THE DREAMLIFE OF ANGELS A film review by Steve Rhodes Copyright 1999 Steve Rhodes RATING (0 TO ****): **
In THE DREAMLIFE OF ANGELS (LA VIE RÊVÉE DES ANGES), Isa (Élodie Bouchez) and Marie (Natacha Régnier) are two twenty-year-old women who lead an itinerate lifestyle. Rarely with much money, they go from one odd job to another. They meet at a sewing job, something for which neither of them is particularly well suited. Isa, who carries all of her possessions on her back, talks Marie in letting her stay in the apartment in which Marie lives temporarily until its owners come back. Since both of the owners are in a coma after a car accident, it isn't clear when, if ever, they will return.
The bleak and surprisingly thin story has the two women form a modest bond due to their similar circumstances. Besides being without funds, both grew up in unhappy homes -- Isa because her parents broke up and Marie because her parents didn't.
In a story in which almost nothing happens until the last scene, we do learn much about Isa's smoking techniques. First-time director Erick Zonca, who shares the writing credits with Roger Bohbot, apparently believes that people reveal much about their character by the exact manner in which they smoke. Although both women share a nicotine habit, Zonca uses repetitious tight shots to dwell on Isa's proclivity.
Isa, with her fingernails always partially covered with old nail polish, likes to grip her cigarettes as if she is trying to crush them. She prefers long drags that suck in her checks, and she follows them with vigorous exhales of dense smoke. After every third puff, she ritualistically picks off a tobacco particle from either her lip or tongue. I have yet to decode the precise significance of these mannerisms, but given the screen time devoted to them, they must contain important symbolism.
The title is essentially a misnomer. The story has little to do with angels or dreams, although a subplot does have Isa sitting in the hospital with the apartment owner's comatose daughter and reading from her diary. Most of the movie is devoted to Isa and Marie's relationship and to Marie's sex life. A troubled and angry woman, Marie acts like she is going to slug the men she meets but ends up going to bed with them instead. Sex with Marie can be rather like a wrestling match.
Character-driven movies like this succeed based on how compelling the characters are, and neither of the leads here ever manage to draw us into the story. The director makes especially uninspired choices in the staging. Besides his obsession with the intricacies of smoking, he also features a segment on the washing and drying of a backpack. The result is that, at the end, when the film finally tries to engage the audience, we've long since lost interest.
"You've been moping around all week," Marie complains to Isa during one of their mild spats. This is the exactly the problem with the movie. It mopes around most of the time with not much to say. Oh well, at least the two actresses do show promise even with such bland material.
THE DREAMLIFE OF ANGELS runs 1:53. The film is in French with English subtitles. It is not rated but would probably be an R for sex, nudity and profanity. The movie would be fine for older teenagers.
Email: Steve.Rhodes@InternetReviews.com Web: www.InternetReviews.com
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