MovieChat Forums > La science des rêves (2006) Discussion > I think I finally get the ending (spoile...

I think I finally get the ending (spoilers obviously)

posted 15 years ago by sofox
40 replies | jump to latest

I've been thinking about the ending to this movie a fair bit trying to get it. I could never quite get why Stéphane was so rude to Stéphanie when saying goodbye to her. It was clear that he was trying to drive her away, almost in a Taxi Driver esque way, but I couldn't understand why he felt the need to drive the wedge between them. More prominently displayed was the café scene he failed to show up at. She was there for the taking, right in front of him, but nothing stopped him except himself.
As I was walking in the park one day, I had a revelation.
One theme in the movie is how Stéphanie has trouble appearing in his dreams. Firstly he complains she's not in them, then when she does appear she almost appears like a smiling mannequin, an unrealistically positive and supportive person who even Stéphane doesn't quite buy (that scene with "filming the reaction" showed just under her surface, lied Stéphane's fear that she'd reject him). Quite simply, Stéphanie is never truly in Stéphane's dreams for most of the film.
Now if we switch over to something that Stéphane did dream about, his calendar. He dreams of showing his boss who's boss and having his calendar become a great success. We don't know the details, but in the waking world, that's what happens to him. He dreamed definitively about doing something, and in the real world he let it happen.
And so here we come to the crux of the issue, Stéphane didn't dream of truly being with Stéphanie, and so he couldn't imagine life with her. Because he couldn't imagine how things wanted to be (like with the calendar), he ended up thwarting himself to prevent himself from moving into the unknown.
And so, the movie ends up giving us a powerful and unique message. By imagining and dreaming of where we want to be, we can move towards it; but if we don't try to imagine and feel where we want to be, then we end up frustrated, lost, unsure of our direction; maybe knowing what we want, but finding ourselves frustrated by ourselves whenever we try to get it. Stéphane knew he wanted Stéphanie, but without the vision in his mind of how he wanted things to end up, he didn't know how to get it, possibly constantly feeling that she was one of those things that taunts you with happiness yet is constantly pulled out of your reach.
And so, the final scene takes on a new light. Not some escapist fantasy, but it rather shows Stéphane finally imagining his life with Stéphanie. He can imagine them together, sharing eachothers company, going off into their unique fantasy land, and simply being together. Through this he accepts that he can be happy with Stéphanie.

I don't know what will happen when Stéphane wakes up, but my interpretation, is that he'll have a new warmth towards Stéphanie and she'll notice it. Maybe he'll calm down around her and show her more of himself. What happens after that, who can say?

[–] ceramic_leopard 15 years ago

That is so so sweet and makes a lot of sense.
To be honest I think this film is truly multi layered and there are so many valid interpretations that all link to form a bigger understanding.

[–] lakesrussell 10 years ago

I agree with you on that. I love films with multiple interpretations and this interpretation seems legit to me. I'll have to rewatch it with this in mind.

>>>Only he is lost who gives himself up for lost.

[–] tenner91 15 years ago

i love your interpretation! i've thought in depth about this movie and got the whole screwing himself over because of insecurity, but i never thought to apply the details you described of the dreams. thank you for that! that brings me more clarity and support to my theory.
good job! yay for deep thinkers!

[–] musicforthedeaf 15 years ago

Wow that was a dead-on! That makes complete sense! I was always a little confused by the ending even though I loved the movie itself but this makes me love it even more. Thanks! :D

[–] alongdrive 15 years ago

Here's how I've interpreted the ending, after multiple viewings:

We see the entire movie from Stephane's point of view up to the final scene in Stephanie's apartment. That scene we get from Stephanie's point of view.

Stephane's crass behavior and schizophrenia, tendencies to mix dreams and reality (as his mom pointed out to her boyfriend), and the general uncomfortable nature of being alone with him are accented so strongly here because we're seeing Stephanie's perspective, not his for the first time. This is what Stephane is always like but we've only gotten the rose-colored vision before because we've been getting his side of things. There's only been the odd occurrence where the "truth" shone through - Stephane saying her big hands must mean she has a large penis, Stephane's slapping Guy as they're walking down the street, Stephane forgetting to meet her at the cafe and going home instead, convinced that she ditched him, etc.

Stephane's always been this schizophrenic, paranoid guy but the final scene is us seeing exactly what it's like to be around him clearly for the first time.

When he climbs into her bed and goes silent, he doesn't fall asleep - he dies, from the concussion he suffered after bashing his head on her door. This is why we finally see Stephane and Stephanie in a dreamworld together, something he could never accomplish while alive.

[–] graphite_blimp19 15 years ago

Oh c'mon alongdrive. He did not freakin' die from the wound on his head. That's just silliness.

[–] lovely6 15 years ago

Hey, it's an opinion. And not completely out there. Do you know what happens after the end of the film? No, didn't think so.

