Director Michel Gondry continues his exploration of the world of dreams, this time without the master writing of Charlie Kaufman who authored the script of 'Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind'. Taking upon himself the writing of the story and setting it in an every day Parisian setting Gondry succeeds quite well to continue on the same line of dreams taking over the real world. Here he brings to screen a very direct and simple love story between two young people living half in reality, half in the world of dreams of the principal character. Stephane (Gael García Bernal) is a Mexican young fellow visiting his mother and trying to accommodate with a boring job. He is less living in the real world and more in a world of fantasy where he is trying to find place for his neighbor Stephanie (Charlotte Gainsbourg) he falls for.

The very simple and direct story has an overall air of freshness, resulting from acting, but especially from the very warm and almost childish approach to the world of dreams put together by Gondry. His surrealistic space has nothing threatening, no shades or sharp lines as in Dali or De Chirico's paintings no hidden threats as in Hitchcock or social pressure as in Bunuel's movies. It is rather the world of childish cartoons, a low-tech and benevolent space of a prolonged childhood. If we are to trace the roots I would rather go back to the innocence of the characters in Boris Vian's 'L'Ecume des Jours.

I do not know if Gondry will continue his exploration of the world of dreams in future films, but with the two movies in this thematic space he already left a print of his own in a different type of cinema I would call cinema of dreams. From several points of view, because of the sincerity and freshness of the narration I liked more 'La Science des Reves' than the stars-stricken 'Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind'.

This movie had a lot going for it. The art direction was incredibly fun and creative, and overall the movie looked great and had a very unique vision. It was cute and quirky and definitely made me laugh out loud at times while at other times it made me feel awkward and tense in the best possible way.

The dream sequences were fun and blended with reality in a very seamless and engaging way (though on a personal level I prefer the way dreams were portrayed in Waking Life). And while on the surface the love story was thoughtful and true (and I could even relate to it in some ways), the problem for me was that I just couldn't sympathize with Bernal's character, Stéphane. I couldn't really see where Gainsbourg's character, Stéphanie, was coming from either. While their interaction was at times endearing, I just didn't feel like I had to root for them. Still though, there was enough charm in this movie that that fact didn't ruin the movie for me.

Michel Gondry, the visually creative giant behind some of MTV's most stylistically innovative music videos, and more recently the driving force behind his and script writer extraordinare Charlie Kaufman's brilliant Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, finally makes his solitary debut, choosing to write and direct this surrealist tale of dreams, reality, and the lines some people walk between them. Fans of the visual virtuoso must have been anticipating Gondry's official declaration as auteur for some time, having salivated for a decade now as this French director continually pushed the envelope for lucky musicians.

I'm sure many saw The Science of Sleep as a proving ground that would help fans see if the eccentric director would be able to parlay all of these visually creative aspects into a more cohesive, cinematic experience. By and large, the dangerously imaginative movie succeeds on it's own, though there are a few discrepancies to note. First, it does feel that much of the way the movie is shot, in particular the scenes which stay most grounded in reality, do mimic a lot of the production values that gave Eternal Sunshine such a realistically detached value to it. Ditto with much of the stream-of-consciousness script, at times heavily emulating the flow Gondry and Kaufman helped pioneer the first time around. The actual plot is decidedly low-key, and for good reason, though at times Gondry does struggle to fill all of his microcosms with relevance. To say these values remain derivative and do not completely complement the whimsically dark storytelling taking place here though, would be to forsake the fantastic and singular joy that the Science of Sleep is.

Regardless of it's constant French avant-garde noodling, and despite the obvious parallels to Gondry's previous film, Science remains a near-masterwork, punctuated by the intoxicating rhythm of it's perceptive dream sequences, often edited with the most keen of intentions. Whether viewers will stay immersed throughout the fantasy bleed-in will be up to ones subjective threshold, and ones ability to thrive off of the magically deranged pacing that hints at underlying psychological relevance. Gondry's masterful pacing does not disappoint, culminating with the brilliant evolution of the script's supremely playful tone into something much more serious.

Of course, the sincere material would only be at home when recited by actors of a pure heart, and in this Gondry also excels by casting two leads who do everything they can to involve us in the realist fantasy. Gael García Bernal, always doing well to pick good material, finally slips into an English language role with the ease I would expect, and the luminous yet subdued Charlotte Gainsbourg radiates the earthly kind of magic that this film is all about. People with strict objective agendas stay clear, anyone else who still uses an inkling of their imagination, please dive in. It may not be perfect, but Science is surely one of the most unique and perceptive fantasies to merge with the mass consciousness in years.