Film Review: Science of Sleep

Michel Gondry's The Science of Sleep is the most sumptious visual treat of the year, a confection of handmade animation and old-school special effects filled with swirls of color and a surprising amount of heart.

Gael Garcia Bernal is Stephane, a boyish twenty-somethng with a tendency to live in his own imagination. Leaving his apartment one morning, he is hit by a falling piano-literally and metaphorically. The owner of the instrument is Stephanie (Charlotte Gainsbourg), his next-door neighbor and the woman who eventually occupies Stephane's dreams.

The rest of the film unfurls itself in much the same way as Gondry's Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind-its plot is a fragmented road marked by confusion and misdirection, but it is also one that ends in richness and meaning for both characters and audience. Shards of reality slice into Stephane's rich dreams, (where much of the movie takes place) where Gondry's talents as a creator are best put to use.

Gondry (whose writing career debuts with Sleep) is able to concoct dream landscapes that don't so much recreate the human subconscious as nod to its penchant for eccentricity. He creates cities out of corrugated cardboard and covers horses with velvet skin; the film's most charming gadget is a rustic scrap of electronics that can move time a single second into the future or past. But Gondry's attention to visuals never undermines the film's heart.

While Stephane is immature and his creation of Stephanie is simplistic, both characters fit perfectly in the world Gondry has built-their imperfections are naturally found within people seeking love in the modern world. And as the film comes to an end, the characters have begun to overwhelm the visuals-a magnificent achievement for a film featuring some of the most impressive eye candy of the last decade.