And The Best Film of 2004 Is...

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind: 4 stars

The reason that Roger Ebert picked "Dark City" to be the best film of 1998 is mainly because of, and I quote, "a great visionary achievement". He compared its visual to such classic as "Metropolis" and "2001: A Space Odyssey". While I agreed that the visual was exceptionally stunning, it was the concept of how the human memory might be the key to the survival of the alien-kind that fascinated me.

There are other films in recent years that use our memory (loss) as the backbone of the plots. Sometimes it's a comedy like "50 First Dates" and sometimes, it's a serious human behavior study such as "Memento".

"Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind" is by far, one of the most inventive films dealing with human memory. It's not a memory loss story line per se. Instead, it's a story of a man wanting a portion of his memory (of his girlfriend) erased. Right in the middle of the procedure, he changed his mind and decided to keep the good memory of her. The only problem is that the man himself (Joel, played by Jim Carrey) stuck in his own memory, unable to stop the procedure and therefore, starting a game of cat and mouse in his memory maze.

Normally, seeing a movie is a film study for me in that I'd notice all aspects of film making such as camera angles, music score, or mis-en-scene. "Eternal Sunshine" is the exception because of how brilliant the plot is. It's much more fun and interesting just to watch and absorb than making a mental note on the production. Sometimes, the difference between a good film and a great film is that you "watch" a good film but you "experience" a great film. Being stuck in Joel's memory maze and attempting not to get erased is something to be experienced.

Why is memory so important? Let's go back to "Dark City"; the aliens may have it right after all. Our memory is one of the keys to our survival. It’s the memory of your parents, your first date, or your first born child that makes you who you are. Without it, we are reduced to just another insignificant life form with nothing to cherish from the past and not much to look forward to in the future.