Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind Page #4

JOEL:

Well, I wouldn't want to be --

CLEMENTINE:

Oh, geez, I'm full of sh*t. I already

told you that.

(pause)

Anyway. See Ya.

Clementine opens the car door.

JOEL:

Take care.

CLEMENTINE:

(turning back)

Hey, do you want to have a drink? I have

lots of drinks. And I could --

JOEL:

Um --

CLEMENTINE:

Never mind. Sorry, that was stupid. I'm

embarrassed. Good night, Joel.

INT. CLEMENTINE'S APARTMENT - A FEW MINUTES LATER

Joel stands in the living room, somewhat nervously. He tries

to calm himself by focusing on the surroundings. He looks at

the books on her shelves. Clementine is in the kitchen. We

see her as she passes by the doorway several times, preparing

drinks and chatting.

CLEMENTINE:

Thanks. I like it, too. Been here about

four years. It's really cheap. My

downstairs neighbor is old so she's

quiet, which is great. And the

landlord's sweet, which is bizarre, but

great, and I have a little porch in the

back, which is great, because I can read

there, and listen to my crickets and...

Clementine is in the living room now with two gin and tonics.

CLEMENTINE (CONT'D)

Two blue ruins...

Joel is looking at a framed black and white photograph of

crows flying.

CLEMENTINE (CONT'D)

You like that?

JOEL:

Very much.

CLEMENTINE:

This... someone gave that to me, just

like, recently. I like it, too. I like

crows. I think I used to be a crow.

She caws and hands Joel a drink.

JOEL:

Thanks. That was good, that crow sound.

CLEMENTINE:

Do you believe in that stuff?

Reincarnation?

JOEL:

I don't know.

CLEMENTINE:

Me neither. Oh, there's an inscription

on the back.

(takes it off the wall, reads:)

The way a crow/Shook down on me/The dust

of snow/From a hemlock tree/Has given my

heart/A change of mood/And saved some

part/Of a day I rued.

JOEL:

Frost?

CLEMENTINE:

(impressed)

Yeah. I'm not, like, a Robert Frost

lover by any stretch. His stuff seems

strictly grade school to me. But this

made me cry for some reason. Maybe

because it is grade school. Y'know?

JOEL:

It's pretty.

CLEMENTINE:

I miss grade school. I don't know why

I'm calling it grade school all of a

sudden. When I went we called it

elementary school. But I like grade

school better. Sounds like something

someone from the forties would call it.

I'd like to be from then. Everyone wore

hats. Anyway, cheers!

JOEL:

Cheers.

They click glasses. Clementine giggles and takes a big gulp

of her drink. Joel sips. She plops down on the couch and

pulls her boots off.

CLEMENTINE:

God, that feels so f***ing good. Take

yours off.

JOEL:

I'm fine.

CLEMENTINE:

Yeah? Well, have a seat, anyway.

Joel sits in a chair across the room. Clementine finishes

her drink.

CLEMENTINE (CONT'D)

Ready for another?

JOEL:

No, I'm okay for now.

She heads toward the kitchen with her glass.

CLEMENTINE:

Well, I'm ready. Put some music on.

Joel crosses to the CD's and studies them.

JOEL:

What do you want to hear?

CLEMENTINE (O.S.)

You pick it.

JOEL:

You just say. I'm not really --

CLEMENTINE (O.S.)

I don't know! I can't see them from

here, Joel! Just pick something good.

Joel studies the unfamiliar CD's. He picks up Bang On a Can

performing Brian Eno's Music for Airports to look at.

Clementine reenters with her drink.

CLEMENTINE (CONT'D)

Oh, excellent choice.

She grabs it and sticks it in the CD player. The music is

dreamy and haunting and slow. Clementine falls back onto the

couch, closes her eyes and sips her drink.

CLEMENTINE (CONT'D)

Mmmmmmm. Way to go, Joel. You pick

good.

