the science of sleep

"Since he was a child, Stephane Miroux (Gael Garcia Bernal) has had trouble separating his dreams from his waking life, and growing into his twenties hasn't changed him one bit. On the contrary, his dreams are beginning to take over. Ordinary life is becoming an intrusion from the dreamscape where Stephane's imagination takes flight.
In his mind, Stephane is an authority on The Science of Sleep, and his Mission Control is "Stephane TV," an imaginary studio crafted from cardboard boxes, egg cartons, and a shower curtain. As Stephane's inner and outer world zigzags, it take shim back and fourth from this network headquarters in his brain. On his "cooking" show, he carefully combines a set of ingredients- random thoughts, remininscenses of the day, memories, love relationships, friends, songs, images- to demonstrate how dreams are prepared... Meanwhile,the real Stephane returns to his childhood home in Paris, after the death of his father and his mother's (Miou-Miou) promise of a creative job with a calendar publisher... Stunned to discover his job involves paste-up, not illustration, Stephane shows the boss, Mr. Pouchet (Pierre Vaneck), his "Disastrology" drawings of earthquakes and plane crashes- but his creativity is unappreciated. Soon Stephane's dreams are being filtered with bizzare images of the office he loathes.
Stephane meets his new neighbor, Stephanie (Charlotte Gainsbourg) and her friend Zoe (Emma de Caunes) when they mistake him for an injured piano mover. Stephane goes to great lengths to hide the fact that he is the son of the landlady and lives across the hall. He amazes them with his "inventions," including glasses that show the world in 3-D and a pair of bike helmets that magically transfer the names of cards. While he is first attracted to Zoe, he discovers a kindred spirit in Stephanie, who shares his love for handcrafting whimsical objects.
Initially Stephanie is charmed by Stephane's sweetness, but she is increasingly bewildered by his flimsy connection to reality and his childish sulking. Feeling rejected, Stephane's fantasies become ever more grandiose: in his dream life, he designs a vast metropolis out of cardboard tubes, writes a bestselling novel (I am Just Your Neighbor and a Liar, By the Way, Do You Have Zoe's Number?), and is serenaded by his co-workers in kitty-cat costumes.
Stephane tries to woo Stephanie with some new creations, including a one-second time machine, and a galloping toy horse, but she remains put off by his inexplicable behavior. Unable to find the secret to Stephanie's heart while awake, Stephane searches for the answer in his dreams." official website synopsis.

This is my MOST anticipated movie of the year. I love director Michel Gondry who directed Bjork's videos: Human Behavior, Army of Me, Isobel, Hyper-ballad, Joga, & Bachelorette. He also directed the Foo Fighter's awesome Everlong video, and several White Stripes videos including The Hardest Button to Button, Dead Leaves and the Dirty Ground, Fell in Love with a Girl, Denial Twist.
But most importantly (to me), he directed Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. I fell so completely in love with this movie and have to counted it as part of my Top 3 All Time Favorites.
There is an innocence, a whit, and a loneliness to all his work that really gets to me. I've got it bad for his work. And this is the first he wrote and directed. I cannot wait. Opens 9/22/06.

(all Bjork videos courtesy of Bjork.com/Foo Fighters Everlong provided by YouTube.com/White Stripes Videos provided by whitestripes.com)