Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind Page #7

The scene is just a shell of itself as Stan rattles on.

STAN'S VOICE

I think we got this one. Let's push on.

Joel looks up at the ceiling.

INT. JOEL'S APARTMENT - DAY

Joel, snapped into a new memory, cries as he fills two large

plastic garbage bags with mementos of his relationship with

Clementine. There are funny little gifts, wind-up toys, some

potatoes dressed as women, some clothing Clementine has left

there, some CD's. He pulls a big clump of pages out of his

loose-leaf journal and dumps them in the bag.

He gets some clean loose-leaf paper and writes:

December 15, 2004 Nothing much happened today. I stayed

home. Naomi worked on her dissertation.

The scene is fading as he continues to write.

INT. HALLWAY - DAY

Joel looks for an office number. He finds it. The plaque on

the door reads Lacuna Ltd. Joel enters.

INT. WAITING ROOM - DAY

Joel enters the Lacuna waiting room. Mary sits in the

reception area.

MARY:

May I help you?

JOEL:

My name is Joel Barish. I have an

appointment.

MARY:

Please have a seat. Dr. Mierzwiak will

be right with you.

INT. OFFICE HALL - DAY

Mary leads Joel down the hall.

MARY:

(without turning)

How are you today?

JOEL:

Not great.

MARY:

(at Mierzwiak's office)

Here we are.

Joel glimpses Mary smiling coquettishly at Mierzwiak.

INT. MIERZWIAK'S OFFICE - DAY

Joel and Mierzwiak are in the sitting area. Joel looks at

the tape recorder.

MIERZWIAK:

I'm sorry you saw one of our notification

cards. You never should have.

JOEL:

Well... I did.

MIERZWIAK:

We can help you through this. Why don't

you start now by telling me everything

you can remember about your relationship

with Clementine.

JOEL:

(thinks, then:
)

It was a mess. I don't know how it got

this way...

PATRICK'S VOICE

It's kind of a dump, don't you think?

Joel looks up, trying to locate the voice.

INT. JOEL'S APARTMENT - NIGHT

Patrick is checking out the apartment. Stan monitors the

equipment.

STAN:

(uninterested)

It's an apartment.

PATRICK:

Not a dump, then, but kind of plain.

Uninspired. And there's a stale smell.

Sort of stuffy. I don't know. Stuffy.

STAN:

Patrick, let's just get through this. We

have a long night ahead of us.

PATRICK:

Yeah.

Patrick returns to the bedside, focuses on the machines for a

moment. He glances at the unconscious Joel.

PATRICK (CONT'D)

So who do you think is better-looking, me

or this guy?

Stan glances sideways at Patrick.

INT. MIERZWIAK'S OFFICE - DAY

Mierzwiak sits with Joel in the sitting area.

MIERZWIAK:

So we'll need you to go home and bring in

everything you ever received from

Clementine and anything that might remind

you of her...

The scene is faded and disappearing fast. It's gone.

INT. JOEL'S OFFICE - DAY

Joel gets off the elevator and approaches the receptionist.

JOEL:

So then she just stops calling.

VOICE-OVER

I wasn't going to call her. Not after

the way she was.

JOEL:

Any messages, Carmen?

Carmen the receptionist shakes her head.

Next day:
Joel approaches the receptionist.

JOEL (CONT'D)

Any messages for me, Carmen.

CARMEN:

Nothing, Joel.

VOICE-OVER

It's bullshit. She's punishing me for

being honest with her.

Joel is at his office desk on the phone.

PHONE MACHINE VOICE

You have no messages.

INT. JOEL'S APARTMENT - NIGHT

Joel enters, checks his phone machine: zero messages.

INT. JOEL'S OFFICE - DAY

Joel gets off the elevator, approaches Carmen, who is in

conversation with someone else.

JOEL:

Sorry, Carmen. Any messages?

Carmen shakes her head "no", goes back to her conversation.

INT. JOEL'S APARTMENT - NIGHT

Joel checks his machine: zero messages.

VOICE-OVER

That's it. I'm just gonna--

Without a moment's hesitation, he dials the phone.

VOICE-OVER (CONT'D)

I'm gonna tell her I'm through playing

games and --

RECORDED VOICE:

The number you have dialed has been

disconnected.

Joel's eyes bug.

INT. ROB AND CARRIE'S LIVING ROOM - NIGHT

Joel sits across Rob and Carrie, mid-40's.

JOEL:

Why would she do that?

VAGUE RECORDED VOICE

-- If you think you have reached this

recording in error, please check your

number and dial again.

CARRIE:

I don't know, honey. It's horrible.

JOEL:

She's punishing me for being honest. I

should just go to her house.

ROB:

I don't think you should go there, Joel.

JOEL:

Yeah, I don't want to seem desperate.

CARRIE:

Maybe you need to look at this as a sign

to move on. Just make a clean break.

JOEL:

I don't know. I'm so... I can't believe

she'd be so goddamn immature!

ROB:

Joel, look, the thing is --

CARRIE:

(agitated, interrupting)

Joel, honey... We have to feed the dog.

Would you just wait here? Just a second.

Joel nods, confused, as Rob and Carrie leave the room and

close the door behind them. Joel hears a hushed argument

ensue in the hall. He notices the dog asleep on the floor.

He grabs a magazine off the coffee table, flips through it

distractedly as he paces, puts it down, picks up another. A

subscription card falls to the floor. He picks it up and is

about to shove it back in the magazine when he sees it is not

a subscription card at all. It reads:

Clementine Kruczynski has had Joel Barish erased from her

memory. Please never mention their relationship to her

again. Thank you.

Lacuna Ltd.

610 11th Avenue, NY, NY

Joel stares at the card, incredulous.

Later:
Rob and Carrie are now back in the room.

CARRIE (CONT'D)

You weren't supposed to see that.

JOEL:

They can't erase memories. It's a joke.

It's a nasty Clementine hoax.

CARRIE:

Sweetie, we called the company.

Joel just stands there.

Close-up of a vague dictionary page.

VOICE-OVER

Lacuna:
Noun. A blank, a missing

portion, especially in a manuscript.

INT. JOEL'S APARTMENT - NIGHT

Joel is on the phone pacing.

CARRIE'S VOICE

You can't tell her, Joel. They explained

that. Like waking a sleepwalker. It

might have a devastating effect.

INT. JOEL'S CAR - NIGHT

Joel drives past vague local landmark.

CARRIE'S VOICE

Think about it:
to be told you lived an

existence of which you have no

recollection.

JOEL'S VOICE

But what am I supposed to do?

CARRIE'S VOICE

Move on, sweetie.

JOEL'S VOICE

How can I? How can I move on when I know

I'm the only one to carry this love we

had? How do I do that?

INT. CAR - NIGHT

Joel in his parked car next to a fence surrounding a drive-in

movie closed for the season. He weeps. The windows fog up

until the outside is completely obscured.

EXT. NEW YORK STREET - DAY

Joel looks for an address.

INT. ELEVATOR - DAY

Joel gets off on the sixth floor. He searches for a room

number. As he turns the corner, he sees that the hallway is

faded, vague and mostly erased. He keeps walking, comes to

the door marked Lacuna and opens it. Inside he can see

vague, erased version of Mary the receptionist.

MARY:

(dead monotone)

Hi, May I help you?

These degraded, faded memories allow Joel to detach himself

and hear what's going on in his bedroom.

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