Would be illustrator Stephane starts work at a calendar company, a ruse by his widowed mother to get him to return to their Parisian home. But Stephane's grip on reality is a strained one and his constant dreams and flights of fancy prove a hindrance in his attempts to woo his neighbour, Stephanie.
The winning combination of screenwriter Charlie Kaufman and music video director Michel Gondry provided 2004 with one of its most original and entertaining movies, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. A romantic fable that posited the idea of erasing one's own mind of bad memories, specifically shy Joel's (Jim Carrey) troubled relationship with extrovert Clementine (Kate Winslet). The Science of Sleep follows a similar theme focusing as it does on a rocky romance augmented by surreal visual sequences. But for this venture Gondry is on his own, working from a self penned script.
From its opening scene in the imagined world of a cardboard TV studio The Science of Sleep pushes Gondry's visual inventiveness to the fore, eschewing CGI in favour of old fashioned techniques. Cardboard cars and knitted typewriters imbue the myriad dream sequences with a whimsical childlike feel. But while there are moments of playful inventiveness, Stephane's one minute time machine for example, Gondry's fourth film lacks a coherent script to support the often incoherent imagery. A lack of distinction between the world of dreams and reality, Stephane's daily working life populated by odd characters like fellow employee and ageing lothario Guy (a winning performance by Alain Chabat), makes for a confusing experience. This ambiguity between the real and the imagined is unquestionably Gondry's intention, but it leaves the viewer perplexed and more importantly unable to emotionally enage in the 'will they/wont they' romance which lies at the film's core.
Buried under the surfeit of fantasy sequences is Stephane's attempts to woo Stephanie, a woman who also has fantastical leanings. Debilitated by his refusal to fully connect with the real world his burgeoning relationship with Stephanie is infuriating rather than heartfelt. It doesn't help that Gael García Bernal and Charlotte Gainsbourg, both accomplished actors, are saddled with inane and unlikeable characters. Neither of them is very interesting and frequently annoying, coming across as one dimensional mouthpieces for Gondry's musings about romance and dreams. In fact the film's appeal can be tested by whether or not listening to someone explain in detail the dream they had last night holds any interest.
The Science of Sleep represents the worst of what happens when a music video director turns their hand to full-length features. Without the benefit of a focused narrative it amounts to little more than a cut together montage of whatever creative images pop into Gondry's fertile imagination. Admittedly some of these are entertaining, if overly familiar to fans of his previous work, but the lead characters fail to gel and their love affair is simply unsatisfying. The frustratingly ambiguous finale doesn't help matters either. For a far more charming and heart-warming fantasy tinged romance steer clear of this self-indulgent folly and watch the vastly superior Amélie.
French musician-turned-film-maker who made his name directing innovative videos for the likes of Bjork, Massive Attack and The White Stripes, as well as a variety of TV commercials. His first feature film was 2001's surreal comedy Human Nature, written by Charlie Kaufman. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, co-written with Kaufman and starring Jim Carrey and Kate Winslet, was his next project, a success that was not matched by The Science of Sleep which Gondry wrote himself. Be Kind Rewind was a charming comedy that only won cult acclaim, but superhero spoof The Green Hornet was a surprise hit in light of the grumpy reaction it received. Adaptation of cult novel Mood Indigo proved more difficult to find its audience, though coming of age yarn Microbe & Gasoline was more conventional.
