards while the other travels forwards. Ultimately, the films diverge into polarized views on how integral memory is on defining who we are- and, consequently, how much control we have over our own identity.īoth Eternal Sunshine and Memento present their narrative through a skewed discourse to put us directly within the head of the main character and to mimic the experience of memory itself. But they also go beyond simply presenting how memories define us, delving into the realm of memory morality and the role of memory in regards to finding meaning. Both films give a philosophical position on personal identity in relation to memory which establishes the notion that memories do in fact help define who we are. Do memories define who we are? Michel Gondry’s Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and Christopher Nolan’s Memento each explore this question, though the final conclusions about the relationship between memory and identity are not as neatly aligned as the tools which present their respective answers to the audience. ![]()
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