ETERNAL SUNSHINE OF THE SPOTLESS MIND: NON LINEAR STRUCTURE

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind is a 2004 film directed by Michel Gondry. The story talks about Clementine, who, in order to forget a painful breakup with her former boyfriend Joel, undergoes a procedure that will have her forget her memories of him. Once he discovers this, Joel decided to undergo the same procedure and he slowly starts to forget the woman he once loved.

The non-linear storytelling starts from the beginning of the film. The film starts with the ending, when the two protagonists have already had the procedure of having their memories erased. While the general 'Hollywood' films have a linear structure, meaning that all events happen in chronological order, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind does the exact opposite, thus works as a non-linear film. The audience is forced to work out what's going on in the film by themselves if they don't want to get confused.

At the end of the film, we realise that the first 15 minutes of it were in fact the second time Joel and Clementine had met, and not the first. In order to understand this, the audience has to pay attention to what is happening throughout the movie so that they can get the message that is trying to get across.

 The film continues to the time after the two characters have broken up. That is when Joel finds out that Clementine has had all her memories of him and them together erased and this is what makes the man want to have the same treatment himself.

The biggest part of the movie is told in the Joel's memories as Clementine is getting erased from them. The procedure starts with the most recent memories of the former couple. We learn their story and how they broke up. Halfway through the procedure, Joel realises that he is still in love with Clementine and that he does not want to erase her.

While the procedure is happening, we also see a story behind the scenes, a story of the people from the company (Lacuna) who has the task of erasing Joel's memories. This means that there are two storylines, parallel to each other and in opposite directions. Joel's memories are going backwards, while the events that happen to the company's officers happen in chronological order.
The two storylines aren't separate, as Joel can sometimes hear their conversation, even if he's in the world of his memories.

This structure sets the film apart from the rest of Hollywood films. There isn't any real resolution in the movie. We see Joel and Clementine meeting after having each other erased from their memories, but we don't actually know if they will have a happily forever after. The movie only hints some possible futures, but there isn't any real conclusion or something that will leave the viewers a fulfilled feeling after the film ends. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind has an ending that impacts the audience and has them question many issues regarding the two characters' memories, about relationships, and life.