The Science of Sleep (C+ or 2.5/4 stars)
'The Science of Sleep' is an indie film written & directed by Michel Gondry (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind). Stephane (Gael Garcia Bernal) flies from Mexico to France to live with his estranged French mother. His father has died & he moves to France with the understanding that his mother (Miou-Miou) has found him a suitable job. His job, cutting and pasting for calendars, is a disappointment. He hopes to provide illustrative talents for this company; but they just needed a basement worker. Just when things look dismal, he begins a sweet, but clumsy romance with a woman who resides next door, Stephanie (Charlotte Gainsbourg). The acting is stellar, the imagery is great, the sets are second-to-none, but the plotline lacks something.
Stephane is uber-sensitive and of an artsy temperament, Stephanie is compassionate and artsy, as well; seems a match made in Heaven, right? Not so fast ... Stephane has a serious sleep disorder which prevents him from realizing what may be real and what may be a dream. The fight within Stephane between his reality, his fantasies, & how Stephanie fits in with it all is where this film is based.
Part of his disorder includes a bizarre form of narcolepsy which irritates his co-workers and Stephanie alike. They like Stephane. He is smart & creative, but completely frustrating because his dream world and real world coexist. It also doesn't help that Spanish is his first language, followed by English, and then French. Whenever he can't explain what he may be feeling, he resorts to his back-up languages. One thing I particularly love in this film is the intertwining of languages being used. The dialogue is clever, funny, & spouted in several languages at once (with coinciding subtitles). This may sound confusing, but it works.
So Stephane's imminent problem is almost insurmountable. The line between his worlds are vague (posing a bit of a problem for us viewers because it's difficult for us to discern, as well). His affections for Stephanie are going nowhere in real life. And it's not much better when he's sleeping/dreaming. Can the Science of Sleep transfer into reality? Is his disorder the product of years of parental anguish? Has he mended bridges with his mom? Is there any hope for Stephane & Stephanie? Heck, is there any hope for Stephane to lead a normal life, at all?
Gael Garcia Bernal is excellent here. The ease with which he speaks all the languages; what he has to say; the humor; the controlled psychotic-ness of this character ... he deals with it all very well. And when the bad traits of his illness creep in to reality ... we are as fearful and confused as Stephanie is. That is both a positive & a negative for us viewers, though. This is now the 2nd time I've seen him (the other being The Motorcycle Diaries). So that makes it twice that I've enjoyed his performance moreso than the whole of each movie. Charlotte Gainsbourg is realistic as the average girl-next-door. Other performances by Alain Chabat, Aurelia Petit, Sacha Bourdo, & Pierre Vaneck (his co-workers) are superb.
Let's talk briefly about the imagery in this film. It has that foreign, retro, European feel. The set designs are great. But it is the low-tech special effects that really grab you; you feel like you're in a wild dream as you're watching. Being able to capture the feel of someone's dream is very difficult to accomplish, and Gondry does just this. Oversized toys, cardboard creations, styrofoam, cellophane, stop-motion puppets, and the like are included to create a world of fantasy. And the fact that these creations make their way into Stephane's strange reality is even more impressive, yet more confusing, as well; a lot is hard to distinguish.
Overall, while most of the dialogue is spot-on, the overall writing is sketchy. The plot is the weakest part of the film. I kept waiting for 'something' to happen, & it never really does. In fact, the ending is one of those where we are left to decide what happens next. Sometimes that method works well ( a la Sideways), this time, it really feels rushed and incomplete. 'The Science of Sleep' is a sort of poor-man's Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. But I applaud its quirkiness, and it's originality. We need more films like this in Hollywood. They just need to be executed better.
Stephane is uber-sensitive and of an artsy temperament, Stephanie is compassionate and artsy, as well; seems a match made in Heaven, right? Not so fast ... Stephane has a serious sleep disorder which prevents him from realizing what may be real and what may be a dream. The fight within Stephane between his reality, his fantasies, & how Stephanie fits in with it all is where this film is based.
Part of his disorder includes a bizarre form of narcolepsy which irritates his co-workers and Stephanie alike. They like Stephane. He is smart & creative, but completely frustrating because his dream world and real world coexist. It also doesn't help that Spanish is his first language, followed by English, and then French. Whenever he can't explain what he may be feeling, he resorts to his back-up languages. One thing I particularly love in this film is the intertwining of languages being used. The dialogue is clever, funny, & spouted in several languages at once (with coinciding subtitles). This may sound confusing, but it works.
So Stephane's imminent problem is almost insurmountable. The line between his worlds are vague (posing a bit of a problem for us viewers because it's difficult for us to discern, as well). His affections for Stephanie are going nowhere in real life. And it's not much better when he's sleeping/dreaming. Can the Science of Sleep transfer into reality? Is his disorder the product of years of parental anguish? Has he mended bridges with his mom? Is there any hope for Stephane & Stephanie? Heck, is there any hope for Stephane to lead a normal life, at all?
Gael Garcia Bernal is excellent here. The ease with which he speaks all the languages; what he has to say; the humor; the controlled psychotic-ness of this character ... he deals with it all very well. And when the bad traits of his illness creep in to reality ... we are as fearful and confused as Stephanie is. That is both a positive & a negative for us viewers, though. This is now the 2nd time I've seen him (the other being The Motorcycle Diaries). So that makes it twice that I've enjoyed his performance moreso than the whole of each movie. Charlotte Gainsbourg is realistic as the average girl-next-door. Other performances by Alain Chabat, Aurelia Petit, Sacha Bourdo, & Pierre Vaneck (his co-workers) are superb.
Let's talk briefly about the imagery in this film. It has that foreign, retro, European feel. The set designs are great. But it is the low-tech special effects that really grab you; you feel like you're in a wild dream as you're watching. Being able to capture the feel of someone's dream is very difficult to accomplish, and Gondry does just this. Oversized toys, cardboard creations, styrofoam, cellophane, stop-motion puppets, and the like are included to create a world of fantasy. And the fact that these creations make their way into Stephane's strange reality is even more impressive, yet more confusing, as well; a lot is hard to distinguish.
Overall, while most of the dialogue is spot-on, the overall writing is sketchy. The plot is the weakest part of the film. I kept waiting for 'something' to happen, & it never really does. In fact, the ending is one of those where we are left to decide what happens next. Sometimes that method works well ( a la Sideways), this time, it really feels rushed and incomplete. 'The Science of Sleep' is a sort of poor-man's Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. But I applaud its quirkiness, and it's originality. We need more films like this in Hollywood. They just need to be executed better.