In Dreams (1999)

Director:

Neil Jordan

Writers (WGA):

Bari Wood (novel)
Bruce Robinson (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

15 January 1999 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Horror | Thriller

Tagline:

You don't have to sleep to dream

Plot:

Claire Cooper dreams strange things from time to time. One night, she dreams about a little girl being taken away by a stranger...

Plot Keywords:

Dream | Padded Cell | Suicide Attempt | Daydream | Red

Awards:

1 win

Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)

Annette Bening	...	Claire Cooper
Katie Sagona	...	Rebecca Cooper
Aidan Quinn	...	Paul Cooper
Robert Downey Jr.	...	Vivian Thompson
Paul Guilfoyle	...	Detective Jack Kay
Kathleen Langlois	...	Snow White
Jennifer Berry	...	Hunter
Emma J. Brown	...	Dwarf
Jennifer Dragon	...	Dwarf
Samantha Kelly	...	Dwarf
Jennifer Caine Natenshon	...	Dwarf
Bethany M. Paquin	...	Dwarf
Erica Sullivan	...	Dwarf
Amelia Claire Novotny	...	Prince
Kristin Sroka	...	Wicked Stepmother

Also Known As:

Blue Vision (USA) (working title)
Prémonitions (Canada: French title) (France) [fr]
A Premonição (Brazil) [pt]
Crime în vis (Romania) [ro]
Dentro de mis sueños (Spain) [es]
Efialtikes nyhtes (Greece) (DVD title) [el]
In Dreams (Italy) [it]
In Dreams (Spain) [es]
Jenseits der Träume (Germany) [de]
Mardrömmar (Finland: Swedish title) [sv]
Painajaisissa (Finland) [fi]
Premonição (Portugal) (video title) [pt]
Sueños de un asesino (Colombia) (cable TV title) [es]
U snovima (Serbia) [sr]

MPAA:

Rated R for violence/terror and language.

Runtime:

100 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital | SDDS | DTS

Certification:

Iceland:16 | USA:R (certificate #36294) | Philippines:R-18 | Finland:K-16 | Spain:18 | Australia:MA | Canada:18A | France:-12 | Germany:16 | Portugal:M/16 (video premiere) | South Korea:18 | UK:18 | Argentina:13

Filming Locations:

Amherst, Massachusetts, USA

Company:

Amblin Entertainment

Goofs:

Factual errors: During sentencing, the judge tells Vivian "the State of Massachusetts has declared you insane," thus making him ineligible for the death penalty. In legal parlance, Massachusetts is always referred to as a Commonwealth, and does not practice the death penalty.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Claire: [Helping daughter rehearse lines from Snow White while walking through trees by lake.]
[In sing-song voice]
Claire: Mirror, mirror, on the wall, who's the fairest of us all?
Rebecca Cooper: [Skipping through trees by lake.]
[In sing-song voice]
Rebecca Cooper: You're the fairest in this hall but Snow WHITE is THE...
Claire: [Laughs] Come on Rebecca, forget it's a play. Just, say it like you're saying it to me.
Rebecca Cooper: [sing-song voice] Snow White's the fairest of them all.
Claire: And again.
[...]

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Los sin nombre (1999)

Soundtrack:

IF

Atmospheric thriller...see it for the visual

effects. While many critics had not appreciated this film, I actually found it unique, beautifully photographed, and well acted, especially on the part of Annette Bening, Stephen Rea and especially Robert Downey, Jr.

It is set in Western Massachusetts, where a town was once flooded to rebuild the area. One of the residents from the local asylum; Robert Downey Jr., is a serial killer. Bening has psychic visions about his victims.

The symbol of apples and the color red, are a recurring nightmare for Bening, whose husband (well portrayed by Aidan Quinn) is beyond despair. She needs some sort of psychiatric help for her seeming obsessions. The visuals as she is having nightmares, are quite vivid and ethereal. Particularly noteworthy is the beginning sequence, wherein Bening's daughter is kidnapped. The daughter was just in a school play- the angel wing costume, crystallized and glistening on a tree- is found by the police. No daughter in sight.

Claire begins to have nightmares about a child named "Ruby" - her dog "Dobie" runs away, and is eventually killed by Downey Jr. There is also a cinematic scene where Bening is at an abandoned hotel, in a flowing red gown- the symbolism is very haunting.

Stephen Rea is the psychiatrist who attempts to help Claire with her obsessions/delusions. He is very believable, and the imagery at the state asylum is stark and foreboding.

This film has several haunting, subconscious images. Do not be surprised if you find yourself dreaming, or having similar nightmares. Sometimes, REM sleep looks similar to the filmed underwater sequences here. The photography was superior to anything I have seen in quite some time, with the possible exception of Fellini's "La Strada".