The Science of Sleep (Michel Gondry, 2006)

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Cinesimilitude
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#51 Post by Cinesimilitude » Sun Feb 25, 2007 10:05 pm

Gondry states in the documentary "I've been 12 forever", that everything he's ever done has started in his dreams. Maybe science of sleep was his way of getting everything he's dreampt of out of his system. I love the film, but I think it's unlikely that we will see another work that is so fantasy-centered from him again.

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jbeall
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#52 Post by jbeall » Sun Feb 25, 2007 11:53 pm

SncDthMnky wrote:Gondry states in the documentary "I've been 12 forever", that everything he's ever done has started in his dreams. Maybe science of sleep was his way of getting everything he's dreampt of out of his system. I love the film, but I think it's unlikely that we will see another work that is so fantasy-centered from him again.
Well, while I certainly liked the film, I hope you're right.

Three days after seeing it, I think my complaint about the movie would be that the plot served the dream sequences, instead of the other way around.

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#53 Post by Cinesimilitude » Mon Feb 26, 2007 2:25 am

I would say that's entirely correct, although I've yet to listen to the audio commentary, which may shed more light on the process he used to write the script.

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domino harvey
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#54 Post by domino harvey » Mon Feb 26, 2007 3:35 am

No English subs on the B Film but how much is already in English do you wanna bet. MY French isn't so hot, but that says in the original language (meaning English) with French subs, right?

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#55 Post by Cinesimilitude » Mon Feb 26, 2007 9:02 am

the artwork kicks ass. I have friends that speak french fluently and love gondry's work, so I'll just be sure to watch it with them.

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domino harvey
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#56 Post by domino harvey » Thu Mar 22, 2007 10:37 pm

Confirmation from a poster on DVDTalk forums that there's no English subs on either version of the film. Bummer.

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Dylan
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#57 Post by Dylan » Fri Mar 23, 2007 1:23 am

One has to wonder why exactly the "B Version" of Science of Sleep didn't make it to the R1 since Gondry was speaking of it a few months before the theatrical release; it's not like WB didn't have time to put it on there. Then again, the relatively modest release and business probably didn't motivate them enough to try to include it (it's strange to me that this didn't do better box office given the immense popularity of "Eternal Sunshine"...then again, to name another French filmmaker, the immense popularity of "Amelie" didn't help "A Very Long Engagement" over here either).

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#58 Post by Antoine Doinel » Fri Mar 23, 2007 1:35 am

With Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind a big part of the film's box office success was due to Carrey's name. I wish I could say Gondry's name is what drew most people to cinemas but I doubt it.

Hopefully, WB will double dip on the film around the release of Gondry's next film Be Kind Rewind. I would really like to see the B-cut. My French is serviceable but not enough to get the import.

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Dylan
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#59 Post by Dylan » Fri Mar 23, 2007 1:46 am

With Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind a big part of the film's box office success was due to Carrey's name.
You're absolutely right about Carrey being the main initial draw to Eternal Sunshine (plus it had Winslet, Dunst, Elijah).
I wish I could say Gondry's name is what drew most people to cinemas but I doubt it.
Well, most people (myself included) hadn't heard of Gondry before "Eternal Sunshine," but on that film alone he's become something of a household name for even the most casual of filmgoers.

I just realized that the other example I gave, the Jeunet, was also released by Warner Independent. It really is a terrific outlet, I'm just curious as to why these films by high profile French directors didn't get enough of a push (I'm guessing that perhaps the general public is content enough with Eternal Sunshine and Amelie to not be immediately interested in a new film by the same people, but who knows?).
Hopefully, WB will double dip on the film around the release of Gondry's next film Be Kind Rewind. I would really like to see the B-cut. My French is serviceable but not enough to get the import.
I'm not sure, a lot of people are really liking Science of Sleep but it seems to be far more of a cult thing than Sunshine, which attracted quite a big audience, and won most of them over. Sleep has been significantly more divisive.

The "B Version" will probably surface eventually with English subtitles, but I have no idea where.

