Science des Reves

Do you like watching movies that are long, protracted dream sequences during which you have a hard time discerning fantasy from reality? If so, the movie "Science des Reves" (Science of Sleep in the 'States) is for you.

Despite this admittedly negative opening sentence, I actually kind of liked it, though it was a little frustrating. We saw the movie in the "V.O." (version originale) meaning that it was in the original language (mostly English) with French subtitles. However, the movie is really bi-lingual. It takes place in Paris and probably about a third to a quarter of it is in French, making it even more difficult for me to determine which scenes were taking place in real life and which scenes were taking place within the mind of Stephane, the film's creative but reality-challenged main character.

The film's lead actress is Charlotte Gainsbourg, the daughter of Serge Gainsbourg, who is probably France's most famous singer/songwriter of the 60s-70s. Somebody described him to me once as "The French Bob Dylan", but he's definitely less folksy and more controversial. For instance, he once burned a 500 French franc bill on live television protesting a tax hike, and when he was older he told a young Whitney Houston that he wanted to fuck her, also on live television. Anyways, I've seen Charlotte Gainsbourg in a few movies now, and although she's not classically pretty, there's something about her...

French expressions for the day:
"sourd comme un pot" is literally "deaf as a pot", which mirrors our own "deaf as a post". It's interesting that both cultures have decided to use inanimate objects to serve as the reference point for deafness.

Also:
"aveugle comme une taupe" (blind as a mole)
"bavard comme un pie"(talkative as a magpie)
"ruse comme un renard" (cunning as a fox)