Oh yeah, ETERNAL SUNSHINE no doubt. I remember a couple years ago at the Tribeca Film Festival I was seeing LAST LIFE IN THE UNIVERSE and there was this strange, French-accented guy asking great questions during the director Q&A. Somehow I deducted it was Gondry, and since I had just fallen head over heals with ETERNAL I went up to him and told him I thought it was the best film I had seen that year. He was very nice and humble, as well as flattered, but then he coyly asked me what I thought of his first film, HUMAN NATURE.! I hemmed and hawed and stumbled my way out of that conversation trying not to hurt his feelings!
Personally, I thought SCIENCE OF SLEEP was a bit too twee and navel-gazing, and I hope BE KIND REWIND will be a return to form.
There is also a short film called “The Letter” and it was directed by Michel Gondry . I also think it might his most honest work. This simply is so simple and yet so touching. It is a love story seen from the point of view of a twelve year old boy,possibly Gondry’s ALter Ego(?). The style of the film is uncharacteristically simple and there is no special effects or a grandeur set design, yet it is as engaging and stimulating as anything Gondry has directed so far.
No question: “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind”, although I loved “The Science of Sleep” aswell.
eternal sunshine rocks
I just have been to watch this film and I loved it!
Gondry’s version of Cinema Paradiso.
Sweet and an hommage to video shops
and full of ironies related to film industry,
such as piracy, filmmaking culture and so on.
Very politically correct too.
Jack Black never disappoints you.
Must be seen!
I didn’t much care for this new film of his, but the most intelligent look at it I’ve yet seen can be found here.
I liked Eternal Sunshine heaps but I haven’t seen Be Kind Rewind yet either!
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind hands down.
For some reason, Eternal Sunshine didn’t attract my attention at all.
Perhaps mainly because I could not identify myself with Jim Cary or Kate Winslet.
I find Jack Black or Mos Def more attractive as actors.
Another film I also thought a bit self-indulgent but gained cult fans, which surprised me, was
Donny Darko, a breakthrough film for Jake Gyllenhaal.
Be Kind Rewind looks interesting and encouraging for independent filmmakers.
I found those remakes of blockbusters films in this film were creative and very funny.
Eternal sunshine is so inventive with changing of scenary,warping of light/visual/sound which i think shows gondrys style’ at its best, excellent soundtrack and writing.
Be Kind is quirky, science of sleep not quite complete, but with the help of charlie kaufman, Eternal sunshine is still a beautiful love film with that bit extra.
Definitely agree with Dave Narco. Kaufman and Gondry are quite a team.
eternal sunshine is a true beauty of a film. A film that you can watch with a loved one and see how true love overcomes even our hate for those we love. Carrey gives it his all and is captured wonderfully by michel gondry. The story is told in such a fashion that it allows you to experience it with him. And winslet is gold, very deserving of her oscar nomination. I like to consider this film Carrey’s second film in his trilogy of saps after truman burbank in the truman show and peter appleton in the majestic.
The last lines of Eternal Sunshine send shivers down my spine. :) So much crammed into such a simple word (“okay.”)
It’s definitely Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, but I also love The Science of Sleep and Be Kind Rewind.
Probably Eternal Sunshine.
It’s a bit premature considering he’s only a few films in the showcase ….
So yes, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.
THE SCIENCE OF SLEEP is my favorite. The ending, when we see our hero fall asleep and finally get his girl, although perhaps only in his dreams, literally took my breath away.
Eternal Sunshine is the best. I like the DVD collection of his music videos more than some of his films. His Bjork, Chemical Bothers and White Stripes videos are little masterpieces. Kaufman’s script in Eternal Sunshine made it possible for Gondry’s Style to match up just precisely. A little more Gondry would have made it shiny treacle (more cute than moving) and a little more Kaufman would have turned it dark and brooding (not what I look for in a romantic picture). I’ve never disliked any of his films, but he does seem more of a minaturist than a cinema auteur. His films that don’t measure up all have perfect little details, but no big picture. I’ll still want to see anything he puts out, though.
