Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind – This movie makes my list because it is well written, well acted, beautiful and surreal. It takes what could be a mindless chick flick (which I would define as a touching, but generally overly simplistic and overly idealized romantic story which is devoid of any true character or originality that women who are not discriminating filmgoers tend to eat up in much the same was as undiscriminating male filmgoers tend to eat up action packed, but generally overly simplistic and overly stylized thrill a minute stories that are devoid of any true character or originality), and turns it into a thought provoking and compelling work of art which explores the depths of emotion and memory.
Jim Carrey and Kate Winslet are the two romantic leads in this story about a love gone bad. So bad in fact that Winslet has chosen to erase all memory of their days spent together, a fate so painful that Carey makes the same choice. We’re led through a labyrinthine tale of their love story as we see the bits and pieces disappear from the fabric of Carrey’s memory, one piece at a time, which leads him to realize and appreciate what has truly been lost, but tragically to not remember the lesson he has learned, leaving them both to start over, and (hopefully) not repeat their mistakes.
I liked the story here, it was written by Charlie Kaufman, who did a couple other films I absolutely loved…Being John Malkovich and Adaptation. It’s not just the story itself, but the way the story unfolds…non linear storytelling is in my view one of the most interesting ways to tell a story because when it unfolds in bits and pieces from different times, we see things from different perspectives…we gain knowledge beforehand that colors our perception, which we could not achieve in a front to back type presentation.
The set design is also brilliant, the movie is positively beautiful, and it attains sort of a dreamlike quality in its use of colors, shadows and hues, which fits with the theme of a memory that evanesces and slips right between your fingers. The story has emotional peaks and valleys and gives you a real sense of empathy for the characters, you feel why they would have fallen for each other and you can see why things ended the way they did and you agonize over the decisions the same way they must have. In summary the movie is beautiful to look at, compelling from start to finish and leaves you feeling like you don’t exactly know what hit you, just that it was truly powerful and moving.
21 Grams – This is a gritty, raw movie that is essentially about the interconnectedness of 3 characters played by Sean Penn, Benicio Del Toro and Naomi Watts and we see the interplay of human interaction and emotion. We see loss and grief, joy, pain, fear, redemption, all on a grand scale, interwoven into a story about fate, coincidence and choices. It’s the kind of movie that just grabs you and won’t let you go and makes you again feel what the characters are going through (attributable to strong acting performances by all 3 leads).
Here’s another example of a film told in a non-linear fashion, where the director takes various plot lines and themes and interweaves them in a manner to build a greater awareness of the big picture. This film was directed by Alejandro González Iñárritu
And written by Guillermo Arriaga, who also teamed up on the Spanish language film Amores Perros, which is much higher on my list, and like that previous film, it is the story of lives intersecting at various points, and how those intersections bring about great changes.
Again, a powerhouse of the film that just leaves you flush with a jumble of conflicting emotions, unresolved questions and a sense that you’ve just had a powerful experience that transcends merely watching a movie.
The Big Lebowski – Like most Coen Brothers movies (O Brother where Art Thou, Fargo, Blood Simple, The Hudsucker Proxy, Raising Arizona, etc.), this movie is about a regular Joe being thrust into a situation that would be over just about anyone’s head, and involves dozens of twists and turns and stories within stories. Here’s an example of where the story itself unfolds in a linear fashion, but the back-story is picked up in pieces. This is one of those films with a large, sprawling cast of characters (Jeff Bridges, John Goodman, Steve Buscemi, Julianne Moore, Sam Elliot, Phillip Seymore Hoffman, John Turturo, and Tara Reid all star).
Your main characters don’t come any more down to earth than the pot smoking, habitually unemployed, CCR loving bowler (Lebowski/Bridges). What sets this film apart is its dark sense of humor, and its well defined and completely off the wall cast of characters. Each person has his/her own agenda and the one who ends up sorting the whole mess out is the completely unmotivated Lebowski who essentially just bumbles through this extraordinary turn of events and doesn’t let anything phase him.
The movie is wrought with both spine tingling action and gut busting humor throughout. You are sure to find at least one character who reminds you of someone you know which adds an interesting element of familiarity to the film. It’s simply put one of the most unique films I’ve ever seen.
Fargo – Another Coen Brothers movie, starring your typical cast of Coen Brothers’ movie characters (Frances McDormand, Steve Buscemi, & William H. Macy). What’s really interesting is this is a film noir type movie, but set in the backdrop of Minnesota of all places. Macy is a used car salesman who is about to have an embezzlement scheme he cooked up out of necessity, blow up in his face. He turns to his father in law who could solve everything rather quickly if he weren’t quite so hands-on about how he invested his money. It leads Macy to hire Buscemi to kidnap, but not harm his wife in hopes that he’ll be able to get the money he needs to avoid disaster. But the fates have another plan.
Eventually these small schemes turn into huge disasters (and a growing body count), not at all what Macy had wanted or envisioned. It’s an amazing tale of how one lie begets another and how the consequences of doing the wrong thing quickly outweigh the consequences of doing the right thing. But the charm of the film is the folksiness of the peripheral characters. The Coens hail from Minnesota (in fact they just filmed their latest movie mostly at one of my favorite local restaurants…we went in one time and the entire place had been re-decorated for the film…the next time we went in it had been converted back…quite something to see), so they have firsthand experience in dealing with the mannerisms, the way people speak, their inflections and their ways of just looking at the world in this part of the world.
Admittedly, some of the accents were over the top, but the movie has a special place in my heart for its portrayal of the kinds of people I ran into on a daily basis when I was growing up north of the twin cities. I think one quote really just sums up a lot of the rural Minnesota folks quite well. A detective is interviewing a bartender about this suspicious character he ran into (when asked to describe him, he, as well as a few others in the film described him as “funny lookin’…just in a general sorta way.”). So, he’s telling his story about the guy who was asking him where he could find some “woman action” and how he (the bartender) said he didn’t run that kind of establishment, so the guy reacts like the bartender is calling him a jerk for asking such a question, “And then he calls me a jerk, and says the last guy who thought he was a jerk was dead now. So I don’t say nothin’ and he says, “What do ya think about that?” So I says, “Well, that don’t sound like too good a deal for him, then.”
Again, the film is another example of a regular guy thrown into a situation that is far beyond his field of expertise. It’s an interesting crime drama with plenty of humor and action. Just a well crafted movie set against an unlikely but all too real backdrop. This movie is VERY dialogue driven, but when the action kicks in, it’s unflinching and unapologetic. Well written, well acted, well directed, an absolute powerhouse and again very though provoking.
Think that about does it for 25, 24, 23 and 21…any others?
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