La Science des Rêves (AKA The Science of Sleep)
2006, France/Italy, Directed (and written) by Michel Gondry
Colour, Running Time: 105 minutes
Cinema screening, Image: 1.85:1 spherical, Audio: English, French, plus some Spanish
It takes a while to get used to, being completely manic and apparently insane, but once you become accustomed to the strange universe of The Science of Sleep it becomes a magnetic experience. The story weaves through the mind of Stephane, a Mexican guy who’s lost his dad, moving to France to join his mom - she gets him a job in this boring office gluing bits of paper together (he wanted something creative) and he meanwhile falls for his neighbour, the geeky but endearing Charlotte Gainsbourg.
Stephane (I know, it sounds like a girl’s name to us ignorant Brits…) has a problem (or a gift?) of finding it difficult to separate reality from his dreams and they often intertwine, becoming blurred at the edges. This is where the film is really unique because Gondry obviously has let his imagination run riot with optical tricks and strange stop motion animation to depict Stephane’s inner cerebral workings. It’s a surreal experience. Gainsbourg is not the protagonist’s first choice of girl - he is initially attracted to her sexy friend but finds the less obvious artist to be a much more interesting individual. She grows on the viewer too (or at least in my case she did). But his mind is such a chaotic place that he can’t help forcing the relationship that develops to meander between one apparently satisfying occurrence to another chaotic one, kind of resembling life. Sometimes it’s difficult to tell what’s really happened and what is part of one of his dreams, but that kind of ambiguity makes this a more satisfying watch. Sort of like Videodrome but without the horror.
An interesting idiosyncrasy is the tendency of the dialogue to switch rapidly between English and French (primarily because Stephane has a problem with French) - quite unusual but I liked it as it helps keep the brain active. In the end it’s up to a viewer’s subjective opinion what they take from a film like this. In my opinion it’s a reflection that dreams and sleep are often far more satisfying than what’s actually happening in the supposed ‘real world’ itself.