” THE SCIENCE OF SLEEP “…Film Review

PEDRO’S WORLD OF CINEMA

” THE SCIENCE OF SLEEP ”

france 2006 www.thescienceofsleep-movie.com
dir: michel gondry (eternal sunshine of the spotless mind/be kind,rewind)

ok,the sleeper surprise of last year(pun intended) finally makes it downunder,the family buses to king st Dendy—a vindaloo @ tamanas ,followed by a wizards book 4 sammyMacTheRockid+an asterix dvd (with depardieu) 4 dad…so a relaxed ,sunny trio sit down as darkness descends and the electric shadows begin to flicker…

immediately we’re projected into the dreaming mind of stephan,a mexican artist/inventor who works 4 a crummy nudie-calender firm in paris by day but in his dreams, inhabits a surreal TV station where his id is the CEO…all sets made from cardboard as are the cameras…so far ,so nutty…and this young actor,gabriel garcia bernal(motor cycle diaries) has more charisma and sheer likeableness than any mortal should be allowed…but surprisingly this is an immensely touching tale of boy meets girl…literally across the apartment hallway,after dropping her piano…an awkward romance slowly develops…and stephan’s real world + dream world collide in a goofy,charming cavalcade of scenes…truly inspirational cinema as gondry goes for labour-intensive cities+set-pieces filled with his beloved cardboard(don’t throw away those cylinders people),hand drawn animation,music,dummy BIG HANDS,cellotape for running water,( he directed that white stripe’s video with the 1000’s of progressing drumkits)

i felt entirely simpatico with this approach,you never feel tricked or manipulated (oh maybe once or twice),the “subconcious+reality” building believable pathos+drama,scene after scene+ no spoilers, but a scene where stephan gives “life” to stephanie’s “horse” brings magic back into cinema that no amount of CGI can replace…

on one level this is a knockabout+tender modern romance, and on obviously another level,it is a bravura performance allowing the audience entry into the character’s mind+dreams…like “groundhog day”, he keeps waking up to absorb+adjust what has just happened …he is an awkward individual with a prickly relationship with his mother+co-workers ,but will stephanie truly accept him?

an off-beat,daring(terry gilliam must be flattered) film from a young director,polyglottal as the protagonist speaks spanish,a little english + embarrasing french…so the language keeps changing to accomodate him.
similar to “subway” by luc besson, a modern whimsical very-french take on the matters of the heart…floated out of the cinema into the bright light of king st…see it for bernal,see it for the jokes,see it for the romance, but most of all see it for what cardboard can do…

***** outta 5 (would give more if it was mathematically possible)

so what do you think???

(as a postscript–3 hours later i was reading the review of the film in THE BRAG, a free music/arts paper here in steak’n'kidney”
-when i noticed a familiar face down the bottom of the same page—sam,smiling @ theVanishingPointArtGallery a few days ago…
www.myspace.com/thebrag hahhahahahhahhaaaa such is the magic of reality hahhahhaaaaaa)