The Science of Sleep

Michel Gondry’s first solo attempt in writing an English script results in a romance/comedy/fantasy movie, The Science of Sleep. It has some interesting moments, but it needs the magic touch of his usual writing partner, Charlie Kaufman.

Stephane recently returns to Paris to live with his French mom after his Mexican dad passed away. He has a boring job but some very exciting dreams. He is in love with his next door neighbor who just happens to be called Stephanie. Gondry separates Stephane’s real world and dream land with seemingly distinctive visual styles, or does he? Gondry directed 2004’s wonderful Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind for which he and Charlie Kaufman won best original screenplay Oscar. In almost every way, Sleep feels like Sunshine being stretched to an extreme. In Sunshine, the story is structured in such a clever way that all the loose pieces are connected in the end. Without Kaufman’s magic touch on the script, Sleep simply feels loose and leaves a lot more questions than answers at its finale. In an interview with Creative Screenwriting magazine, Gondry talked about Sleep was inspired by his painful breakup with his girlfriend. In the movie, that pain appears to be the only clear theme here and everything else is debatable.

Mexico’s international heartthrob Gael Garcia Bernal plays Stephane. He is convincing as a socially awkward nerd, but I have yet to see a Dustin Hoffman rise from his short stature and boyish face. My personal favorite French actress Charlotte Gainsbourg is the love interest Stephanie in the movie. I have to admire European cinema – only in Europe, a non-traditional beauty like Gainsbourg could become a leading lady and a star. Granted she has a famous pedigree (her father Serge Gainsbourg was a famous French singer/actor and her mother Jane Birkin is a well-know British actress), it is still an amazing feat for an ordinary-looking girl like Gainsbourg to wow the audience for last 20 years and make a successful transition from a child actress to a grown-up star. Once again, she is a delight to watch in this movie. Her plain Jane look actually helps pull audience closer to her role and more easily identify with all her emotions. In spite of these two international stars, I believe French actor Alain Chabat steals the show. One reason may be his role is the best written one in the entire movie, but it still takes a seasoned actor like Chabat to give that role life on screen. Chabat is aptly named Guy, Stephane’s coworker and everything that Stephane is not. He delivers one hilarious line after another, yet he plays the role completely straight and does not strike one false note.

The Science of Sleep is not a movie for general public and may not even for art movie lovers. Anyone who watches it is certain to come up with his own interpretation of the movie.