Surrealism in Films

French film Amélie and American film Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind both demonstrate how an unlikely blend of multiple genres can meld together into one seamless film. While these two films are not completely similar in genre, they both put their twists on the conventional melodramatic romantic comedies of Hollywood. The fantastical world of the cheerful Amélie Poulain starkly contrasts with the dark and often cynical feel of Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind; yet, both of these films successfully incorporate a surrealist motif in two completely different ways. The remainder of this essay will focus on how this is accomplished.

Merriam-Webster dictionary defines surrealism as “the principles, ideals, or practice of producing fantastic or incongruous imagery or effects in art, literature, film, or theater by means of unnatural or irrational juxtapositions and combinations.” From the start, Amélie undoubtedly falls into this category of surrealism. This is due almost entirely to the unique filming techniques and editing employed in this film. The starting credits alone portray uncharacteristic surreal qualities of not seen in the average romantic comedy. Gold and red tones highlight the young girl Amélie as she performs odd yet ordinary actions such as eating raspberries off her fingers and peeling glue off her finger. However, these normal actions look almost unnatural and have that surreal quality as a result of the unusual cinematography. The camera goes in and out of focus occasionally, blurring the actions and at times the actions are sped up. The scenes are extremely saturated with an emphasis on the red tones and the low key lighting contributes greatly to the unreal feel of the scenery. By the end of the credits, director Jean-Pierre Jeunet had already successfully created an extraordinary, surreal world for the viewer out of everyday objects through his unique cinematography.

Unlike Amélie, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind does not employ any elaborate filming techniques to create the surrealistic feel of the film. Instead, the viewer is eased into the film’s surreal world. In the first scene we are introduced to Joel, a shy, self-conscious man who can find no meaning in life and Clementine who has a personality as vibrant and unusual as her blue hair. Throughout the course of the movie we gain a deeper understanding of their relationship through various flashbacks. One of the most surreal aspects of this film is the storyline. Amélie dealt with everyday happenings. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind on the other hand involves the idea that certain memories can be erased through a procedure. As Joel is undergoing this procedure, he experiences flashbacks. But, instead of these memories simply replaying in his mind, his past self is cognizant of the people performing the memory erasing. He hears their voices echoing in the background and at times his memories start to combine into one. This void of any feeling of time or space contributes greatly to the surreal motif. In one scene, he is remembering one of his lunches with Clementine but suddenly begins to hear the voices of the present. His past self questions these voices and he wanders into another memory. He walks up to a man and to determine his identity, he turns that man to face him. But because he has no recollection of the man, he is faceless. This scene is one of the first predominately surreal scenes in the film.

Despite their differences in cinematography that contribute to the surrealism, both of these films have certain common aspects contributing to the surreal motifs. One of these similarities is the symbolism throughout the films. The symbols are not understated, but rather blatantly displayed. In Amélie, when her Nino (the man she’s in love with) leaves the café, she literally melts into a puddle of tears. Scenes showing her love-struck visually show a heart throbbing on her chest. Later, when Amélie comes to the aid of a blind man, he ‘sees the light’. In Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, there is a scene showing Joel and Clementine laying face up on ice symbolizing how they would both “like to freeze the moment” (Elvis 1). A birds-eye view of the scene shows an enormous crack spread through the surface symbolizing how Clem is breaking through the tough exterior Joel creates.

Another similarity in the two films is the nonlinear storyline. As explained earlier, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind goes through series of flashbacks that often cross each other. Ebert describes the film as “[moving] freely, dizzyingly, forward and backward in time… During the course of the film… they will each experience fragmentary versions of relationships they had, might have had, or might be having.” (Egbert 1) Amélie also follows a nonlinear storyline because of the many side stories that are revisited throughout the film. The nonlinear storylines help to create a sense of unknowing what will come next.

The last similarity between the two films is the characterization of Amélie and Clementine. Both of these female characters contribute greatly to the surrealistic feel because of their odd personalities. Elvis describes Clementine as having a “neurotic assertiveness that makes someone like Clem seem less attractive every time she opens her mouth, yet she also projects the charm of someone who needs to be heard.” (Elvis 1) Amélie is equally as charming and odd as Clementine. And it is because of these odd personalities that the surreal world the viewer encounters throughout the movies seems less unreal. The characterization blends perfectly in each of these movies and contributes to the surreal feel on a whole.

Amélie and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind both demonstrate a wide range of techniques used in filming to create the feel of a surrealistic world. Amelie’s director Jean-Pierre Jeunet played more with unusual cinematography techniques such as saturated colors, odd frames, varied lighting and diverse camera movements. On the other hand, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind twisted the content of the movie to create the same surreal effect Amélie had on the viewer. However, both made use of a nonlinear storyline and bizarre characters to solidify the surreal motifs in the movies. Regardless of the methods used, both of these movies succeed at creating an extraordinary world for the viewer that seems completely natural.