The Science Of Sleep

Following his two-feature partnership with screenwriter Charlie Kaufman, Michel Gondry’s debut as a writer-director displays all of the madness and little of the method found in Human Nature or Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind. A mess but a pretty Resnais-inspired mess, The energetically baffling Science Of Sleep stars Gael Garcia Bernal as a Mexican returning to mother’s Parisian apartment after the death of his father. A resolute fantasist, he channels a mind numbing job cutting and pasting together cheap calendars and an attraction to a foxy next door neighbour (Gainsbourg) into an extraordinary dream life. Punctuated by all kinds of eccentricities, Gondry’s film features splendid lo-fi stop-motion animation using cardboard cut outs that could have been a Blue Peter project in days gone by. The playful mix of media frequently provides Science with moments of wacky invention. Gael fashions clouds using harmonics and cotton wool. He rides a woolen button-eyed horse through the clouds. He makes one-second time machines and thought transfer helmets. One might argue that it’s surrealism without depth, fancy without reason, but if you can live with that, you’ll enjoy the trip.