Joel sits down in his chair and drinks. There's a silence,

which seems fine to Clementine but makes Joel anxious.

JOEL:

Well, I should probably get going.

CLEMENTINE:

No, stay. Just for a little while.

(opens her eyes, brightly)

Refill?

JOEL:

No. I --

CLEMENTINE:

I know a man who needs a refill.

She grabs Joel's drink from his hand, takes it into the

kitchen.

CLEMENTINE (CONT'D) (O.S.) (CONT'D)

God bless alcohol, is what I say. Where

would I be without it. Oh, Jesus, Mary,

and Joseph, maybe I don't want to think

about that.

She giggles. Joel looks around the room again. There are

several potatoes dressed as women in beautiful handmade

costumes:
a nurse potato, a stripper potato, a schoolteacher

potato, a housewife potato. Clementine returns with Joel's

drink and a refill for herself.

JOEL:

Thanks.

CLEMENTINE:

Drink up, young man. It'll make the

whole seduction part less repugnant.

Joel looks a little alarmed.

CLEMENTINE (CONT'D)

I'm just kidding. C'mon.

She sits back on the couch, closes her eyes. Joel watches

her, looks at her breasts. She opens her eyes, smiles

drunkenly at him.

CLEMENTINE (CONT'D)

Y'know, I'm sort of psychic.

JOEL:

Yeah?

CLEMENTINE:

Well, I go to a psychic and she's always

telling me I'm psychic. She should know.

Do you believe in that stuff?

JOEL:

I don't know.

CLEMENTINE:

Me neither. But sometimes I have

premonitions, so, I don't know. Maybe

that's just coincidence. Right? Y'know,

you think something and then it happens,

or you think a word and then someone says

it? Y'know?

JOEL:

Yeah, I don't know. It's hard to know.

CLEMENTINE:

Exactly. Exactly! That's exactly my

feeling about it. It's hard to know.

Like, okay, but how many times do I think

something and it doesn't happen? That's

what you're saying, right? You forget

about those times. Right?

JOEL:

Yeah, I guess.

CLEMENTINE:

(dreamy beat)

But I think I am. I like to think I am.

CLEMENTINE (CONT'D)

It's helpful to think there's some order

to things. You're kind of closed

mouthed, aren't you?

JOEL:

Sorry. My life isn't that interesting.

I go to work. I go home. I don't know

what to say.

CLEMENTINE:

Oh.

(considers this)

Does that make you sad? Or anxious? I'm

always anxious thinking I'm not living my

life to the fullest, y'know? Taking

advantage of every possibility? Just

making sure that I'm not wasting one

second of the little time I have.

JOEL:

I think about that.

She looks at him really hard for a long moment. Joel tries

to hold her gaze, but can't. He looks down at his drink.

Clementine starts to cry again.

CLEMENTINE:

You're really nice. I'm sorry I yelled

at you before about it. God, I'm an

idiot.

JOEL:

I do have a tendency to use that word too

much.

CLEMENTINE:

I like you. That's the thing about my

psychic thing. I think that's my

greatest psychic power, that I get a

sense about people. My problem is I

never trust it. But I get it. And with

you I get that you're a really good guy.

JOEL:

Thanks.

CLEMENTINE:

And, anyway, you sell yourself short. I

can tell. There's a lot of stuff going

on in your brain. I can tell. My

goal... can I tell you my goal?

JOEL:

Yeah.

CLEMENTINE:

(ala Paul Simon)

What's the goal, Joel?

(laughs)

My goal, Joel, is to just let it flow

through me? Do you know what I mean?

It's like, there's all these emotions and

ideas and they come quick and they change

and they leave and they come back in a

different form and I think we're all

taught we should be consistent. Y'know?

You love someone -- that's it. Forever.

You choose to do something with your life

-- that's it, that's what you do. It's a

sign of maturity to stick with that and

see things through. And my feeling is

that's how you die, because you stop

listening to what is true, and what is

true is constantly changing. You know?

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