The Science of Sleep

Intro

1. Learn Vocabulary - Learn some new vocabulary before you start the lesson.

• rental
• touches on
• mental state
• ultimately

• catch
• mixed review
• heard
• hook up

• screenplay
• palatable

2. Read and Prepare - Read the introduction and prepare to hear the audio.

In The Science of Sleep (Le Science des Reves, in French), Gael Garcia Bernal and Charlotte Gainsbourg play next door neighbors who flirt with each other but never hook up.

The story is told in and out of the dreams of Bernal’s character. The dream sequences in the film add a surreal and playful quality to the film. They also make it a little confusing and more difficult to relate to the characters in the film.

Listen to Mason tell Kevin about The Science of Sleep.

Dialog

1. Listen and Read - Listen to the audio and read the dialog at the same time.

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2. Study - Read the dialog again to see how the vocab words are used.

Kevin

Mason

Kevin:  You know, I heard good things about the movie The Science of Sleep but I haven’t seen it. Did you catch it?

Mason:  I saw it, uh, and I’m gonna give you a mixed review.

Kevin:  OK, why?

Mason:  Uh, did you see Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind?

Kevin:  No but I heard it’s really good.

Mason:  That’s really really good. Um, so Michel Gondry was the director. He’s this French guy. He’s done a lot of music videos. And then, uh, Charlie Kaufman wrote the screenplay. That’s for that movie, um, and I thought it worked really well. Um, but The Science of Sleep, Michel Gondry did the film and the screenplay, so I felt that the story wasn’t as palatable, uh, as in, say, Eternal Sunshine.

Kevin:  But it’s worth a rental?

Mason:  Maybe. It’s beautifully filmed. It’s really interesting. And it’s very international, uh, because there’s a lot of different languages spoken and it kind of touches on the impact of being, you know, in a different culture, and, like having a different language being spoken around you kind of puts you in a weird, you know, mental state, um… but ultimately, it’s just… I don’t know how much I liked the characters.

Kevin:  OK. Well, good to know.

Mason:  Yeah, yeah.

Quizzes

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Lesson MP3

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