The Science of Sleep
Taking the dream concept one step further is The Science of Sleep. The Michel Gondry film shares a level of confusion with his better known movie Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. The film’s plot follows an aspiring artist as he tries to win over his new neighbor, gets a job, and struggles to differentiate between his sleeping and waking life. Gondry’s film displays dreams like we’ve never seen them, taking elements from the real world and adding magnificently strange set pieces and costumes- brought to life with a reliance on practical effects. From the start of the film it is clear how inextricably muddled the dream and real worlds are, and Gondry takes this concept to places that are both comedic and pathetic. The Science of Sleep uses dreams to undercut the character’s struggles and his successes, as the audience is never sure which elements are real and which are part of his overactive subconscious.
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