This, one of the most beautiful love stores, is also one of the rare cases where the screenwriter is the driver of auteur cinema. All of Kaufman’s scripts, though made by different directors, are linked by similar themes and motifs: a carefully considered blend of fantasy and reality, a group of frustrated protagonists, use of the mind’s eye view, and surreal plot twists. Most importantly however, they are all about heart, love, and loss – the desperation of loneliness underpins Kaufman’s stories.

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind envelops us with this tone from the outset. Joel (Jim Carrey) tries to erase his ex-girlfriend from his mind. Through this Kaufman shows us that losing the memory of a former relationship, even if failed, is like losing a part of you and, with it, hope of continuity. When Joel makes this realization, the screen flutters with the most original scenes in recent memory.

The directorial success in this film is that an extremely wandering plot evokes essential emotions. Sci-fi becomes mere background with the thought that love is intangible, beyond the reach of science, something that cannot be extruded from your heart and mind no matter how hard we try, taking center stage. In Kaufman’s world of the lonely, this thought gives the film unexpected hope, so well underscored by Beck’s Everybody’s Got to Learn playing over the end credits.

Michał Chaciński