The Science of Sleep

I just finished watching The Science of Sleep. It's a fascinating film about a creative and quirky young man who has trouble differentiating dreams from reality. He's originally from Mexico, but moves to France, where his mom lives, after his father dies. There the young man, Stephan, meets Stephanie. The issues surrounding the switching between dreams and reality are very interesting, but I'm more interested in the relationship between Stephan and Stephanie.

Stephanie is also a creative person. She plays the piano and also likes to create things with her hands like Stephan. In the scene where Stephan and Stephanie really start to get to know each other they start planning creative projects together. The first project has to do with creating some kind of scene to record through stop motion. They get really excited talking about and foraging for the supplies they'll use for the project. However, since it's late they have to postpone the project for another day.

Stephan goes on with his crazy life that mixes dreams and reality. He goes to work, works in his imaginary studio, etc. Stephan and Stephanie eventually get close, but Stephanie ends up rejecting Stephan--no surprise since he's a lunatic. The demonstration of Stephan's emotions is brilliant. You see his hidden fears and desires through his dreams, and you see that carry over into his real life. You see his anxieties and anguish play out. You see him stoop to acting like a child when nothing else works near the end of the film.

I've never seen a film that delves this deep into the emotions one feels at the various stages of a relationship. I highly recommend this film. It's powerful. I almost never watch a film twice, but I'll probably make an exception for this one. I wanted to to take notes while watching it. I probably will the second time around. Now I can really understand why some people see more philosophical content in stories than in theoretical works. Concreteness is powerful.


Update - 3/8/11

There is an important scene at the end I forgot to mention. When Stephan and Stephanie begin to get close again, Stephan playfully throws something out the window. This creates an imaginary fire that they need to put out. When they are running around solving this problem together, you see that same energy you saw at the beginning when they were discussing the strop motion project. What they are doing is carrying out tasks together. They are essentially working together. They are cooperating with each other toward the accomplishment of a shared goal. And they are having fun in the process, as kids have fun building LEGO castles or blanket forts together. It was beautiful to see this. It seemed like the apex of happiness. It presents an important lesson in the science of relationships and happiness.