The Science Of Sleep [2006] - DVD (Miou Miou, Gael Garcia Bernal, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Alain Chabat - Dir: Michel Gondry)

The Science of Sleep concerns the flirtations and misunderstandings of Stéphane (played by Gael García Bernal), an aspiring visual artist, and Stéphanie (played by Charlotte Gainsbourg), his Parisian neighbour who creates whimsical sculptures from cotton balls and felt. As Stéphane toils in a caustic office for a company that makes calendars, he retreats into his dreams and finds them increasingly hard to distinguish from reality, and vice-versa.

The French magician and director Georges Méliès was arguably the first master of special effects, filling the silent movie houses of the early 20th century with camera trickery that stunned and delighted audiences. A century later, Michel Gondry works very much in the spirit of his artistic predecessor and countryman, creating films and music videos that feel just as hand-crafted and visually fantastical. The Science of Sleep is a trilingual film, with dialogue spoken in French, English, and Spanish by characters who are very much global citizens, crossing boundaries of consciousness as easily as they cross boundaries of culture. Gondry decorates his love story with deliberately low-tech special effects, including cellophane made to look like bath water and a subconscious television studio constructed largely of corrugated cardboard. This is filmmaking with all the seams and stitches exposed, an appreciation for the patent falseness of films that nonetheless transport and enchant us. It's dreamy. --Ryan Boudinot

Customer Reviews of The Science Of Sleep [2006]

-- Kayleia
Grantham, Lincolnshire
8th December 2008

Endearing, lovely film
I'm a massive Gondry fan girl and I was so excited when I finally saw this, it's everything I expected and more. Not as romantic as Eternal Sunshine, but take the wonderful flashbacks moments and add more twee, creativeness and you will have The Science of Sleep. Flipping between English and French, this may not be for every film lover, but if you enjoyed Eternal Sunshine and the most recently Gondry film Be Kind Rewind, this is one to check out.

I bought my boyfriend this film to take to Oz with him, just a reminder that I will be waiting in the UK for him when he returns home. :)

Lark
Ireland
18th October 2008

Has to be seen to be believed
I cant write a positive review of this film because I didnt think the characters where that interesting, there's little or no plot and its not compelling viewing in the least.

However, I think it has to be seen to be believed because of its bewildering strangeness.

The film begins with a scene of a man in what appears to be a studio telling you what are the ingredients of a dream, throughout the movie it cuts back to this scene and I think perhaps its meant to be his conscience, the point is its not clear at all.

It could as easily be a dream state because frequently throughout the movie the central character and others cut back and forth between dreams and reality, some of the dreams are clever but eighties pop video or visually clever rather than cerebrally challenging clever. I found the cutting between three different languages (english, french, spanish) annoying and sudden sexualised comment strange too.

Anyone who would rate this very highly should consider the story about the Emperors New Clothes, its worth a watch, perhaps even worth watching over again if you're interested in the odd, nonsensical or confusing but ultimately it could have been so much better.

T. Rogers
London, England
7th September 2008

Recommended
I really enjoyed this film. The whole film looks great. I love how they blend being awake with being asleep. Really good dialog, I thoroughly recommend seeing this film.

Basil
Sussex
27th April 2008

Disappointing
i bought this film on the strength of Eternal Sunshine but am left so disappointed - took three stabs to watch it in entirety. Best parts were the closing frames (as illustrated on the DVD sleeve) and closing soundtrack. A letdown.

D. Bennison
Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire United Kingdom
13th March 2008

A Mess
I loved Human Nature and Eternal Sunshine but since then it's been a rapid decline in my eyes, reaching new depths with Be Kind Rewind which was beyond awful...without a Kaufmann script Michel Gondry appears to be unable to fashion anything himself outside of music video slapstick. This is an irritatingly wacky idea that's been drawn out into a film - lame half-characters I didn't care about speaking banal dialog to each other. I went into the cinema with great enthusiasm but this was too much pop video, novel bits of papier-mache patchwork surrealism trying to paper over the cracks of an otherwise dull self-indulgent tale.