The Science of Sleep - 7

Looking for a recipe for dreams? The film opens with scenes from a low production cooking show (inside the main character's mind) where dreams are mixed and boiled; the results are a stunning sequence of colors and motions.
This is Michel Gondry's first project since the indie hit Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. While Eternal was from a Charlie Kaufman script, this film is Gondry's own imagination at work. Part autobiographical (Gondry plays drums, and got a degree in graphic design), and part art project to make his dream world come to life. The story is a dialogue between the imagination and heroism of infatuation/love and the harsh reality of unrequited love. The constant question in the film is how reality shapes the dream world and how dreams infiltrate our everyday lives.
Stephane, played by Gael Garcia Bernal, has been set up to move to Paris from Mexico, after his father has died, and starts a job in graphic design (turns out to be more of a low-level cut and paste job). He moves into his mother's apartment, and makes friends with the neighbor across the hall, Stephanie. Initially he is attracted to doing art projects with Stephanie, and soon discovers how good a friendship they have developed. Stephane, in his youthful eagerness, then mistakes his dream world with reality only to find that Stephanie has her own opinion on the subject. While she relates to Stephane, she does not see it as a romance. The story has a wonderful interplay of humor and sadness that is shown beautifully in the 'crazy' visuals of Stephane's sleeping life.