Thursday, December 13, 2007

Science of Sleep: What Dreams May Come?




Whether it’s visual poetry, creative linguistic exchanges, or cross-cultural communications, The Science of Sleep or as the French release has it, La Science des Rêves, is a unique film.

Its premise is about an existential space where dreams and imagination encounter reality.

While the film seems to concern itself primarily with francophone Bohemia, it might just be a universally appealing film. And the linguistic transitions from English to French to Spanish, coupled with a soporific soundtrack are simply gripping.

Charlotte Gainsbourg, the daughter of the legendary musician Serge Gainsbourg, plays the role of Stéphanie. I have trouble imagining anybody else in this role. And Gael García Bernal portrays Stéphane Miroux. Bernal simply owns the screen from the very beginning of the film.

Here are some quotations from the film:

-'P. S. R. Parallel Synchronized Randomness. An interesting brain rarity and our subject for today. Two people walk in opposite directions at the same time and then they make the same decision at the same time. Then they correct it, and then they correct it, and then they correct it, and then they correct it, and then they correct it. Basically, in a mathematical world these two little guys will stay looped for the end of time. The brain is the most complex thing in the universe and it's right behind the nose. [plays drums] Fascinating!'

-'Distraction is an obstruction for the construction.'

quotes per wikipedia
graph per apple

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

'Distraction is an obstruction for the construction.'
This is a super sentence. I'll watch the movie now.

Anonymous said...

it is an excellent film. i concur....

Anonymous said...

what do you make of the director's choice to fuse animation with real acting? The animation choices appeared a bit affected to me, but I can't help to think that the affectation was deliberate....

B.R. said...

One of the reasons why I think this film delivers is because it feels like a dream. The concept comes to 'cinematic' life clearly. And the dialog in this film is the stuff of god literature. Especially the last 30 minutes of the film.

B.R. said...

One of the reasons why I think this film delivers is because it feels like a dream. The concept comes to 'cinematic' life clearly. And the dialog in this film is the stuff of god literature. Especially the last 30 minutes of the film.

Anonymous said...

I completely loved the dialog in this film. If there are any insomniacs out there or people who come from multilinguistic families, this film is a must. Thks.