Stephane, a very shy and insecure young man who is socially
clumsy, is falling in love with an equally shy girl. He's a very creative
thinker, and everything that happens between them gets re-interpreted through
his dreams. In turn, everything that happens in his dreams gets re-examined in
reality. The reality also gets re-examined in reality, since he is a sincere man
who constantly worries about the meaning of small physical gestures or subtle
shifts in vocal tones in respect to the girl's feelings for him. Underlying it
all is the fear of rejection which affects all of us to some degree, but affects
shy people in highly significant ways which can completely dominate their lives. The
Science of Sleep exists in the dream and real worlds simultaneously, and it is
not always clear to us which we are watching. There's a good reason for that. We
cannot always differentiate between Stephane's dreams and reality because
Stephane himself is not completely certain which is which, and we are stuck
within his point of view.
The most amazing thing about the film is that the two lead
performers, Gael Garcia Bernal and Charlotte Gainsbourg, seem to understand
exactly what writer/director Michel Gondry wants to achieve, which is not an
easy thing to achieve in a surreal environment, and have managed to deliver
astounding performances, so natural and unaffected that they seem not to be
acting at all. Bernal also has a tremendous gift for comic timing, something I
had not really realized from his previous performances. Those two sympathetic
characterizations are the film's greatest strengths, since they draw us in and
keep us involved in a story which could otherwise be considered too rambling to
command ongoing focus in a world of short attention spans. The film takes a
deliberately low-tech approach to special effects (think Pee-Wee's Playhouse),
and that accentuates the natural, heartfelt performances beautifully. The
performers are also supported by some imaginative visuals and writing by Gondry,
who has already directed one masterpiece about the inner workings of the brain,
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.
The film also has its weaknesses, primarily deriving from its
complete lack of structure. I could tell you that it doesn't have an ending, but
that would be a bit misleading, since it doesn't really have a storyline either,
so there is nothing to end. But I'm going to ignore that for a moment and just
note that the film ends in an infuriatingly ambiguous way which left me
wondering if the DVD had been mastered correctly. Were there scenes missing? No.
The writer/director was hoping to end the film in the dream world, thus forcing
us to speculate about the underlying reality which might be driving the final
dream. This was an alternative to spelling the reality out. He succeeded in the
sense that the film's ending has generated considerable debate and discussion.
Personally, I think ambiguity is a sign of subtlety and encourages audience
involvement, so I applaud it in general, but I think this film could have
benefited from a little less anarchy. Then again, perhaps that's just me
thinking in linear terms and wanting to balance equations that have no
solutions.
Excluding the ending, which seems to suffer from the typical
pretentiousness of surrealism, the film manages to achieve something rarely seen
in cinematic attempts at portraying the subconscious: The Science of Sleep is
warm, human, and approachable. Stephane is happier and more competent in his
dreams than in real life, which makes them a pleasant place for us to visit with
him. The subconscious mind is normally portrayed in films and literature as a
frightening place, and most attempts to portray it are aloof, but The Science of
Sleep takes a different approach. It is the new, improved, cuddly surrealism!
