THE SCIENCE OF SLEEP Reviewed by Harvey S. Karten
Warner Independent Pictures
Grade: B
Directed by: Michel Gondry
Written By: Michel Gondry
Cast: Gael Garcia Bernal, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Alain Chabat,
Miou-Miou
Screened at: Review 1, NYC, 7/10/06
Opens: August 4, 2006 People who do not dream, or who say they do not dream
(because they just can't remember) must suffer from a terminal
paucity of imagination. Without dreaming, we'd be
psychologically crushed during the day with repressed needs.
Through the miracle of the dream, we visualize our hopes and
fears; our demons and our desires. Whoever gave human
beings this ability deserves either plaudits or
punishment–depending, of course, on whether our hopes
predominate or our fears are realized. "The Science of Sleep,"
which gives us comic insight into the phenomenon, is blessed
with Michael Gondry as writer-director. Gondry, whose "Human
Nature" deals with a research scientist who hooks up with a
woman back from the wild, where she had moved because of
embarrassment over her hairy body, is not quite as laid-back
this time. He comes closer to the ingenuity of his "Eternal
Sunshine of the Spotless Mind," about a man who learns that
his ex-girlfriend has had him literally erased from her memory. Like "Eternal Sunshine," this new offering promotes the visual
over the aural in its comical study of a man who is unsuccessful
with women not because he is shy–though he is far freer in his
dreams than in what passes for him as dull reality–but because
he is child-like. Stephane Miroux (Gael Garcia Bernal) is not an
adult who allows his inner child to emerge from time to time, but
rather a child in a man's body who may only occasionally speak
or act in ways conventionally appropriate to adults. Bernal's
performance is striking, not the least because this twenty-eight-
year-old actor, born in Guadalajara with films like "The
Motorcycle Diaries" and "Amores Perros" on his resume, speaks
fluent English with an American accent along with his native
Spanish and halting French. Stephane, who has a French mother (Miou-Miou) and has
moved to Paris from Mexico after his father's death, is attracted
to his next-door-neighbor, Stephanie (Charlotte Gainsbourg).
His ardor stands a chance of reciprocation. Unfortunately,
Stephanie appears interested only in treating the boyish fellow
as a friend, given his need to revert to childish ways in her
presence. As a graphic artist whose mother set him up with a
job in a calendar publishing outfit, he is bored stiff with the cut-
and-paste requirements, giving him little incentive to use his
unusual ability to paint subjects like airline disasters on his
canvas. A fellow worker, Guy (Alain Chabat), readily distracted
by thoughts of sex, becomes Stephane's mentor in the ways of
women. While the streets of Paris are photographed now and then by
cinematographer Jean Louis Bompoint, scenes of reality take a
back seat to the most colorful dreams, as we in the audience
become privy to a host of imaginative adventures taken by
Stephane–who seems to know when he is really asleep and
who fights any pressure to awaken. A favorite of his inner world
brings him into a TV cooking show which he hosts, preparing a
dish made from "random thoughts, reminiscences of the day,
memories, love relationships, friends, songs, images." Isn't that
what regularly goes into our nocturnal adventures? When he is
with Stephanie, he demonstrates his inventions, which include
(oddly enough) a pair of glasses that lets one see the world in 3-
D. When Stephanie replies, "Isn't the world already in 3-D?" we
see the distinction between the characters. She is connected to
reality; he is borderline insane, albeit in a delightful way. While Chabat as Bernal's would-be mentor is always amusing,
the other two co-workers, Martine (Aurelia Petit) and the picked-
on Serge (Sacha Bourdo) are irritating and would best have
been omitted from the story. Because Stephane is such a sweetie–cuddly might be the
word–we root for him to make a connection with Stephanie–to
whom he regularly proposes marriage while getting the reply, "I
don't believe in marriage." In the conclusion Gondry does not
tie neat knots. Stephane begins to say cruel things to
Stephanie, perhaps his way of rejecting her before he is
dumped. They do, however, leave the screen on a galloping toy
horse, imaginatively created by the animators, who have
knocked out some surreal images that could make the folks at
Pixar envious. Rated R. 106 minutes 2006 by Harvey Karten
harveycritic@cs.com Member: NY Film Critics Online | 
