The Science of Sleep (Michel Gondry, 2006)

Message

Saarijas · #26 Post by **Saarijas** » Fri Nov 03, 2006 11:23 pm

I loved this film. I felt it was terribly charming, and the character of Stephane, while some has criticized as un-realalistic, really hit home for me. I felt the film had an amazing art direction, some of the best I have ever seen, and Gael Garcia Bernal is one of my favorite actors. I loved the ending, and as discussed in the above spoilers, it was a perfect fit for the film.

On a slightly unrelated note. Stephane reminded me of one of my friends, to the point where it slightly creped me out. The childish mind set, idealistic views on love and relationships, and complete incompetence to achieve anything he loves, compiled with his artistic creativity. It was almost distubring at times as a result, to see an actor incidentaly playing the role of a friend on screen.

Michael · #27 Post by **Michael** » Wed Feb 07, 2007 9:41 am

Call me weird but it's not easy for me to step forward to tell you how much I'm in love with this film. I saw it last summer and saying anything about it in the public or even to my close friends really felt too intimate for me so I kept it to myself. It almost felt like sharing a lover with everybody. Don't ask me why. I'm just a weird guy. The film is really so precious and personal. No film makes me feel wistful as much as The Science of Sleep does. Like 8 1/2, this is the film I will grow old with.

Those of you who love the Science of Sleep should check out Celine and Julie Go Boating. Creative adult outcasts swimming into the world of childlike emotions and imagination filled with sweet charm and dark magic.

Cinesimilitude · #28 Post by **Cinesimilitude** » Wed Feb 07, 2007 11:17 am

It's great that you mentioned 8 1/2, as now that I've seen Gondry's latest masterpiece, All I could think of was how similar a feeling I got when watching a Fellini film. I smiled (and laughed a lot) for the entire running time of this film. I have to echo Dylan's feelings as he once again states it much better than I could, and I agree completely. Dylan, the feeling you describe of Stephane being an overgrown child is probably what Michel Gondry feels he himself is, as evidenced by the title and contents of the documentary "I've been 12 forever" on the Palm directors label dvd. On that disc Michel goes into great detail about the fact that everything he makes exists in his dreams, which lets me know that this is probably the most personal story he'll ever tell. It's very admirable. I think 'Be Kind Rewind', although I know I'll love it, will be much more mainstream, and I fear it will be some time before we see this side of Gondry again. I hope it's sooner rather than later.

#29 Post by **domino harvey** » Wed Feb 07, 2007 12:33 pm

I had my doubts going in, but this movie was just brilliant.

Costas · #30 Post by **Costas** » Wed Feb 07, 2007 2:42 pm

I adored it. It's inventive, romantic, comedic and moving. I was giddy at times watching it. I can't really say any more except I loved it the way a mother loves her baby. It charmed the pants off me like few things I've seen in recent years.

soma · #31 Post by **soma** » Wed Feb 07, 2007 3:27 pm

I wish this would hurry up and hit Australia...

#32 Post by **domino harvey** » Wed Feb 07, 2007 6:16 pm

I thought the last ten minutes or so of the film, when Stephane childishly sabotages his last moments with Stephanie by being vulgar and regressing worse than he'd been into juvenile tactics and taunts and even tantrums was impressive and fitting with the decidedly unromantic viewpoint of the film, a viewpoint that I think is completely missed by people who are swept up into the character of Stephane, who is at very base a disturbed manchild who means well but is doomed in the real world. That Stephanie could never be in a relationship with Stephane for the very reasons she's attracted to him, his immaturity and naivete and obsessive devotion, is heartbreaking because despite everything the viewer connects to both characters very strongly and the conventions of a romantic comedy tell us these two will somehow be together.

#33 Post by **zedz** » Wed Feb 07, 2007 7:02 pm

Hey, I'm agreeing with Domino again. I think one of the film's strongest points is the way that Gondry undercuts the whimsy (and it's great whimsy) with the rather dark psychology of the characters. Rather than indulging and implicitly endorsing Stephane's whimsicality, the film shows us, at the end, how psychotic and dangerous it can be. We admire his unhinged imagination, and want to like him, but can see just how destructive the S/S relationship could be. Freedom from the mundane constraints of reality is definitely a double-edged sword.

Macintosh · #34 Post by **Macintosh** » Wed Feb 07, 2007 9:17 pm

I'm really not a big fan of surrealism, so i was expecting to hate this film going into it. Boy was I wrong. It's one of the saddest, most personal films to me that i've seen in a LONG time. I was surprised at how much I was affected by the last ten minutes of the movie. Maybe it's because I saw so much of myself in the character of Stephane. I really think domino hit the nail on the head with his last comment, good job.

#35 Post by **domino harvey** » Thu Feb 08, 2007 4:17 pm

just bought the DVD, for those curious: no extra version of the film included. commentary tho

Fletch F. Fletch · #36 Post by **Fletch F. Fletch** » Mon Feb 12, 2007 2:06 pm

The Guardian interviews Gondry.

lord_clyde · #37 Post by **lord_clyde** » Mon Feb 12, 2007 4:29 pm

He also mentioned how Science of Sleep is like a band's first album in his ign interview.

Antoine Doinel · #38 Post by **Antoine Doinel** » Tue Feb 13, 2007 1:21 pm

Wow, I would love to see what The Green Hornet would've been like in Gondry's hands.

Cosmic Bus · #39 Post by **Cosmic Bus** » Tue Feb 13, 2007 7:57 pm

The French 2-disc will include a new version entitled "Film B" that is composed entirely of alternate takes. Curious to see how that pans out.

