REVIEW - The Science of Sleep

By Felix Lowe

Dir: Michel Gondry
Starring: Gael Garcia Bernal, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Alain Chabat
105 minutes, Spanish/French/English (subtitled)

***

AN EFFETE Gael Garcia Bernal plays Stephane, a Mexican illustrator who returns to Paris following the death of his father.

By day, the shilly-shallying twenty-something sees his creativity stifled in a calendar-making company filled with social misfits.

By night, his slumber centres around Stephane TV, a Blue Peter-style programme he presents in his dreams which acts as a portal into his confused mind.

Having been captivated by his provocative neighbour, Stephane soon realises that it is actually her best friend, Stephanie (Charlotte Gainsbourg), whom he loves. The two soul mates seem be the perfect match, but a series of blunders creates a tissue of petty deceit and droll misunderstanding.

As can be expected from the madcap director of Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, this film delights and infuriates in equal measure.

Essentially a study of Stephane’s interchanging dreams and everyday life, The Science of Sleep breaks down all boundaries of the real and the imaginary, and does so with vim and vigour.

Where the film succeeds is in recreating the distinct haziness and playful incredulity of dreams, producing some memorable comic turns and showcasing the most irritating boss since Ricky Gervais’ David Brent. But ultimately Gondry’s film is the stuff of dreams, a series of bottomless sketches and a largely unresolved plot. In that respect, at least, it remains faithful to its subject matter.