[–] jopav1991 13 years ago

Do you know what happens at the end of a movie?

nothing happens. There is nothing after THE END. its a movie - no matter how you interpret it, its wrong, because those people dont exist, they never did, or ever will. It was set up like that by another person, but yeah, Stephan, and Stephanie, they dont do anything after he wakes up. He never wakes up. Why? Because they arent real.

[–] lovely6 13 years ago

Do you know what happens at the end of a movie?

Everything happens. Every single thought of every single person in every single audience works together to sustain this fictitious world for as long as possible. It is the continuation of fiction, the creation of worlds that don't exist with events that never occur. Anything can happen to the characters at the end of the movie. Why? Because they aren't real.

[–] davidajgp 12 years ago

It seems to me that you don't like films

[–] robinboparai 15 years ago

haha, dude... he dies??? ur funny...

[–] thegrue 15 years ago

I think your ending is warm and sweet (and I like it!), but I can't agree completely as I felt the movie was much to grounded to have such a sweet ending.

I think the Science of Sleep is about being let down and the realities of the search for love and meaning in life... It's about building up images of things and people in your mind only to set yourself up for rejection. Stéphane does this with everything in his life... he trusts his own mind instead of what he sees in front of him and he keeps getting let down by the reality of situations. Whether its with his job (which he dreams a certain way but in reality is nothing like what he wants) or his love life.
Stéphane is originally more interested in Zoé but finds himself having to compromise and go for Stéphanie because he thinks is more interested in him. Then he starts to convince himself that Stéphanie is really the right one, building up this image of her in his head as somebody who is much more creative, deep and in need of encouragement/stable love than she really is (he says as much when he's at Guy's house before they drop the TV in the river)... and then he's consistently let down by her the more he learns about her (big things like her lack of interest in having a boyfriend to little things like the tattoo on her back), and the more he starts to realize that he was never so much in love with the actual Stéphanie than the one he had built up in his mind. Then that last scene he becomes defensive and childish because he wants to place all his bitterness on Stéphanie for the tricks his own mind played on him. I took the last dream sequence as his one last attempt to dream up what would be the perfect ending for the relationship he had wanted but wasn't meant to be.

I think one of the reasons why Science of Sleep didn't get better reviews when it opened was that people were fooled by the dream sequences and the style into expecting a flowery and dreamlike movie, when in reality the message of the movie is really rather realistic and more depressing than anything...

[–] robinboparai 15 years ago

couldnt agree more...

[–] johnnywalker2001 13 years ago

But he's wrong, though. He tells himself that she never finishes anything, that she's NOT creative... but of course she DID finish everything (her bed, the boat, etc.) and WAS creative. But you're right: I think he fooled himself into thinking she was right, and the ending was him placing his bitterness on her.

When he finally got her in the cafe, he told himself that she wasn't really there... and in a way, maybe she wasn't: She was someone else. When he's banging on her door, saying, "I know you're in there", I guess he's talking about his dream girl. The one he can't find.

Poor Stephanie was exactly who she said she was... We never thought of her as anything else, but, for whatever reason, when he finally got her, he didn't want her.

One thing I didn't get was when she said something like, "It's so easy to make you feel rejected!".

[–] ridah2 13 years ago

wow...you made me re-think the whole movie...thanks

[–] pastel327 15 years ago

Great insight. Thanks for sharing :)

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[–] wwolf-8 15 years ago

I think Stéphane was just protecting himself from reality. He couldn't live without his dreams, so he had to live inside them. He can't risk to be with Stéphanie, neither to lose her, because he's dreams can't go on without hope and desire. No... Stéphane loved Stéphanie, but he's just a child in the grown-up's world.

[–] tensaip 15 years ago

The poor kid croaked. He had suffered a concussion and that was what made him uncharacteristically crude during his last conversation with Stephanie. He couldn't quite control himself anymore.

[–] GreyHunter 9 years ago

Sorry, people, he didn't die from a concussion. The time frame isn't firm, but since he was clearly found, woken up, bandaged, and allowed to wear it for a while, to say nothing of planning to return to Mexico and taking care of the things that he needed to do (packing, buying a plane ticket, etc), the immediate danger of dying from a concussion was minimal. People are going by a misleading explanation of how a concussion works because they've all seen it in movies aiming for dramatic effect. Concussions that will send you into a coma do happen, and there can be long-term effects (e.g. brain damage) from a concussion, but the likelihood of one killing a person after a period of time simply because s/he finally 'succumbs' to it is fairly low. At this point, Stephane's main danger is not getting it treated properly, which can lead to all sorts of symptoms, but just dying isn't a very likely one. If the damage and swelling were that bad, he would be barely able to function, and he's clearly able to function. (And, yes, the bit about not letting a concussed person go to sleep is no longer considered good advice. Just so long as the person is taken to a doctor for examination and treatment in short order, sleep is often the best thing for a concussed person.)

Look, it's certainly possible that he died. But without any other evidence to suggest he did so, it's not really the best interpretation, especially since we don't even know if he was actually concussed in the first place.