I love some of his music videos (Chemical Brother’s “Star Guitar” for example). Also, could we get some love for Dave Chappelle’s Block Party? I know it’s not Gondry in his usual style, but I thought it was very entertaining.
I don’t know how they do it, but sometimes filmakers seem to find just the right pieces, put together in just the right order, to make a film seem almost perfect. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind is one of these films for me. I think Gondry and Kaufman pull off something in this film that many director/writer pairs aren’t able to do: they makes characters that seem realistic. By realistic, I mean that sometimes you like the protagonists, but sometimes you can’t stand them, but this doesn’t make the film any less enjoyable. It makes the movie more easy to identify with instead of less. Clementine at her best is passionate, exciting, and loving, and at her worst, she’s shrill, scared, and spiteful. Joel is sweet, insightful, and honest, but he can be insecure, secretive, and passive-aggressive. I love that I can clearly see these qualities in ES’s characters, but Kaufman’s straight-forward dialogue and Gondry’s imagination and eye for beauty really make the story surrounding these people truly special. The sequence beginning with the rainstorm in Joel’s living room is one of the most lovely and memorable I’ve ever seen. I really enjoyed Science of Sleep as well, and the protagonist Stephane shares many qualities with Joel, but the pieces just don’t fit together like they do in Eternal Sunshine.
What? No one likes HUMAN NATURE? Seriously, that is an amazing film. It’s hilarious, entertaining, strange… I love it.
Eternal Sunshine
his level of creativity and imagination is second to none. my goal is to suede a film this year
I did not enjoy be kind rewind, yet respect Gondry for all his unchecked excess. His problem is that his imagination, and the technical means to realize it, is constricted by the voices his characters populate. The movie Eternal Sunshine From The Spotless Mind, and even the underrated Human Nature benefit tremendously from strong characterization and screenplays. For all the wonder to work, the backbone is the script and that is my disappointment with Be Kind. Focus is key to making anything worthwhile, and good dialogue helps. I know it’s off topic, sorry. But to answer the question the brilliance on display in Eternal Sunshine is one to behold. By far the truest, saddest movie about love and it’s discontents…
I would have to go with Eternal Sunshine, but I absolutely loved The Science of Sleep. Just wanted to add that I think the cinematography is fantastic in Eternal Sunshine, I adore Ellen Kuras. She was also the DP on Be Kind.
I have seen three Gondry films: Eternal Sunshine, Be Kind Rewind, and The Science of Sleep.
The general consensus seems to be that Charlie Kaufman needed Gondry for Eternal Sunshine, but I feel it’s the opposite. I just can’t connect with Gondry’s films. I enjoy his light-heartedness and his ambition, but I watch his movies and just don’t get it. The Science of Sleep was interestingly executed, but I could not, for the life of me, figure out what was going on, nor have sympathy for the characters.
Be Kind Rewind I hated. It was a fun concept, but I thought the storyline was one of the worst “last-minute put-together” plots I’ve seen in a theater.
Eternal Sunshine gets my vote. I think Kaufman and Gondry both played off of each other nicely. Gondry’s visual style really worked for Eternal Sunshine, and he had such a wonderful script to work with.
Eternal Sunshine is up there for me, but I have this love for Science of Sleep even though I know it’s not as good.
I enjoy his films and respect his work, but I myself am not a huge fan. It does seem quite cliche to like his films though and while Eternal Sunshine was really good I think he has grown to be a bit overrated.
Like everybody here Eternal Sunshine – Yes, and I was wondering why this post to start with, Gondry of course is a bundle of creativity but hey all he has made so far is mediocre fare – Human Nature, science of sleep, Be kind Rewind.
Eternal Sunshine is the only one I like. Bekind Rewind was terrible and as someone has said Science of Sleep was a little too twee.
Halim Cillov
Mine is most definitely ‘Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.’ Such an inventive and romantic masterpiece!