the blink times

I must applaud Michel Gondry for being so polished with films that are both mental and poetic. Like Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, this film delves into the psychology of altered realities with a genuine touch of romance.  Gael García Bernal plays Stéphane, an aspiring artist and closet inventor from Mexico who ends up being conned by his mother into a mundane typesetting job in France. In a freak accident involving clumsy movers and a piano, he meets the new tenant Stéphanie (Charlotte Gainsborough) and falls in love with her. The girl—like most chain-smoking arty chicks—is a true cynic when it comes matters of the heart, and Stéphane must rely on his dreams and fertile imagination to bring her closer to his world. Thing is, Stéphane suffers from a strange condition which allows him to invert realities and communicate with others while he is fast asleep. This naturally turns into a paradoxical situation, as he fluctuates between moments of creative charm and irrational fear.

One engaging directorial technique in this film is the seamless interweaving of reality and fantasy. There are alternating scenes between Stéphane’s dreams and real-life experiences that Gondry executes to his advantage. At some points, I wasn’t entirely sure if that was ‘real’ or just a product of the protagonist’s imagination, but the flow of the story did succeed in taking control. Stéphane’s musings render a certain degree of poetical depth to his relationship with Stéphanie. As random as they get, the images seem to present an idealist at odds with the constraints of his circumstances. Yet in the midst of the madness, he does not relent from winning the girl’s heart. With that in mind, potential viewers should note that there won’t be any sophisticated special effects flying around. Most of the props in Dream Land are made of cardboard paper and the galloping toy horse seems to be from the garbage bin, but it’s precisely this pastiche that makes The Science of Sleep such a simple yet delightful watch.

The most humorous aspect of the film has got to be the dialogue, which in fact has come a long way since Eternal Sunshine. I’m a huge sucker for witty and thought-provoking lines, since they do become very inspiring during those unwanted periods of writer’s block. Without further leaks of spoilers, here are just some memorable ones that got me into huge fits of laughter in the middle of the night.

Stéphane: I like your boobs. They are very friendly and unpretentious.

Stéphane (to Stéphanie): Will you marry me when you’re 70? You’d have nothing to lose.

Stéphane: Will you cry a little when I’m dead? I hate people that pretend that they want everybody to celebrate their death. You know, when everyone is having a blast at the party and nobody gives a shit for the dead? It’s like, ‘hey would you like to sleep with my girlfriend after my cremation?’ But in my case I guess the problem is, I don’t have a girlfriend and I’m not dead.

Stéphane: It’s like touching your penis with your left hand.
Stéphanie: I don’t have a penis.
Stéphane: But you have a left hand.

Stéphane: Will you fix your teeth one day?
Stéphanie: You’re mean.
Stéphane: I’m just saying because it’s gonna be 40 years till we marry and I might as well take care of my goods now. But actually you know, don’t do anything. Maybe no teeth is good for a blowjob.