The Science of Sleep

Watch the wonderous trailer here.

Michel Gondry knows my darkest thoughts. Recently, at a local brothel, I mentioned to a friend how desperately I wanted to see Gabriel Garcia Bernal run into an oak door. Gondry delivered. Plus, The Strokes “Fear of Sleep” is playing when he does it (I once ate a live catfish to that song – it has such an effect on me).

Surreal filmmakers, writers and artists need to lay their heads on Gondry's furry tummy and listen to his fairytales from Versailles, his stories of wanting to be an inventor and drumming for Kanye West. He's a brilliant man. If you’re unfamiliar with Gondry you’re mistaken – he’s created some of the most recognizable music videos of recent years. The White Stripes “The Hardest Button to Button,” The Chemical Brothers “I’ve been 12 forever,” and Daft Punk’s “Around the World,” to name a few mind-numbingly cool ones. He also directed Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, which The Science of Sleep feels like a lower budget sketch for, even though it was produced after that film. For me the best thing about his imaginative projects is his willingness to steer clear of CG effects – it keeps the viewer in the movie and not distracted by bullshit. This way you can focus on the real questions: “What the fuck is going on in this surreal ass movie? Was that a seal smoking a spliff?” Even the fictional horse is merely a horse with a large cloth taped to his fur – brilliant work, Michel.



The trailer has the same feel as his trailer for Eternal Sunshine: there’s too much going on - all of it immensely entertaining - he’s simply showing too much. Yet any of his fans know that there will be so much more imagination, comedy and quirkiness in the film, he won’t let us down in that respect. The movie might suck toenail dirt, but the bizarreness and visual-brilliance will still be better than any other director.

If you laugh at things most people won’t admit to laughing at, e.g., Ayn Rand’s followers, fireflies, twenty-year-olds talking million-dollar real estate and Ethan Hawke’s writing career, then you’ll love this movie. I have every idea what I’m talking about.