The Science of Sleep

This is another one of those long-awaited movies. The Science of Sleep stars Gael Garcí­a Bernal (Motorcycle Diaries, La Mala Educación, Y tu mamá también, Amores Perros) and is directed by Michel Gondry (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and many music videos). So if you've seen Eternal Sunshine or some of his music videos, you probably have an idea of the kind of off-the-wall genius and humor this man possesses. Bernal plays Stéphane who has just been tricked into moving back home by his mother, who owns some apartments. He then meets his neighbor, Stéphanie, whom he almost immediately falls in love with. Meanwhile, his mother has hooked him up with a job at a calendar company where he's supposed to be able to utilize his artistic abilities. This couldn't be farther from the truth, however, his co-workers more than make up for it. Despite all of this excitement and drama, Stéphane has just one problem. He has problems seperating reality from his world of dreams. I think my favorite parts of the movie are Stéphane's dream sequences. In them, Stéphane is a host for a popular TV show where he performs music, has guests, talks about all kinds of intellectual things and has a time machine. His whole attitude is different, which makes the whole fantasy world that much more believable. He's loose, he's free, he says what he wants, he does what he wants. In this dream land, Stéphane can be the person he wants to be with nothing holding him back. It's in this dream land where he can evaluate his relationships and work out the "real" problems he has. In the dream land, Stéphane is refined, articulate and intelligent. In the real world Stéphane is sometimes forgetful, says the wrong things and sometimes comes off as a little crazy. I like to think this is the way we all are to one extreme or another. Everybody has had at least one experience in their life where they wish they could have said something else or done something else. I like to think, this is just a little to the extreme. Another aspect I really liked in this movie was the variance of language. It takes place in France, but throughout the film you hear the characters speak in English, French, and Spanish. This is definitely one of those "art films" so if you're not into those kinds of movies, maybe you won't like this. I loved it, but this is a genre I enjoy. I've also seen numerous other works be Bernal and Gondry, so that helped influence me to see this as well. There is also some nudity/almost nudity and language that might offend some of you. Other than that, I gave this film 5 stars on netflix.