Robert Benchley, in pyjamas that hopefully did not reflect the fashion of the day, guides us through four facets of sleep: (1) the causes of sleep; (2) the methods of inducing sleep; (3) the methods of avoiding sleep; and (4) (the important part) how to wake up. Winner of the 1935 Oscar for Best Comedy Short Subject.

After his father dies, St((eacute))phane Miroux, (Bernal), leaves Mexico to return to Paris to be closer to his widowed mother Christine. He gets a boring job at a calendar-making firm and falls in love with his charming neighbour St((eacute))phanie (Gainsbourg). Wooing her is not that easy for this shy and insecure young man. His solution to the difficulties of the real world is to do what he has done since he was a child, which is to escape into a dream world...and invite St((eacute))phanie in.

This film alternates between dream world and reality. Not having seen it, I have to rely on the opinions of others, who have described it as strange, and often childish. Given that dream worlds are completely internal, I cant see how inviting someone else into one's own dream can work, but I'm hampered by being very scientifically-minded.

If you liked the weirdness of Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (also directed by Gondry, but written by Charlie Kaufman) or Waking Life, and the questions they pose, this might just be your cup of mind twisting chemical. As well as a fantasy, it is also classified as a romantic comedy, and I'm a sucker for rom-coms, so at the risk of frying a few thousand more brain cells I'll be giving it a go. '