the groundhog day project

"What a loss to spend that much time with someone, only to find out that she's a stranger." This comes from Joel's Lacuna tape just before he goes into the hallway to get Clem to stay at the end of the movie. I don't think it's a loss. The intervening time is worth it. I just read The Velveteen Rabbit this evening. For the first time, by the way. The original version, anyway. In case you don't know what that has to do with Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind , there was a monologue about the book. Part of the scene remains but none of the reference to The Velveteen Rabbit . Originally, Clem, in bed with Joel, asks if he knows the book. CLEMENTINE It's my favorite book. Since I was a kid. It's about these toys. There's this part where the Skin Horse tells the Rabbit what it means to be real. (crying, then laughing at herself) I can't believe I'm crying already. [That line sticks around.] (reading from a worn copy of th...

The commentary track includes director Michel Gondry and writer Charlie Kaufman. It starts amusingly. Gondry describes the action on screen as Joel gets out of bed and Kaufman wonders if he's just going to narrate the whole thing. As I listen to them discuss when they thought they might film in Canada, I find myself also looking at the book, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind: The shooting Script . Gondry writes the introduction, and he's got some outlandish ideas that... well I'll let him tell you. It all started at a Brussels restaurant when my friend and artist Pierre Bismuth challenged me with this concept: "What if in your mail you find a kind of official card stipulating: 'We are acknowledging, Monsieur Gondry Michel, that Lisa Brook had you erased from her memory. Please don't try to reach her.' ... They point out how Clementine invades Joel's personal space on the train. Gondry suspects it was Jim Carrey and not Joel Barish who didn't...