The Science of Sleep (2006)

Stéphane (Gael García Bernal) is a creative, ingenious, passionate, and sometimes shy graphic artist who moved to France from Mexico after his father passed away. He is a young man who fuses his living dreams to his not so dazzling reality. When he sleeps, Stéphane is the star of his own TV reality show; but when he wakes up, he works as a clerk for a nude-women calendar design company. One day a piano falls over Stéphane and incidentally, he meets Stephanie (Charlotte Gainsbourg), a girl who may have the same sense of dreamlike whimsy as he does.

Directed by Michel Gondry (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind), The Science of Sleep is one of those movies that deserve to be seen twice. It is surreal and beautiful to the eyes, but it is the magic and complex dilemma of relationships that makes this art flick stand above the usual love story. Gondry takes us one more time to an imaginary exploration of how we understand and cope with relationships, but in this journey we travel in and between dreams and reality.

Comparing Eternal Sunshine and The Science of Sleep is like comparing feeling butterflies in your stomach and feeling, seeing, and sometimes being the butterflies in your stomach. While Eternal Sunshine is very clear in its message, The Science is more subjective and experimental in its predicament. Commercially and artistically, this project is riskier than its predecessor, but the rewarding experience of an original work alongside an outstanding performance by García Bernal is worth the price.

Spoken in English and French – and un poquito de Español, The Science of Sleep is undoubtedly the right movie choice if you are looking for an entertaining yet deep and thoughtful movie. While it opened only at the E Street Cinema last week, this week screens in around six movie theaters on the area. Don’t miss it!