Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
- Submitting institution
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Canterbury Christ Church University
- Unit of assessment
- 34 - Communication, Cultural and Media Studies, Library and Information Management
- Output identifier
- U34.066
- Type
- A - Authored book
- DOI
-
-
- Publisher
- Palgrave/BFI
- ISBN
- 9781844578351
- Open access status
- Out of scope for open access requirements
- Month of publication
- -
- Year of publication
- 2014
- URL
-
-
- Supplementary information
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- Request cross-referral to
- -
- Output has been delayed by COVID-19
- No
- COVID-19 affected output statement
- -
- Forensic science
- No
- Criminology
- No
- Interdisciplinary
- No
- Number of additional authors
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0
- Research group(s)
-
-
- Proposed double-weighted
- No
- Reserve for an output with double weighting
- Yes
- Additional information
- This book was commissioned by Palgrave Macmillan/BFI Classics to tie in with the BFI’s Sci-Fi: Days of Fear and Wonder season. It was peer reviewed and was the first book-length monograph on the film. The research involved close textual analysis of Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, which revealed that the film straddled the genres of science fiction and romantic comedy, thus both relevant literature and a sample of comparable films from both genres were included in the analysis. Structurally, it is “puzzle film”, and several examples of that style were explored. Additional research included analysis of the films of the director, screenwriter and two central actors to see how it drew on their prior careers. Further research materials included existing articles and chapters on Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind as well as theoretical contributions from Freud, Abraham, Klein and Kristeva’s on mourning, melancholia and trauma, which are key themes within the film.
Butler’s research revealed that the film fitted neatly within the careers of director Gondry and writer Kaufman as auteurs, as well as offering strong role for Winslet, who had rarely been in contemporary-set movies. However, Carrey’s performance shows a tension between a melancholic character and the manic behaviour of his star persona. The analysis found that the science-fiction elements of the film offered a dialogue with existing explorations of amnesia and false memories, and these offered a new take on the comedy of remarriage to explain why the coming of the characters as a couple is delayed. In addition to this skilful blending of genres, the film uses comedy to subtly explore psychoanalytic structures. Butler was invited to introduce a screening of the film on 25th November 2014 at the BFI National Film Theatre
- Author contribution statement
- -
- Non-English
- No
- English abstract
- -
