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The Science of Sleep is Michel Gondry’s latest film.  I was drawn to it based on his idiosyncratic Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and Human Nature.  But this is a much less approachable film, steeped in surrealism and a prisoner of the protagonist’s troubled mind.  I am certainly not adverse to films produced in other cultures, but even as I write this critique, I can’t quite make up my mind whether I’ve just experienced an imaginative expression of the human condition or was subjected to nearly two hours of frustration.  Perhaps as I write, my reaction will gel.

The plot is minimal, almost miniscule.  The film opens with the odd musings of a fretful young man named Stephane (Gael García Bernal).  We experience the first of his odd fantasies and dreams, populated by the improbable and the impossible, and frequently situated in a tiny television studio equipped with a cardboard camera.  Stephane has just recently traveled from living with his divorced father in Mexico to Paris, where he will stay with his mother (Miou-Miou).  No sooner does he move into her flat than a new neighbor moves in across the hall.  Her name, by no small coincidence, is Stephanie (Charlotte Gainsbourg).  She may be no less insecure than Stephane, which makes their inevitable attempts at romance predictably uncomfortable and unavoidable.

They have a cute meet when he’s slightly injured by a piano that her moving men can’t quite get up the stairs without mishap.  At first, Stephane is attracted to Stephanie’s friend Zoe (Emma de Caunes), who is helping with the move.  Zoe may be prettier than Stephanie, but she lacks that certain eccentricity that every horny young man craves: Stephanie creates dioramas and populates them with stuffed animals.  This artistic bent would seem to dovetail nicely with Stephane’s chosen field; he’s an aspiring commercial artist currently frustrated by the thankless job his mother arranged at a calendar printing shop.  He also invents improbable gadgets, like a little time machine that sends one back one second at a time, and a miniature robotic horse.

Stephanie and Stephane orbit one another, misread one another, become a little close, push back, and have periods of conflict tinged with jealousy and uncertainty.  They are awkward and lonely and can’t quite seem to connect emotionally.  This is predominantly due to Stephane’s odd behavior.  Every time the film began to motivate me to route for these two people, he would do something immature or stupid or bizarre that would drive a wedge between them.  His self-defeating behaviors just wore me down, an exasperating and frustrating experience.  Gondry manages to insert the occasional chuckle or two, but for the most part I found myself longing for Stephane to get psychiatric help.

This is a shame, for Gondry has created an imaginative and visually intriguing film that draws upon the fantasies, conscious and subconscious, of the mind.  Using odd sets, inventive set dressing, creative horse costuming, and stop action animation, we’re drawn into the surrealistic worlds that can only exist in the imagination.  But Stephane’s behavior simply becomes too annoying for this writer.  As the closing credits rolled, I wanted the 106 minutes of my life back.

The Video: How Does The Disc Look?

The film’s 1.78:1 aspect ratio is presented in an anamorphic video transfer.  There is some good news.  Color rendition is quite nice, with natural flesh tones and bright, vivid, smear-free primaries.  Black levels are fine and shadow detail is pretty good as well.  Small object detail is above average but finely grained detail is not.  The overall impression is one of softness.  More bad news: modest halos run through the presentation and there is a bit of mosquito noise that will be visible on a revealing display watched with a viewing angle of about 35 degrees or more. 

The Audio: How Does The Disc Sound?

The only track on the disc is a Dolby Digital 5.1 mix in English with occasional French and Spanish supported by burned-in subtitles.  This is another character study dependent upon dialog and featuring a rather simple mix.  Your center front speaker will do most of the work as it reproduces voices,which are fine without being outstanding.  Sound effects are minimal and simply support the onscreen actions.  The score gives the soundscape some breadth; there may have been some leakage into the surrounds.  Surround effects eluded me, as did deep bass.

Optional subtitles are in French, Spanish, and English, for which Closed Captions are also provided.

Supplements: What Goodies Are There?

The disc opens with the expected group of previews and promos (5:38): The Painted Veil; The Fountain; Infamous; and, For Your Consideration.

Despite my reluctance to sit through this film again, I had to report on the feature-length audio commentary by writer/director Michel Gondry, Gael Garcia Bernal, Charlotte Gainsbourg, and Sacha Bourdo.  This is a pleasant conversation complete with asking one another questions that provoke informative answers.  Gondry and Bernal dominate.  Gondry describes his dream experiences and how they inspired those sequences in the film.  Be patient as they bounce from English to French, but there is enough understandable information to make the track worthwhile. 

The Making of The Science of Sleep is more of a documentary than a featurette, with a running time of 39:14.  It represents a thorough view of the film's conception and production.  It would seem that Gondry anticipated DVD content; he documented the shoot, interviewed cast and crew, demonstrated real-time puppetry, and revealed details about the stop action animation.  The nature of the story and characters expose entirely too much for those who have yet to see the film. 

Lauri (11:13) is a featurette about Lauri Faggioni, who has the unique credit of Animals and Accessories Creator.  She describes how she came to do what she does, something she never expected to do.  Since she creates the stop action puppets but does not execute the animation, she explains how amazing she finds watching her creations come to life.  I found her to be a bit idiosyncratic, too, but I also found her charming. 

Rescue Me is an odd little featurette (3:36) blended with a dream sequence musical number from the film.  Linda Serbu, Gondry's friend, runs a facility that rescues cats and puts them up for adoption after they have been rendered unable to reproduce.  She really loves cats.  Really.  She describes the experience of stroking a cat on her lap as addictive as crack.  Adopt Some Love continues the cat rescue theme; it’s a featurette (4:58) by Serbu that documents some grass roots efforts to save the animals and find them good homes.

Finally, we have the film’s theatrical trailer (2:16) presented in full frame.

The 106-minute film is organized into twenty-five chapters.

Exclusive DVD-ROM Features: What happens when you pop the disc into your PC?

None are included on this disc.

Final Thoughts

A less than exemplary transfer, a very modest audio track, some interesting but quirky supplements, and a creatively conceived and executed film I can’t quite bring myself to recommend.  The curious may want to try a rental.