From Flower Vase to Film Emperor in Hollywood

Charlie Kaufman is consistently like this.

Seemingly ordinary, seemingly simple, seemingly realistic, seemingly straightforward plot routines develop bizarre branches and create dark humor.

It's not the traditional sense of unbridled imagination—it's definitely not "Harry Potter" or "Star Wars"—but it always manages to unexpectedly break expectations at unforeseen nodes or turning points.

People thought Joel would chat up Clementine, but it was reversed.

People thought that Joel rejecting Clementine would create a rift and temporary estrangement between them, but Joel took the initiative, indicating that he could take Clementine home, and the story continued to usher in twists without waiting for the next plot point.

Although Clementine seemed a little hesitant, even though their encounter on the train didn't end pleasantly, Clementine still got into Joel's car.

"You're not a stalker, are you?"

Clementine's first sentence upon getting into the car made the Angelica Film Center burst into laughter.

But Joel couldn't laugh, his face full of panic, "I, I'm not a stalker, you came to find me first, remember?"

Clementine shook her head, "That's the oldest trick in the stalker's handbook."

Joel blinked, "Really? There's even a stalker's handbook? Then I should study it carefully."

Joel escorted Clementine home, and Clementine, just as she was about to get out of the car and leave, couldn't control an impulse and invited Joel upstairs for a drink.

Joel's startled white rabbit expression made Clementine give up the idea, but Joel immediately agreed and followed Clementine to her apartment.

An awkward and ambiguous atmosphere flowed.

Clementine was bold and enthusiastic, making Joel seem like a piece of wood.

However, Joel didn't reject this feeling, even though his whole body was tense and sitting upright, his eyes always revolving around Clementine, a kind of indescribable and unclear contradictory feeling was pulling.

What should have been an ambiguous and heart-stirring scene was, at this moment, hilarious.

"I want to marry you."

Clementine said, like a flame, crackling and burning.

Joel was a little flustered and confused, but the corners of his mouth slightly turned up.

"Okay?"

After saying that, Joel himself couldn't help but reveal a smile in his eyes.

Clementine snuggled in Joel's arms, their fingers intertwined.

She asked Joel to take her to the Charles River for a picnic, a night picnic.

The two people got closer and closer and more and more intimate. Joel felt the scorching heat in his palm and the rising desire, hurriedly expressing that he should leave; but Clementine thought that Joel should stay overnight.

Joel hesitated briefly, but the instinct of caution still reined him in.

Before Joel left, Clementine even took the initiative to give him her phone number; and when Joel arrived downstairs at the apartment building, she opened the window and leaned out.

"Call me to wish me a Happy Valentine's Day! That, that would be great."

Clementine's smile bloomed in the night.

Joel didn't drive—because he had been drinking. He tightened his coat and strode forward in the swirling snowflakes, his staggering steps getting faster and faster, eventually turning into a sprint under the streetlights.

That was joy, a pure and simple joy, a joy of falling in love.

When Joel got home, he didn't prepare to sleep, but sat down on the red sofa in the corner, turned on the light, and sat obediently in place, like a good student with his hands neatly placed on his knees.

What is he doing now?

Karen didn't understand.

Turning to look at Blair, trying to find an answer, but this time Blair didn't understand either.

The phone was connected in a moment, and Clementine's cheerful voice came, "Why are you calling now?"

The smile on the corner of Joel's mouth naturally rose, "I just got home."

Clementine, "Do you miss me?"

Joel paused, and under his long eyelashes, you could see a little joy in his eyes, "Happy Valentine's Day."

"Ah! Haha!" Clementine cheered, and you could even hear her spinning and dancing, "That means we're kind of married."

Joel tilted his head, "I guess so."

Clementine, "So, tomorrow night? Honeymoon on the ice?"

Say tomorrow night and it's tomorrow night, say honeymoon and it's honeymoon—

Joel and Clementine came to the Charles River. The thick frozen river was empty, but you could see the lights of vehicles on the opposite bank like fireflies stringing together into a flowing halo. The hazy moonlight sprinkled down, making the whole world seem vast and tranquil, breathtakingly beautiful.

Clementine was unrestrained and reckless, Joel was cautious and careful, but the two of them still "skated" on the ice, eventually ending in a fall, simply lying directly on the ice, looking up at the stars.

In the condescending overhead shot, the moon-white ice surface faintly revealed a touch of blue in the white. Clementine and Joel were lying flat like this, watching the stars in the night sky.

Clementine asked Joel to introduce the constellations, but Joel knew nothing about constellations, so he simply started making things up, seriously talking about constellations that didn't exist at all. Clementine quickly noticed and exposed Joel, Joel pretended to be serious and insisted that what he said was true.

A smile crept up to the corner of his mouth.

No ambiguity, no lingering, no romance. The love encounter that should have been heart-stirring revealed a strange sense of humor in the film lens, and had nothing to do with the romantic love movies in memory.

But at this moment, it made the heartbeat completely lose its rhythm.

It's not romantic, but it's intoxicating; there's no ambiguity, but it's immersive. Before even having time to realize it, the entire Angelica Film Center had quietly fallen deeply into it, unable to extricate itself.

Until dawn.

Joel drove Clementine home, to her doorstep.

Joel gently woke up Clementine, who had fallen asleep in the passenger seat, but he didn't expect that Clementine directly asked if she could go to Joel's house to sleep. Although Joel was slightly surprised, this time he didn't refuse.

Clementine went upstairs to get a toothbrush.

Joel sat in the driver's seat, his head resting on the back of the seat, closing his eyes to rest, but in the silence, the corners of his mouth slightly turned up, a kind of uncontrollable joy and happiness was quietly blooming.

Knock knock!

Someone knocked on the car window, breaking the silence. Joel woke up with a start, and then saw a baby-faced person standing outside with a frown.

"What's the matter?" Joel asked inexplicably.

The baby-faced person looked serious, "Do you need my help?"

Joel was confused, "What do you mean?"

The baby-faced person, "Is there anything you need my help with?"

Joel: … …

Everything in front of him was really too inexplicable. Joel couldn't keep up with the rhythm. The exhaustion after a night of revelry made him not understand what was happening in front of him.

"… … No." Joel still politely refused.

The baby-faced person didn't let him go, "Why are you here?"

Joel, "I'm not sure why you're asking that?"

The baby-faced person was stunned, his expression flustered, "Oh. Thank you."

Then, the baby-faced person left.

Actually, just like that... left.