The Science of Sleep

The Science of Sleep, (2007) dir. Michel Gondry, starring Gael Garcia Bernal, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Alain Chabat, Miou-Miou

This wonderfully sweet romantic comedy from Michel Gondry (director of Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind) combines dreamscapes, borrowings from expressionism, surrealism, and humour. Debating the subject of much romantic literature, how do two twits get together and fall in love, The Science of Sleep goes far beyond its shallow subject matter, offering the audience an intriguing and totally new angle on romance. The film is funny and French. Or French actors alternating between speaking French and English. But the film doesn’t seem to be a foreign language film and probably makes up its mind to be an English language film for purely commercial reasons (although takes its time to do so). Watching it a viewer might be tempted to say that the spirit of Godard, Truffaut and the other directors of the French Novelle Vague, is not dead. However, the film is trite, silly, shallow, wallowing in whimsy and romantic twittery. Bernal and Gainsbourg seem meant for each other as a pair of romantically involved artist twits. Bernal (Stephane) works for an alternate advertising company and draws a series of images depicting disasters for the company’s new calendar. He meets Stephanie (Gainsbourg), they fall in love and via a series of surreal episodes, somehow contrive to get together. The film lacks connection to realities, but that’s not the point. Films aren’t about realities either, nor are they real except in their scientific and technological underpinnings. The fantasy elements intertwine effectively together in The Science of Sleep, the humour can be effective but the overwhelming silliness of the film offers a very limited range of responses from the viewer. The Science of Sleep is pure, trite candy floss but worthwhile viewing for the many visual gags and humour on offer.

Paul Murphy saw The Science of Sleep at the Duke of York cinema in Brighton.

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