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Film Review

22 November 2008 00:27 BST

The Science of Sleep

Directed by Michel Gondry, out February 16th 2007 in cinemas, starring Gael Garcia Bernal, Charlotte Gainsbourg and Alain Chabat, running time 105 minutes.

In a nutshell

Chaotic. Colourful. "Parallel Synchronised Randomness".

What's it all about?

Almost certainly unlike anything else to come out in cinemas this or any other year, the multilingual Science of Sleep focuses on Stephane Miroux, an aspiring artist and habitual daydreamer who returns to Paris for what he thinks is his big break. But the harsh reality of his new job and the strange attractions of his neighbour across the hallway mean Stephane soon finds himself sinking in ever-more detached fantasies.

Who's in it?
Gael Garcia Bernal, currently also on screens as part of the ensemble cast in Babel, takes centre stage here as the faltering Stephane, and is utterly convincing as a man forever prone to escapist digressions into his dreams.

Charlotte Gainsbourg, star of numerous French films but more widely known on this side of the channel as the daughter of crooner Serge, puts in a restrained performance as Stephanie, subtly revealing her character to both Stephane and the audience as the film unfolds.

As an example:

Stephane: Tonight I'll show you how dreams are prepared, love, friendships, relationships. All those ships.

Guy: Are you interested in Martine ?
Stephane: Martine from work ?
Guy: No, Martin Scorsese. Of course Martine!

Likelihood of a trip to the Oscars

Virtually any segment of the film would be a shoe-in for best animated short were they eligible, but otherwise the Academy's preference for more classical forms of entertainment is unlikely to find much to favour here.

What the others say

"It suffers occasionally from self-consciousness and over-indulgence in its own oddity, but Gondry's grasp of emotion and visuals is enchanting. Even if he seems several sandwiches short of a picnic." – Empire

"A thwarted love story that does not trade in the degraded cliches either of romance or conventional sexiness." – Peter Bradshaw, the Guardian.

So is it any good?

The Science of Sleep has snuck into the UK somewhat under the radar, despite being director Michel Gondry's first feature film since the well-received Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. In the absence of that film's scriptwriter, Charlie Kaufman, Gondry has take over screenplay duties and gives his visual imagination free reign.

The purposefully underwritten characters consequently tend to take a backseat to Gondry's portrayal of Stephane's inner life, but while the stop-motion animation is often captivating in itself, taken as part of Stephane's dreamworld it frequently drifts into disconcertingly fey magical realism.

A freewheeling nature lends some gleefully eccentric moments to proceedings, with many of the all-too-brief exchanges between Stephane and his co-workers reminiscent of the off the cuff chitchat found in the likes of I Heart Huckabees. The difficulties Stephane has in reconciling his job to his dreams make for some of the film's most impressive sequences, but these are often few and far between.

But in spite of Gondry seemingly preferring to let the visuals do the talking, it's the connection between Stephane and Stephanie that's the most intriguing aspect of the Science of Sleep. As the film's emotional core the relationship holds up well even as Stephane steps in and out of reality, with many exchanges capturing the sense of social awkwardness that saw Stephane retreat into his world of make-believe in the first place.

Later scenes are admirable in their refusal to shy from showing that petulant narcissism is an unavoidable side-effect of Stephane's child-like mindset, and while it's debatable whether any in-dream horse riding can be taken at face value in a post-Anchorman world, the understated conclusion seems strangely fitting as the sugar comedown that inevitably follows a slightly-too-sweet confection.

6.5/10

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