The Science of Sleep (2005): B+

“Death to organization” cries Stéphanie (Charlotte Gainsbourg) in The Science of Sleep, and while it would be going too far to say that Michel Gondry’s whimsical film wholeheartedly echoes its character’s celebration of creative chaos, it definitely makes few concessions to logic and tidiness. Boasting a collage aesthetic whereby dream sequences, stop-motion animation, paper-maché constructions, and multiple languages all freely congregate, the director’s latest utilizes its eclectic mise-en-scène to reflect the psychological condition of Stéphane (Gael Garcia Bernal), an uninhibited artist in Paris whose infatuation with neighbor Stéphanie is complicated by his mounting inability to distinguish between waking and slumbering life. Segueing between Stéphane’s mundane reality and sprawling fantasies – which alternate between the quixotic, the egotistical, the self-conscious, and the nightmarish (including one in which his calendar-designing work is impeded by the unnatural growth of his hands) – The Science of Sleep instinctively and ecstatically captures the freeflowing, stream-of-association nature of the cluttered unconscious mind. It’s an achievement facilitated by Bernal’s nimble embodiment of Stéphane as a man whose runaway imagination is both the gift that makes him unique and the curse that alienates him from those he cares for, with his Stéphanie obsession stemming not only from their kindred dispositions – both of them fanciful, impulsive and more apt to work with their hands then passively watch television – but also from his need for an idealized object of adoration. Gondry’s approach to his story is far looser, more melodic and more open to random flights of fancy than his sterling Charlie Kaufman collaboration Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, a tack that leads to a few slack scenes during the third act. But like “Stéphane TV,” in which the protagonist messily cooks up his dreams with ingredients from his life (and watches memories as if they were home movies), this intuitive method also infuses the film with tender hope and sadness, touching on the way our cherished dreams define us, and the lonely interiority that can result from holding them too dear.

Comments

[Dennis]

Kudos on recognizing the quality in one of the year's most underrated films. While most of the critics are falling over themselves to praise The Departed, this currently stands as my favorite of the year heretofore.