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HTF Warner Brothers Reviewer
Location: Livonia, MI USA
Join Date: Feb 2001
Local Time: 06:24 AM
Local Date: 10-13-2008
Posts: 6,097
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HTF REVIEW: The Science of Sleep
The Science of Sleep
Directed By: Michel Gondry
Starring: Gael García Bernal, Charlotte Gainsbourgh, Alain Chabot, Miou-Miou
Studio: Warner Independent Pictures
Year: 2006
Rated: R
Film Length: 106 minutes
Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1
Subtitles: English, French, Spanish (Feature only)
Release Date: February 6, 2006
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A man's subconscious self is not the ideal companion.
- P.G. Wodehouse, Uneasy Money
The conventional way for a sensitive soul to deal with years of romantic rejection is to become a stand-up comedian. Director Michel Gondry took the road less traveled and combined his knowledge of unrequited affection with the rest of his subconscious to create the film "The Science of Sleep"
The Film
Gael García Bernal stars as Stephane, a sensitive and artistic young man with a tissue-thin line between his conscious and subconscious mind. Stephane's dream life includes a nightly edition of "Stephane TV" in which he hosts a parade of his subconscious fears and desires mixed with whatever else crossed his path the previous day. He has recently moved from Mexico to France and taken a job at a company that produces calendars. His disappointment to find that his job involves typsetting rather than graphic design is mitigated only by his developing romantic interest in his next door neighbor, Stephanie (Gainsbourgh).
While Stephane must contend with all of the conventional obstacles in the way of movie couples (the awkward meet cute, the embarassing lies, the meddling friends, etc.), his own sub-conscious presents his biggest problem, magnifying and distorting the highs and lows of his interactions with Stephanie and even manifesting itself in his waking life.
Michel Gondry calls on most of the cinematic tricks he has been employing in music videos for the last several years, and adds a few new ones as well. Stop motion animation, rear projection, and various low-tech in-camera effects create a charming, hand-made looking dreamworld for Stephane. The actors, in turn manage to transcend the cuteness of it all to create characters that feel real - at least when they are in the world outside of Stephane's dreams. Bernal, in particular, makes Stephane sympathetic enough that audience members may want to cover their eyes when he starts nervously sabotaging his chances with Stephanie. Special mention should also be made of Alain Chabat who plays Stephane's co-worker Guy. His character starts of as a pig, ends as a pig, and provides plenty of comic relief, but somehow, through the course of the film, it becomes apparent that he is a basically decent guy who is easily Stephane's best friend in Paris.
The Video
The transfer for "The Science of Sleep" fills the entire 16:9 enhanced frame. It appears somewhat soft for such a recent film. Part of the issue may be that the film uses "burned-in" English subtitles for all of the Spanish and French passages in the film. This could mean that the element used was one or two generations below what it could have been. Aside from that issue, compression artifacts are minimal, and edge halos are not pervasive.
The Audio
The film is presented via an English/French/Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1 track encoded at 448 kbps. The soundtrack is largely oriented towards the front channels with the surrounds mostly providing low level ambience. Audio fidelity is good, with modest bass extension supported by the LFE track during select scenes as appropriate.
The Extras
Warner Home Video has assembled a very comprehensive group of extras that cover just about any aspect of the film about which one could want to know - with a few curious side trips to boot.
First up is a feature length audio commentary featuring Gondry, Bernal, Gainsbourg, and Sacha Bourdo (who played Stephane's co-worker "Serge"). All participants were recorded together, and they have a nice rapport, often asking questions and drawing interesting responses from each other. Gondry and Bernal take the lion's share of the commentary track. Gainsbourg is the most reticent of the bunch, but does contribute when prodded. Bourdo frequently comments and asks questions in French, but the responses are in English, usually making it clear what he was asking or saying. Some of the more interesting passages involve Gondry explaining his own specific dreams and experiences that inspired the dream sequences in the film.
"The Making of 'The Science of Sleep'" runs 39 minutes and constitutes a very comprehensive overview of the film's genesis and production. Gondry documented almost every phase of the film's production with video cameras, and also recorded interviews with cast and crew after the film was completed. Topics range from Gondry's earliest efforts to make films, to the months spent creating the stop motion sequences at Gondry's country home prior to principal photography, to the different interpretations of the film's ending by various participants (do not watch this before seeing the film).
"Lauri" is an 11 minute featurette on Lauri Faggioni, who created many of the animals and objects for the film's stop-motion animation sequences. She explains on-camera how she came into the job, how she worked with Gondry, and her reactions to seeing the film.
"Rescue Me" runs 3-1/2 minutes and features Linda Serbu, a friend of Gondry's who runs a cat rescue operation. Her song "Rescue Me", a re-write of The Velvet Underground's "After Hours" with lyrics tailored to her organization's kitty-saving mission, is performed by Stephane and his co-workers in one of the film's dream sequences. The sequence from the film is intercut with an interview of Serbu.
"Adopt Some Love" is a 5 minute featurette about Serbu's cat rescue organization. It features interviews with several volunteers.
Finally, the films theatrical trailer is presented in a 4:3 aspect ratio.
All of the above featurettes are presented in non-16:9 enhanced 4:3 video with a Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo track.
When the disc is first started, skippable promotional trailers for "The Painted Veil", "The Fountain", "Infamous", and "For Your Consideration" play. They are all letterboxed in a non-16:9 enhanced frame with Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo audio.
Packaging
The disc comes in a standard Amaray-type hard case with no insert. The cover image refreshingly does not feature giant actor heads
Summary
"The Science of Sleep" is a visually unique and interesting film in which Director Michel Gondry plumbs his own self-conscious to explore how a sensitive young man deals with not-quite requited love. The transfer falls slightly short of modern standards, but the supplements are very well done and worth the time spent viewing them.
Regards,
Ken McAlinden
Livonia, MI USA
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