Sigmund Freud once wrote that going to the movies is a lot like going to sleep. You dim the lights, find a comfortable seat, and open your mind to whatever image passes in front of you. In writer-director Michel Gondry’s new film, “The Science of the Dream,” he takes Freud’s idea one step further, comparing the dream cycle to an internal television station in which the dreamer is the host and the star. of each program. Welcome to Stephane TV, where a cooking show combines flashbacks, reminiscences, relationships and a dash of “other boats” in one big bowl to produce a tasty combination of Stephane’s dream life.
Gondry, the award-winning creator of “The Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind,” returns to explore the effects of love on the psyche and the effects of the psyche on love. In this mind-blowing romance, man-child Stephane (Gael García Bernal) finds the woman of his dreams (literally). Stephane, an artist and inventor stuck in a menial job with unpleasant co-workers, finds his alter ego in next-door neighbor Stephanie (Charlotte Gainsbourg).
Confusion between dreaming and waking
However, by constantly confusing his dream world with his waking life, Stephane risks permanently losing his grasp on reality. He says, “In dreams, emotions are overwhelming” and, in fact, her emotions threaten to take control of her life. Although he claims to be intrigued with the “science” of sleep, which includes multiple cycles and rapid eye movements, he is ultimately consumed with the “art” of dreaming. When he creates the incredibly colorful, visually stunning, handmade dreams of his, he is an artist, inventor, and would-be lover.
Similar in theme and style to such dream movies as “Waking Life,” “Vanilla Sky,” “Monkeybone” and, more specifically, “The Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind,” this imaginative 2006 film packs plenty of entertainment, style, meaning and, of course, excitement in a seemingly endless series of dazzling dream sequences.
the science of sleep
- A romantic comedy/drama about a man caught between his dream life and his waking life.
- Director: Michel Gondry
- Starring Gael García Bernal, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Miou-Miou, Alain Chabat
- Runtime: 105 minutes
- MPAA Rating: R (for language, sexual content, and nudity)