Info from Gondry's official site (in French)

#40 Post by **domino harvey** » Tue Feb 13, 2007 7:59 pm

Curious if that version will include English subs for the B-cut. If so, hello import!

Floyd · #41 Post by **Floyd** » Wed Feb 14, 2007 7:47 am

I loved this film so much, I am upset for missing this in the theater as it played for quite awhile here locally. It is in line with Gondry's work which I first fell for on his Work of Director's Series DVD with his use of animation (Oui Oui). I wish filmmakers would all create something this wonderfully visual, emotional, and exciting all the time.

scalesojustice · #42 Post by **scalesojustice** » Mon Feb 19, 2007 3:03 pm

it seems that i'm the only one who didn't like it. i don't see how acting like a five year-old equates to some half assed emotional vulernibility or honesty. it was an excuse for gondry to freak out with his dream sequences, which were cool and some what charming, but they seemed to work better as music videos. they didn't hold water for me. it was more of gondry trying to write like kaufman, but the cool dream sequences were clearly the focus, not the characters or story.

Barmy · #43 Post by **Barmy** » Mon Feb 19, 2007 3:22 pm

You're not the only one. I found this incredibly jejune and puerile. I almost walked out, and I never walk out of films. I hate manchild films generally, but this was just beyond the pale.

exte · #44 Post by **exte** » Tue Feb 20, 2007 12:54 am

I didn't care for this either. It was almost a complete waste of time, and the ending was totally unsatisfactory. Yes, characters don't always have to conform to some happy ending, but this was just bad, almost like the filmmaker saying go fuck yourself to the audience, I felt. There really wasn't enough rationale for me, I guess. I don't know...

Antoine Doinel · #45 Post by **Antoine Doinel** » Tue Feb 20, 2007 1:39 am

I can certainly see how the ending can be disappointing for some, but what I think Gondry was addressing was the sacrifice that comes from caught up in your own dreams and desires. Stephane is a romantic, yet an obsessive creative. This requires a certain amount selfishness which ultimately leads to his inability to function in a relationship which would require him caring about someone other than himself and putting their concerns on the same level as his. I've certainly seen that in my own life with people I've known pursuing lives in creative endeavors and the strain it puts on the relationships they are in.

I think Gondry's refusal to cave to an easy ending, makes the film that much more mature and powerful. I think it's too easy to call Stephane a "manchild". His is dedicated to his creativity in a world that requires one to conform their values to be functioning members of society. Stephane desperately tries to rail against it but ultimately becomes a victim of his own stubborn refusal give in.

exte · #46 Post by **exte** » Tue Feb 20, 2007 5:59 am

Antoine Doinel wrote:His is dedicated to his creativity in a world that requires one to conform their values to be functioning members of society. Stephane desperately tries to rail against it but ultimately becomes a victim of his own stubborn refusal give in.

What are you talking about? How does society fit into all this, when it's just him and the girl at the end? Can't it be just about him and her, after all? Again, Gondry has him shit on her for no reason, and this character seems to go this way in a manner that's really ramped up at the end, almost out of nowhere. How does his need to be creative force him to be an asshole? That's my problem with it.

You know, I didn't like Raging Bull the first time I saw it because I hated the Jake La Motta character so much. His existence, and the way he chose to be, ruined the whole thing for me, but the acclaim was so strong with Raging Bull, and the more I read about it again, warranted another viewing. And with viewing upon viewing, I've grown to admire the film, its caliber, style, direction, cinematography, Pesci, and the overall weight of it, especially De Niro. Anyway, this is overblown, but I now appreciate it so much in spite of the character.

I can't really compare the two pictures, except to say I doubt there's enough in Science of Sleep to warrant such a change, let alone another viewing. La Motta was an animal from the beginning, at least, but the dreamer in Science seems to go full blown shit head in the last, I can't remember, 10-20 minutes. His last scene is the worst, and to me, out of nowhere. Again, as if to say to the audience, "fuck you, this ain't that kind of movie." Gondry took a template, changed the ending, and added his own flourishes throughout. That's how I see it.

justeleblanc · #47 Post by **justeleblanc** » Tue Feb 20, 2007 11:01 am

The last scene shows how vulnerable and immature he is. It feels very realistic, and not just just a reaction to typical Romantic Comedies (not that this film was one). I almost wish the rest of the film had this level of honesty in it, and wasn't caught up in the dream-world visuals, which became uninteresting to me after a while.

Hrossa · #48 Post by **Hrossa** » Tue Feb 20, 2007 12:38 pm

The thing that was hardest to accept for me was the fact that there seems to have been no point at all in the production of the film when a native English speaker was consulted to check whether or not the movie's dialogue was absolute gibberish.

I found The Science of Sleep really hilarious in what seemed to be an unintentional way.

#49 Post by **domino harvey** » Tue Feb 20, 2007 6:51 pm

the dreams for the most part could easily have been excised and the film wouldn't suffer

jbeall · #50 Post by **jbeall** » Sun Feb 25, 2007 4:30 pm

domino harvey wrote:the dreams for the most part could easily have been excised and the film wouldn't suffer

Certainly cut down, at any rate.

Michel Gondry is a wonderfully inventive director, and working with a Charlie Kaufman script, he worked magic. Filming his own script, however, is another story.

I liked the film, but not nearly as much as Eternal Sunshine... Too much of Science was whimsical dream sequences that just stopped contributing to the story at some point. I can handle a three-minute long Peter Gabriel video, but at an hour and 45 minutes, it gets a bit boring. Gondry directs Bernal well, but how many dream sequences do we need to see to understand that Stephane's puerility doesn't translate well to real life. I found the end, where he was regressing into vulgar behavior, more interesting because it cut closer to the truth of the matter.