Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind

Anna Boden: “Mine is Jim Carrey diving into memories as he’s trying to run away from the machine and hide with Kate Winslet in Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind. That whole sequence, with the oversized kitchen table, is just so memorable. It was heavily inspirational for Captain Marvel.”

INT. LIVING ROOM — DAY Joel [Jim Carrey] and Clementine [Kate Winslet] are sitting on a sofa. It’s raining outside. CLEMENTINE: Joel? JOEL: Hmm-hmm? CLEMENTINE: I have another idea for this problem. This is a memory of me. The way you wanted to have sex on the couch after you looked down at my crotch— JOEL: [eyes widening after doing just that] What? CLEMENTINE: Joel, the eraser guys are coming here, so… what if you take me somewhere else? Somewhere where I don’t belong, and we hide there ’til morning? Joel thinks. JOEL: Oh, man. I can’t remember anything without you. CLEMENTINE: That’s very sweet, but try. Okay? JOEL: Okay. We hear a young boy singing ‘Row Row Row Your Boat’. We cut to a pair of yellow Wellington boots skipping through muddy puddles. On the sofa, Joel begins to sing ‘Row Row Row Your Boat’. A slight smile crosses his face. Clementine joins in. We see a child’s bike outside a house. And then, inside, it begins to rain on Joel and Clementine. CLEMENTINE: It’s working! Ingenious! We track across to the same bike, but now it’s inside. Then we see young Joel wiping it down, outside. Inside, a laughing adult Joel dives under his tiny kitchen table. Young Joel, outside, opens his mouth to taste rain on his tongue. Adult Joel, under the table, holds out his hand to feel the rain. Then young Joel runs and dives… Under the kitchen table in his childhood home. Back in the living room, we see adult Joel has vanished. Clementine — with a book on her head to stay dry — is worried. CLEMENTINE: Joel? Joel? Where’d you go? INT. KITCHEN — DAY In the brightly lit, dry kitchen of his childhood, adult Joel is under a huge kitchen table, playing with a yo-yo and dressed in kids’ pyjamas. CLEMENTINE: I’m supposed to come too! Adult Joel, under the table, hears the voice of his mother, talking to an unseen woman. JOEL’S MOTHER: Listen, I’m just going to go get a salad bowl. Can you stir the soup and can you keep an eye on Joel? He just likes to be near me. UNSEEN WOMAN: Of course. JOEL’S MOTHER: Absolutely! UNSEEN WOMAN: It worked! My God! We see that Clementine is the unseen woman, in a ’60s dress with a cigarette in her hand. CLEMENTINE: Look at this! Woah! It worked! Look at this dress, man! Oh my God, look at it! I wish I could take it with me. Joel peeks out from under the table. Clementine bends down. CLEMENTINE: Who am I? JOEL: Mrs Hamlin. CLEMENTINE: Right! Mrs Hamlin! JOEL: I must be about four. Oh my gosh!