As well as being known as the film that showcases Jim Carrey's acting abilities - alongside The Truman Show - Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind also has a stellar end shot. After their relationship suffers from some turbulence, Clementine (Kate Winslet) has Joel erased from her mind. Joel subsequently does the same, but during the process comes to the realisation that this was a massive mistake, and desperately attempts to cling onto his memories. He fails. Nevertheless, instinct brings the two back to the same location where they met. But have the pair been reunited to live on in loving paradise? Their past relationship is brought to the attention of the couple, and the realisation of their incompatibility dawns upon them. Despite this, it is implied that the two decide to give love another chance. The final shot is of a previous scene in which Joel and Clementine gleefully run through the snow, reminding us of their happy past. The image repeats itself, as if on an endless loop, before fading into whiteness. One can either interpret this as a somewhat happy ending, or if you're like me and a fan of the darker things in life it can be read rather more bleakly, with the repetition of the shot representing the fact that the couple are cursed to repeat the same doomed relationship which will inevitably result in the same conclusion: with them erasing each other from their respective memories, only to be reunited once again in an endless cycle of heartbreak. As we have seen, and as the duo acknowledge, a successful and long-lasting relationship is evidently an impossibility.
Joel: "I can't see anything I don't like about you." Clementine: "But you will."
The reuse of Beck's melancholic rendition of "Everybody's Gotta Learn Sometime" that is played in an early scene in which Joel is seen crying hugely contributes to the chilling, yet massively intriguing final image.
