Today I watched Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind to better understand how a screenplay makes the transition from paper onto film. From beginning to end, this movie uses numerous cinematic technics to engage its viewers and establish incredibly strong relationships with every one of the main characters. While taking large steps into the genre of the futuristic and surreal, it never fails to give its audience timeless and relatable emotional circumstances that find their way right into the very center of our hearts. This was a fascinating glimpse into how a movie can continue to captivate an audience and fully enthrall our deepest feelings into a piece of cinema. I truly enjoyed its unorthodox approach to the linear storytelling we are used to seeing, motivating viewers to never stop thinking as the film progressed. By fracturing its timeline and pushing us simultaneously into the past, present, and future, it adds an element of mystery that we are left to discover on our own.

Having read both the introduction and first chapter of ScreenPlay by Syd Field, I was able to observe how Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind manipulated with the paradigm of a typical screenplay and used skillful imagery and editing to create its unique version of a beginning, middle, and end. I was impressed to see the radically different outcomes of stories that follow the same general principles of writing and structure. The distinction between a screenplay and a novel could not be more present in this film as well. In my opinion at least, the only way this movie works is due to the platform it presents itself in. I don’t believe it would have the same impact or success as a novel, the same way many novels do not translate well to film.