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domino harvey
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#60 Post by domino harvey » Fri Mar 23, 2007 2:06 am

I am not sure it's even been released theatrically yet in the UK, they're usually pretty good at generating extras on their DVDs over there so cross your fingers

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foggy eyes
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#61 Post by foggy eyes » Fri Mar 23, 2007 9:50 am

Yes, it's been around for a month or so (16/02 after a very long delay). I was surprisingly fond of it: a smart, funny and refreshing little film.

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#62 Post by soma » Fri Mar 23, 2007 6:37 pm

Still hasn't hit Australia! Nor Inland Empire :evil:

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domino harvey
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#63 Post by domino harvey » Tue Sep 25, 2007 9:27 pm

Uncross fingers. Both the UK and Australian DVDs contain only the original film, not the B-Version. :-({|=

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therewillbeblus
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Re: The Science of Sleep (Michel Gondry, 2006)

#64 Post by therewillbeblus » Thu Jul 23, 2020 1:26 pm

In preparation for the upcoming sci-fi list project (whether this qualifies or not surely depends on the viewer, though the blurring of (multiple?) realities attempting to grasp at transient emotions with concrete implementations, all within the internal logic of a narrative is enough to sell me on this externalization of fantasy to be sci-fi), I just rewatched this few weeks ago for the first time since its theatrical run, which was when I was still in high school, so to say that the meaning has changed for me since would be an understatement- and yet, I love it just the same.

What elevates this film into greatness for me now is that its creative spirit exists simultaneously inside and outside of a vacuum. Even within a psychological framework, there is no clear indication that Stephane's breaks from reality manifest to cope with his stressors of reality as a form of escape, or because that practice is simply preferable and a genuine way to squeeze the most out of life. In that sense it’s a lot like an obsession with cinema: watching movies is both a complacent strategy suppressing reality’s struggle and an authentic celebration of expression through experiencing art. Gondy plays within his own toyshop separate from our analyses and also slips and falls out of this dreamscape plenty during this narrative into our world of real fears, confusion, uncertainties, and dangers. The film is very similar to Eternal Sunshine, but it refuses to be bogged down to a definite thesis of confident subjective realities merged amidst its similarly disorganized design.

The argument for a solipsistic life of isolation is finally not completely shamed, but the world outside the vacuum isn’t disregarded either. The fluid movement between worlds operates under inconsistent conditions, transitions that can be smooth or jagged, much like those of our dreams. Social anxiety is the source of many issues, but Stephane’s ignorance to what he really wants beneath the defense mechanisms is allowed to be left as validated disorientation and not summarized in an epiphany, for him, his love interest, or the viewer. Even when the characters attempt to dilute their feelings into conventions explaining away their core beliefs of rejection, it’s another diversion from the internal and external strains that cannot be honestly disentangled so seamlessly.

The symbiotic nature of their relationship is emphasized by their similarities in name, mindsets, and shared imaginations, permitting the film to serve as a visualized sonnet where the world as we know it simultaneously stops for these two people and continues on, binding and repelling one another due to the laws of unfiltered romance and interpersonal skills. Gainsbourg tells him that his behavior is pathetically unattractive, but she compliments his personality in the same breath. Opposing truths splice together to present contradictions inherent in mortality, something so profound and indigestible it’s no wonder Bernal and Gondry need to concoct tangible societies to clarify the nebulous emotional terrain of invisible energy. There is a logic to doubting love, and retreating into the self, after all.

Gondry understands that in cinema you can realise your fantasies, and he also knows that abandoning one’s uncomfortable pressures and groundedness is not entirely possible, even in the safe spaces of art. Contrary to a lot of the genre’s best work, he also professes that the purely playful can coexist with the exploration of enigmas, here complexly deconstructed in their simplest forms (just as Bernal describes his inventions to be), of love and fear, through a dance between id and ego. This is a film that recognizes that the pains of reality matter, that hiding doesn't solve them, and that art and experience cannot be wholly mutually exclusive- hence the game of ping-pong Gondry plays here; but that doesn't mean that moments of pure joy and inspiration can't exist amidst the turmoil. Even though these emotions matter doesn't mean that they must matter all the time, which leads to the way I like to view this film most: As a picture of the challenge, or really impossibility, of striking a harmonious moderation between our internal parts- facing reality/our fears or escaping, being serious or playful, being vulnerable or pushing others away, etc. How could a film about these universal social-emotional experiences, that no human being has been able to master, be any less eccentric?

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