This week we're catching some shut-eye at the movies
by Amber Wilkinson
Charlie Chaplin in A Dog's Life
It was World Sleep Day yesterday - read more about that here Dropping off is the last thing most people want to do at the cinema (unless, perhaps, you're In Fabric director Peter Strickland, whotold us, "I fall asleep a lot and I usually like the effect of that) but sleep stories remain a constant in cinema, whether it's in children's fairy tales, Charlie Chaplin using a dog for a pillow or deep space. So this week, our Streaming Spotlight is catching some shut-eye, or perhaps just trying to.
If you're looking for a few facts about sleep and why it's so important to us then Haskell Wexler's documentary (co-directed by Lisa Leeman) - which is free to watch on Vimeo - is a good place to start. He comes at the issue of long and irregular hours from the situation within Hollywood, prompted by the death of assistant cameraman Brent Hershman, who fell asleep at the wheel of his car after working 19-hours on the Pleasantville set. While the situation is shown to be particularly acute in the world of filmmaking, the film opens out into a discussion of long-hours culture in general, not just in terms of bosses calling for them but in the way failing to be available 24/7 can be seen as a sign of weakness. Something to think about next time you find yourself checking your work email in the middle of the night.
One worker who is definitely suffering from sleep deprivation is Trevor Reznik (Christian Bale), who hasn't slept properly for months. Bale is said to have lost more than four stone for the role - a marked turnaround from his buff physique in American Psycho - which sees him put in one of his characteristically intense performances as Reznik becomes increasingly paranoid about, well, just about everything, pinning the blame on a stranger (John Sharian). Director Brad Anderson takes an enjoyably ambiguous approach to the situation, retaining the mystery and psychological tension throughout.
Jennie Kermode writes: One of few 20th Century stories to achieve truly mythic status, embedding itself in the popular consciousness, Jack Finney's 1955 novel The Body Snatchers has spawned a host of adaptations, including Philip Kaufman's popular 1978 take with Donald Sutherland, 2007 version The Invasion with Nicole Kidman, high school-set reworking The Faculty, teen drama Assimilate and last year's The Changed with Clare Foley - but this film, made just one year after the release of the book, remains the definitive take. It's one of the masterpieces of US Cold War paranoia cinema, with an unabashed comparison to the perceived Communist threat in its story of mysterious pods from which clones of people emerges, gradually replacing the real thing. As Kevin McCarthy's small town doctor determines, the only sure way to avoid being copied is to resist going to sleep - but the longer he does so, the harder he finds it to think straight, and as it's impossible for him to know who he can trust, escape seems ever more unlikely. Gorgeously shot, it has a sequence near the end which is simply unforgettable.
When it comes to sleep stories that have stood the test of time, this one takes some beating, which has been kicking about in one form or another since the 1300s. Charles Perrault and the Brothers Grimm, of course, both had a take on it and it's no surprise that, with its princess plot, the House of Mouse came calling. Released nine years after their previous fairy tale Cinderella (with Lady And The Tramp in between), this is good old-fashioned storytelling at its best, complete with all the usual Disney ingredients, including a good dollop of humour from the good fairies, solid peril from Maleficent - undoubtedly one of Disney's most memorable villains - and, of course, a happy ending. Read what animator Burny Mattison told us about the creation of Maleficent, here.
Jennie Kermode writes: Wes Craven's massively influential 1984 horror classic may not be as well crafted a piece of cinema as many fondly recall, but it is undoubtedly important, intriguing from a historical perspective, and as relevant today as ever. Although Freddy Krueger is a villain from the outset, a miller of children, it's the community obsession with him, and his murder by a vigilante mob, which gives him his real power, making him so fully a part of the collective unconscious that he is able to pass into the world of dreams. Soon he is killing teenagers while they sleep. As rumours about this threat spreads amongst them, they initially resist by trying to stay awake, but the ground shifts when one of them realises that the only way to defeat him is to stalk him in the dream world. Where sequels gave Freddy a comedic character, here he is truly nightmarish, and inventive effects work delivers some striking moments which have inspired countless imitations. The film is also notable for the first ever screen role for Johnny Depp, who has great fun hamming it up as a juvenile delinquent.
Jennie Kermode writes: When it comes to long distance space travel sans wormholes, sleeping through it is really the only way to go, yet as Ellen Ripley tragically discovered at the start of Aliens, the trouble with hypersleep is that sometimes one doesn't wake up on schedule. When two men wake up on a spaceship with all the other passengers missing and no idea where they are, distrust soon grows between them. There is talk of a mind-altering disease, the dreaded pandorum, but it's also possible that the syndrome is simply an expression of psychological damage. As Bower (Ben Foster) explores the ship and discovers that they are not alone, with some of their shipmates have lived and evolved for centuries whilst they slept, other psychological complications turn what could have been just another monsters-in-a-spaceship romp into a more complex mystery - one with an unexpected, dream-like ending.
This endlessly inventive romance from Michel Gondry takes a light-hearted approach to dreams, as Stéphane (Gael García Bernal) who has created a TV studio in his head, where his thoughts - along with a lot of stop-motion animation - can run riot. As Stéphane finds himself falling for his neighbour Stephanie (Charlotte Gainsbourg) a tale of unrequited love begins to build, leading him to increasingly retreat into the realm of fantasy. Whether you find all of the flights of fantasy here exhilarating or so exhausting you'll need a lie down yourself by the end is a matter of taste but there's no doubting Gondry's imaginative powers and Bernal and Gainsbourg have plenty of charm at the film's heart.
We're returning to the old favourite Sleeping Beauty for our short selection with this Oscar-nominated animation, Granny O'Grimm's Sleeping Beauty. An absolute hoot from Nicky Phelan, we're not sure the grandchild in this short will ever sleep again...
