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Starring Elodie Bouchez, Natacha Regnier, Gregoire Colin, Patrick Mercado, Jo Prestia.
Written and Directed by Erick Zonca.
Isa (Bouchez) is a 20 year-old free spirit, who moves from town to town with everything she owns in her backpack, taking odd jobs for money and hooking up with various people to have somewhere to sleep. She arrives in Lille, France and gets a job sewing in a little sweatshop nearby. She meets 21 year-old Marie (Regnier), a loner who has been on her own since 16, and has been working factory jobs to get by. Living in a nice flat she is sitting in while the owners try to recover from a serious car accident, Marie takes Isa in, and they become fast friends. After meeting a couple of bikers who work as bouncers at a local club, Marie hooks up with with one of them (Mercado), her body into it, but not her heart. The other is Fredo (Prestia) and is attracted to Isa, but she has no interest in him. Isa finds another interest. She discovers the diary of the young woman who is in a coma, and begins visiting her, reading to her, and entering her own thoughts in the young woman's diary. The biker's boss Chris (Colin), the son of a wealthy restaurant owner, helps Marie out of a jam, and Marie is simultaneously angered at owing this spoiled rich kid, but drawn to his smouldering good looks and his air of danger. She tries to resist seeing him, but eventually sees him, and is soon obsessed with him, even though he uses her and other woman as he feels like it and she knows it. Her unhealthy attraction causes friction between her and Isa, and much more. Winner of France's Cesars in 1998 and several other European awards including Cannes, the dreamlife of angels lives up to its advance billing. The first feature for director Erick Zonca after three short films, the film harkens back to the French films of the late 50's and early 60's, where directors like Godard and Truffault emphasized grit, realism and the lives of working class people struggling in a structured, class-ridden world. Filmed in a cinema verite style, meaning plenty of hand-help cameras, grainy film stock and close-up camera shots, the film is a realistic drama where it feels like you are peeking in on the lives of two real people. The dialogue is natural and unforced, the story spontaneous and unpredictable. Director Zonca has said that he has no interest in conveying a message with his work, but simply wishes to tell a story he says he derived from two women he knew, combining them into one film. As such, the story moves in an unpredictable way, not contrived to present any kind of point of view. But the character of Marie presents two strong themes. Marie is deeply angry at her working class roots and lifestyle. While she resents the rich and privileged, she is attracted to Chris because he can provide the escape to a better lifestyle that she craves. The other theme is the all too common occurance of a woman abandoning her closest friend in the pursuit of a man, charging the friend with jealously if they object to her all-too-increasing focus on her new man. The film is elevated by the sensational performances of the two leads. Co-winners of best actress at the 1998 Cannes Film Festival, they bring a natural and energetic chemistry to the film. Regnier, with her sad, soulful eyes brings a beautiful sense of anger and melancholy to Marie. Especially in the film's second half, she displays the subtle change from uninterested lover to needy, can't-live-without-him obsessive. Bouchez offers an easy-going openness and sense of adventure for Isa, and is fun to watch. Veteran French actor Colin brings a ruthless charm to Chris, never trying to make him sympathetic - he'll use women as he wants, and then tosses them aside when he's no longer interested. An added bonus is Mercado's thoughtful, decent biker who loves Marie, but allows her to pursue another man because he wants her to have a decent shot at happiness. The film starts slowly, but becomes engrossing as it progresses because you come to believe in the characters as real people, and the events that unfold deliver an unexpected emotional impact. the dreamlife of angels is an outstanding film.   
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